Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 16. Mystery of piety, meaning the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God: and so in most Greek copies, and in Saint John Chrysostom we read, God appeared in the flesh. [6]—Taken up into glory, by Christ’s glorious ascension into heaven. Witham.—After having spoken of the grandeur and infallibility of the Church, the apostle takes occasion from it to extol the great mystery of love, the incarnation and redemption of man. By this mystery the Second Person of the blessed Trinity became manifested in the flesh, justifying or proving his divinity by the virtue of the Holy Spirit appearing in his miracles, made known to the Angels, who were his messengers to bear the tidings to man, or assisting spirits to wait upon him, as at the nativity, in the desert, the agony, and so forth preached to the world, and at length consummated to the world by his ascension into glory. Calmet et alii.
NU replaces “God” with “who”