Church Fathers Commentary John 5:14-18

"Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee. The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him whole. And for this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work. For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake the sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God." — John 5:14-18 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: The man, when healed, did not go to the marketplace or give himself up to pleasure or vainglory. Instead, in what was a great sign of his piety, he went to the temple. Afterward, Jesus finds him in the temple.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Lord Jesus saw him both in the crowd and in the temple. The infirm man does not recognize Jesus in the crowd, but he does recognize Him in the temple, a sacred place.

Alcuin of York: For if we would know our Maker's grace and attain the sight of Him, we must avoid the crowd of evil thoughts and desires, remove ourselves from the company of the wicked, and flee to the temple.

St. Gregory the Great: We must do this so that we may make ourselves the temple of God—souls whom God will visit and in whom He will deign to dwell.

St. John Chrysostom: First, we learn here that this man's disease was the consequence of his sins. We tend to bear the diseases of our souls with great indifference, but if the body suffers even the slightest harm, we resort to the most powerful remedies. For this reason, God punishes the body for the offenses of the soul.

Second, we learn that there is truly a hell. Third, we learn that it is a place of eternal and infinite punishment. Indeed, some ask, "Since we have corrupted ourselves for only a short time, shall we be tormented eternally?" But see how long this man was tormented for his sins. Sin is not to be measured by length of time, but by the nature of the sin itself.

Beyond this, we also learn that if we fall into sin again after undergoing a heavy punishment, we will incur another, even heavier punishment—and justly so. For a person who has undergone punishment and is not made better by it proves himself to be hardened and defiant, and as such, deserves even greater torments. We should not be emboldened by the fact that we do not see everyone punished for their offenses in this life, for if people do not suffer for their sins here, it is only a sign that their punishment will be greater in the hereafter.

However, our diseases do not always arise from sin, though this is most commonly the case. Some illnesses spring from other lax habits, while some are sent for the sake of trial, as was the case with Job. But why does Christ mention the sins of this paralyzed man? Some say it is because he had been an accuser of Christ. But shall we say the same of the other man afflicted with palsy? For he too was told, Your sins are forgiven you. The truth is, Christ is not finding fault with the man for his past sins but is only warning him against future ones.

In healing others, however, He makes no mention of sin at all. It would seem, therefore, that this man's disease had arisen from his sins, whereas the illnesses of the others had come from natural causes only. Or perhaps, through this man, He admonishes all the rest. Or He may have admonished this man knowing his great patience and that he would bear the warning. This is also a disclosure of His divinity, for by saying, Sin no more, He implies that He knew what sins the man had committed.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Now that the man had seen Jesus and knew Him to be the author of his recovery, he was not slow in preaching Him to others: The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

St. John Chrysostom: He was not so unappreciative of the benefit and the advice he had received as to have any malicious intent in sharing this news. Had his goal been to discredit Christ, he could have concealed the cure and highlighted the offense. But he does not mention Jesus' command, Take up your bed, which was an offense in the eyes of the Jews. Instead, he told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

St. Augustine of Hippo: This announcement enraged them. Therefore, the Jews persecuted Jesus, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day. A plain physical work had been done before their eyes, separate from the healing of the man's body, which would not have been necessary even if the healing was: namely, the carrying of the bed. For this reason, our Lord openly says that the sacrament of the Sabbath—the sign of observing one day out of seven—was only a temporary institution that had found its fulfillment in Him. But Jesus answered them, My Father works until now, and I work. It is as if He said, "Do not suppose that My Father rested on the Sabbath in the sense that He has ceased from working from that time onward. For He works even to this day, though without labor, and so I work also."

God's "rest" only means that He created no other creature after the initial creation was complete. Scripture calls it "rest" to remind us of the rest we shall enjoy after a life of good works here. Just as God rested on the seventh day only after He had made man in His own image and likeness, finished all His works, and seen that they were very good, so you should expect no rest unless you return to the likeness in which you were made—a likeness you have lost through sin. That is, you will find rest only if you do good works.

It may be said, then, that the observance of the Sabbath was imposed on the Jews as a shadow of something to come: namely, the spiritual rest that God, through the figure of His own rest, promised to all who would perform good works.

There will be a sabbath for the world when the six ages—that is, the six "days" of the world, so to speak—have passed. Then will come the rest that is promised to the saints.

The Lord Jesus Himself sealed the mystery of this rest by His burial, for He rested in His tomb on the Sabbath, having finished all His work on the sixth day when He said, It is finished. What wonder is it, then, that God rested one day from His works to prefigure the day on which Christ was to rest in the grave, only to carry on the work of governing the world afterward? We may also consider that when God rested, He rested simply from the work of creation—that is, He made no more new kinds of creatures. But from that time until now, He has been carrying on the work of governing those creatures.

His power to govern heaven and earth, and all the things He had made, did not cease on the seventh day. Without His governance, they would have perished immediately, because the existence of every creature depends on the power of the Creator. If He ceased to govern, every species of creation would cease to exist, and all nature would come to nothing. For the world is not like a building that stands after the architect has left; it could not stand for the twinkling of an eye if God withdrew His governing hand. Therefore, when our Lord says, My Father works until now, He means the continuation of this work: the sustaining and governing of creation. It might have been different if He had said, "Works even now." This would not have conveyed the sense of continuous action. As it is, we find, "Until now," which means from the time of creation onward.

He says, then, as it were, to the Jews, "Why do you think that I should not work on the Sabbath? The Sabbath day was instituted as a type of Me. You observe the works of God; by Me all things were made. The Father made light, but He spoke that it might be made. If He spoke, then He made it by the Word, and I am His Word. My Father worked when He made the world, and He works until now, governing it. And just as He made the world through Me when He created it, so He governs it through Me now."

St. John Chrysostom: Christ defended His disciples by putting forward the example of their fellow servant David, but He defends Himself by referring to the Father. We may also observe that He does not defend Himself as a mere man, nor yet purely as God, but sometimes as one and sometimes as the other. He wishes for both to be believed: both the economy of His humiliation and the dignity of His Godhead. Therefore, He shows His equality to the Father, both by emphatically calling God His own Father ("My Father") and by declaring that He does the same things the Father does ("And I work"). It follows, therefore, that the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath but also said that God was His Father.

St. Augustine of Hippo: That is, He did not mean "Father" in the secondary sense in which it is true for all of us, but in a way that implies equality. For we all say to God, Our Father, who art in heaven. And the Jews say, You are our Father. They were not angry, then, because He called God His Father, but because He called Him so in a sense different from how other people do.

The words, My Father works until now, and I work, imply that He is equal to the Father. Once this is understood, it follows from the Father's working that the Son also works, since the Father does nothing without the Son.

St. John Chrysostom: If He were not the Son by nature and of the same substance, this defense would be worse than the original accusation. For no governor could clear himself of transgressing the king's law by arguing that the king also broke it. But if we assume the Son's equality with the Father, the defense is valid. It then follows that just as the Father worked on the Sabbath without doing wrong, the Son could do so likewise.

St. Augustine of Hippo: So, the Jews understood what the Arians do not. For the Arians say that the Son is not equal to the Father, and from this sprang the heresy that afflicts the Church.

St. John Chrysostom: However, those who are not well-disposed toward this doctrine do not admit that Christ made Himself equal to the Father, but claim that the Jews only thought He did. But let us consider what has come before. It is unquestionably true that the Jews persecuted Christ, that He broke the Sabbath, and that He said God was His Father. Therefore, that which immediately follows from these premises—namely, His making Himself equal with God—is also true.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: The Evangelist here explains why the Jews wished to kill Him.

St. John Chrysostom: Again, if our Lord Himself had not meant this, but the Jews had simply misunderstood Him, He would not have overlooked their mistake. Nor would the Evangelist have failed to comment on it, as he does regarding our Lord's statement, Destroy this temple.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Jews, however, did not understand from our Lord that He was the Son of God, but only that He was equal with God, even though Christ presented this equality as the result of His being the Son of God. Because they failed to see this, while at the same time seeing that equality was being asserted, they charged Him with making Himself equal with God. The truth, however, is that He did not make Himself equal; rather, the Father had begotten Him as equal.