But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now; and I work.

“(Hom. xxxviii. s. 3) Were He not the Son by nature, and of the same substance, this defence would be worse than the former accusation made. For no prefect could clear Himself from a transgression of the king’s law, by urging that the king broke it also. But, on the supposition of the Son’s equality to the Father, the defence is valid. It then follows, that as the Father worked on the Sabbath without doing wrong: the Son could do so likewise.”

“(iv. Gen. ad lit. c. xi.) The mystery of which rest the Lord Jesus Himself scaled by His burial: for He rested in His sepulchre on the sabbath, having on the sixth day finished all His work, inasmuch as He said, It is finished. (c. 19) What wonder then that God, to prefigure the day on which Christ was to rest in the grave, rested one day from His works, afterwards to carry on the work of governing the world. We may consider too that God, when He rested, rested from the work of creation simply, i. e. made no more new kinds of creatures: but that from that time till now, He has been carrying on the government of those creatures. For His power, as respects the government of heaven and earth, and all the things that He had made, did not cease on the seventh day: they would have perished immediately, without His government: because the power of the Creator is that on which the existence of every creature depends. If it ceased to govern, every species of creation would cease to exist: and all nature would go to nothing. For the world is not like a building, which stands after the architect has left it; it could not stand the twinkling of an eye, if God withdrew His governing hand. Therefore when our Lord says, My Father worketh hitherto, he means the continuation of the work; the holding together, and governing of the creation. It might have been different, had He said, Worketh even now. This would not have conveyed the sense of continuing. As it is we find it, Until now; i. e. from the time of the creation downwards.”

“Having set forth the visible miracle by which the power of Christ to repair spiritual life is shown, here is set forth the occasion of Christ's teaching; and this occasion is taken from the persecution stirred up by the Jews against Christ. Now the cause of this persecution was twofold on the part of the Jews who envied Christ. The first was a work of piety; the second was the teaching of truth, at the place: "But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now, and I work," and so on. Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets forth beforehand the occasion of the persecution; second he sets forth the calumny brought against the man who was healed, at the place: "The Jews therefore said to him that was healed," etc.; third he sets forth the calumny brought against Christ, at the place: "They asked him: Who is that man?" and so on. Now the occasion of the persecution brought against Christ is taken from the fact that he healed on the Sabbath; and therefore the Evangelist says: "Now it was the Sabbath on that day," when Jesus worked the miracle, when he commanded the pallet to be taken up. Now a threefold reason is assigned why the Lord began to work on the Sabbath. One is given by Ambrose on Luke: Christ came for this purpose, that he might repair the work of creation, namely man, which had been deformed. Now he ought to begin from the point at which the Author had created the completed work of creation: and this was on the day of the Sabbath, as is said in Genesis 1; and therefore, that Christ might show himself the restorer of the whole creature, he began on the Sabbath. Another reason is that the day of the Sabbath is celebrated by the Jews in memory of the first creation. But Christ came in order, as it were, to make a new creature, according to that saying of Galatians (last chapter), 15: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything, but a new creature" — through grace, which comes about through the Holy Spirit, according to that saying of Psalm 103:30: "Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth." Wanting, therefore, to show that a re-creation comes about through him, Christ works on the Sabbath; James 1:18: "that we might be some beginning of his creature." The third reason is, that he might show that he would do what the law could not do; Romans 8:3: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh." And further on: "that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us." Now the Jews did no work on the Sabbath, as a figure that certain things belonging to the Sabbath were to be brought to completion, which could not be brought about through the law. And this is evident in four things which God ordained concerning the day of the Sabbath. For he sanctified the day of the Sabbath, he blessed the day of the Sabbath, on it he completed his works, and on it he rested. But the law could not do these things, for it could not sanctify. Whence Psalm 11:1 said: "Save me, O Lord, for the holy one hath failed." Nor could it bless either; rather, "as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse," as is said in Galatians 3:10. Nor could it complete and perfect: for "the law brought no one to perfection," Hebrews 7:19. Nor even could it grant perfect rest: for as is said in Hebrews 4:8: "For if Jesus had given them rest, he would never have spoken of another." These things, therefore, which the law could not do, Christ did: for he sanctified the people itself through his Passion. Hebrews 13:12: "Jesus, that he might sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered without the gate." He himself blessed through the infusion of grace; Ephesians 1:3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." He himself completed through the instruction of perfect justice; Matthew 5:48: "Be ye perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect." He himself brought us into true rest; Hebrews 4:3: "We who have believed shall enter into rest, as he said: As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest." It belongs, therefore, to him to work on the day of the Sabbath, who is able to bring to perfection those things that pertain to the Sabbath, from which the law, being powerless, fell short. Next he sets forth the calumny brought against the man who was healed, when he says: "The Jews therefore said to him that was healed," etc. And first is set forth the bringing of the calumny against the healed man; second is subjoined the excuse of the healed man, at the place: "He answered them: He that made me whole," etc. Now they bring the calumny against this man on the ground that he carries his pallet on the Sabbath, but not concerning the healing; whence they say: "It is the Sabbath, it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed." A manifold reason for this can be assigned. One is that the Jews, frequently bringing against Christ a calumny about healing on the day of the Sabbath, had been refuted by Christ by the fact that they themselves also drew out and saved beasts of burden from a pit on the day of the Sabbath, as is recorded in Luke 14:15. And therefore concerning the healing, as being a useful and necessary thing, they are silent; but concerning the carrying of the bed, which seemed not necessary, they bring calumny — as if they were saying: if the healing was not to be deferred, what need was there to carry the bed, or to command that it be carried? Another reason is that the Lord had said, concluding against them, that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. And therefore, since to be healed is not to do good but to undergo good, they bring calumny against the one healed rather than against the one who healed. The third reason is that this seems to be prohibited to the Jews in the law, that they should do nothing on the day of the Sabbath; but especially the carrying of burdens on the day of the Sabbath is prohibited. Jeremiah 17:21: "Carry no burdens on the Sabbath day." And therefore they especially brought calumny against the carrying on the day of the Sabbath, as being contrary to the saying of the prophet. But this command of the prophet is nonetheless mystical: for by the burdens not to be carried he intended to lead them to rest on the day of the Sabbath from the burdens of sins; of which it is said in Psalm 37:5: "My iniquities... are grown heavy upon me like a heavy burden." Whence, because it was now the time for resolving the hidden figures, Christ commands this man to take up his pallet, that is, to sustain his neighbor in weakness, according to that saying of Galatians 6:2: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ." Next is set forth the excuse of the healed man, when it is subjoined: "He answered them: He that made me whole, he said to me," etc. And indeed he excuses himself prudently: for teaching is never so well proved to be from God as through the showing of miracles, which can be done only by divine power. Mark, last chapter, 20: "But they going forth preached everywhere: the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed." And therefore this man, to those bringing calumny, set forth the author of his health, saying "He that made me whole, he said to me" — as if he were saying: you say that it is forbidden that a burden be carried on the Sabbath, and this by divine authority; but by that same authority it was laid upon me that I should take up my pallet: for he who made me whole, and who through the health restored showed that he has divine power, said to me: "Take up thy bed and walk." And therefore I am rightly bound to obey the commands of him who is of such great power, and who conferred on me such a benefit. Psalm 118:93: "Thy justifications I will never forget: for by them thou hast given me life." Next he says: "They asked him therefore," etc. Because they could not bring calumny against the man who was healed, they strive to bring calumny against Christ's act of healing: for by this the man had excused himself. And because he had not stated determinately who it was, they maliciously asked him who it was. And therefore concerning this, first there is treated the seeking after Christ; second his being found, at the place: "Afterwards Jesus findeth him"; third his being persecuted, at the place: "Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus." Concerning the first, three things are set forth: namely, the inquiry of the Jews, the ignorance of the healed man, and the cause of the ignorance. As to the first, it is said: "The Jews therefore asked him" — not, that is, with a good intention, that they might profit, but with a malicious mind, that they might persecute and destroy. Below, 8:21: "You shall seek me, and shall die in your sin." And their own words manifest this malice of theirs. For although the Lord had commanded both that the sick man be healed and that the pallet be taken up, they pass over in silence the first — the sign that shows forth the divine power and is irrefutable — and they bring up again the other, which seems contrary to the law, saying: "Who is that man who said to thee, Take up thy bed and walk?" Ecclesiasticus 11:33: "turning good into evil, he lieth in wait, and upon the elect he imposes" — that is, he strives to impose a blemish. As to the second he says: "But he who was healed knew not who it was." This healed man signifies the faithful who have been healed through the grace of Christ. Ephesians 2:8: "By grace you are saved." These indeed do not know who Christ is, but know only his effect. 2 Corinthians 5:6: "As long as we are in the body, we are absent from the Lord: for we walk by faith, and not by sight." But then we shall know who Christ is, when we shall see him as he is: 1 John 3:2. Now he assigns the cause of this ignorance as to three things, when he says: "But Jesus had withdrawn from the crowd gathered in the place." And this indeed has a literal and a mystical cause. The literal cause, as to two things. First, that he might give us an example of hiding our good works and not seeking in them the favor of men, according to that saying of Matthew 6:1: "Take heed that you do not your justice before men." Second, that we might turn away and flee the eyes of the envious from all our works, lest their envy grow from this; Ecclesiasticus 8:14: "Stand not against the face of an injurious person, lest he sit as a spy on thy mouth." The mystical cause, as to two things. First, that he might give us to understand that Christ is not easily found in the multitude of men and in the whirl of temporal cares, but in spiritual secrecy. Hosea 2:14: "I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart." For "the words of the wise are heard in silence," as is said in Ecclesiastes 9:17. Second, that he might suggest that Christ was to turn away from the Jews to the Gentiles; Isaiah 8:17: "He hath hid his face for a while from Jacob" — that is, he withdrew the knowledge of his truth from the people of the Jews. Next there is treated the finding of Christ, when he says: "Afterwards Jesus findeth him in the temple." And first he says that he is found; second he suggests that, having been found, he teaches; third that after the teaching he is made manifest. As to the finding he sets forth two things, namely the manner of finding, and the place. The manner indeed is marvelous, because he is not found unless he first finds — whence he says "afterwards," namely, after the things that have been said, "Jesus findeth him": for man cannot find Christ by his own power, unless Christ presents himself to him. Whence also Psalm 118:176 said: "Seek thy servant." Wisdom 6:14: "She preventeth them that covet her." Now the place in which Christ is found is venerable, because it is in the temple, according to that saying of Psalm 10:5: "The Lord is in his holy temple." For his mother too found him in the temple, Luke 2:46, and this because it behooved him to be about the things that are his Father's. In which we are given to understand that this healed man, turned not to vanity but to the pursuit of religion, frequenting the temple, comes to know Christ in it: for if we wish to come to the knowledge of our Maker, the crowd of depraved affections must be fled, and the gatherings of evil men must be shunned, and we must flee to the temple of our heart, which God deigns to visit and to dwell in. Next, having been found, he teaches; whence he also said to him: "Behold thou art made whole: sin no more." Where first he calls to mind the benefit bestowed; second he proposes wholesome counsel; third he shows an imminent danger. But the benefit is admirable, because of the sudden restoration of health. Whence it is said: "Behold thou art made whole already." And therefore it must always be kept in memory, according to that saying of Isaiah 63:7: "I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord." The counsel indeed is useful, because "sin no more henceforth"; Ecclesiasticus 21:1: "Son, hast thou sinned? do so no more." Why does the Lord make mention of sins to this paralytic and certain others healed by him, and not to others? For this reason, namely, that he might show by this that in some, infirmities arise from prior sins, according to that saying of 1 Corinthians 11:30: "Therefore are there many weak and infirm, and many sleep." By which he also shows himself to be God, revealing sins and the hidden things of hearts. Proverbs 15:11: "Hell and destruction are before him: how much more the hearts of the children of men?" To these alone, therefore, does he make mention of sins, and not to others healed by him, because not all infirmities arise on account of prior sins; but some arise from natural disposition, some for the sake of testing, as in the case of Job. Or he made mention only concerning these, because they were more prepared for correction. Proverbs 9:8: "Rebuke not a scorner, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee." Or, in these, he gave this command intending it for all the others as well. Now the imminent danger was terrible, whence he says: "lest some worse thing happen to thee." This indeed can be understood in two ways, according to two things that had gone before in this man's case. For first he had been punished by a prolonged illness; second he had obtained a great benefit. And therefore what is said can be referred to each of the two. As to the first: because when someone is punished for a sin and is not drawn back from sin by that very punishment, it is just that he be punished more severely. And therefore he says, "sin no more," because if you sin, a worse thing will happen to you. Jeremiah 2:30: "In vain have I struck your children, they have not received correction." As to the second: because he who, after benefits received, slips back into sins, becomes guilty of a heavier punishment on account of ingratitude, according to that saying of 2 Peter 2:20: "It had been better for them not to have known the way of truth, than after they have known it, to turn back." Likewise also, because after a man has once returned to sin, he sins more easily; according to that saying of Matthew 12:45: "the last state of that man becomes worse than the first." Jeremiah 2:20: "Of old time thou hast broken the yoke, thou hast burst the bond, and thou saidst: I will not serve." Next is set forth the manifestation made by the one found, when it is subjoined: "That man went his way, and told," etc. And according to some it could be understood, as Chrysostom says, that he had made him known out of malice; but this does not seem probable, namely that after so great a benefit he would be so ungrateful. He announced, therefore, to the Jews, that it was Jesus who had made him whole, in order to make manifest Christ's power to heal. Psalm 65:16: "Come and I will tell... how great things the Lord hath done for my soul." And this is evident, because they had asked him who had commanded him to take up his pallet. But he announced to them that Jesus had made him whole. Next, when he says: "Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus," the persecution against Christ is set forth, which is on account of a certain work of piety shown on the Sabbath; whence he says: "Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, because he did these things on the Sabbath." Psalm 118:161: "Princes have persecuted me without cause." Next, when he says: "But Jesus answered them," etc., the second cause of the persecution is set forth, which is taken from his teaching. And first the teaching of truth is set forth; second the persecution of Jewish wickedness, at the place: "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him." Now the Lord sets forth the teaching of truth by excusing himself concerning the breaking of the Sabbath. But it must be noted that the Lord, concerning the breaking of this, sometimes excused himself, and sometimes his disciples. And his disciples indeed, since they were mere men, he excused by comparison with men, namely, by the example of the priests, who worked in the temple on the day of the Sabbath and did not break the Sabbath. And David, who, fleeing from the face of Saul on the day of the Sabbath under the priest Achimelech, took the loaves of proposition from the temple, as is recorded in 1 Kings 21:1ff. But himself, since he was both man and God, he sometimes excused from the breaking of the Sabbath by comparison with men. Luke 14:5: "Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit, and will not immediately draw him out on the Sabbath day?" But sometimes, and especially in this place, he excuses himself by comparison with God, saying: "My Father worketh until now, and I work" — as if he were saying: do not think that my Father so rested on the Sabbath that from that time he does not work; but just as he himself even now works without labor, so also do I work. In which he excludes the false understanding of the Jews, who, wishing to conform themselves to God, do nothing on the day of the Sabbath, as if God had entirely ceased to work on that very day. And indeed, although he rested on the Sabbath from establishing new creatures, nonetheless he always and continually works even until now, preserving creatures in being. Whence Moses also used the word of resting, notably, after the works of God, from establishing which he rested, in order to signify the spiritual rest which God, by the example of his own rest, was promising, in a hidden signification, to the faithful who would afterward do good works. Whence it can be said that that command was enjoined in the shadow of what was to come. Now he says notably "worketh until now," and not "hath worked," in order to designate the continuation of the divine work. For one might imagine that God is the cause of the world just as a craftsman is the cause of a house, only as regards its coming-to-be: so that, just as the house remains even when the craftsman's operation ceases, so too the world could continue to subsist, the divine influence ceasing. But according to Augustine, God is the cause of all creatures in such a way that he is also the cause of their subsisting; for if his power should cease even for a moment, all their species too, which nature contains, would at once cease — just as if I should say that the air is illuminated only so long as the light of the sun remains in it. The reason for this indeed is that those things which have a cause only as regards their coming-to-be can subsist when the cause ceases; but those things which have a cause not only of their coming-to-be but also of their subsisting need the continual preservation of the cause. He also excludes, by what he says — "My Father worketh until now" — the opinion of certain ones saying that God produces things by means of second causes; which is against that saying of Isaiah 26:12: "Thou hast wrought all our works in us, O Lord." Just as, therefore, my Father, having in the beginning established nature, worketh until now, by that same operation containing and preserving it, so also I work, because I am the Word of the Father, through whom he works all things; Genesis 1:3: "God said: Be light made." Whence, just as he wrought the first establishment of things through the Word, so also their preservation. And thus, if he himself worketh until now, I too work, because I am the Word of the Father, through whom all things are made and preserved. Next, when he says: "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him," the persecution arising from this teaching is set forth: because on account of this very teaching the Jews sought the more — that is, with a more avid mind, with a more fervent zeal — to kill him. For two crimes were punished with death in the law: namely, the crime of breaking the Sabbath, whence he who gathered sticks on the Sabbath was stoned, Numbers 15:32, and the crime of blasphemy, whence it is said in Leviticus 24:14: "Bring forth the blasphemer without the camp... and let all the multitude of the children of Israel stone him." Now these men reckoned it blasphemy that a man should say he was God; below, 10:33: "For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." And they imputed these two crimes to Christ: the one, namely, because he broke the Sabbath; the other, because he said he was equal to God. Whence he says that they sought to kill him for this reason, that he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father. But because other righteous men also call God their Father — Jeremiah 3:19: "Thou shalt call me father" — therefore they say not only that he called God his own Father, but they add what pertains to blasphemy, "making himself equal to God," which they gather from this, that he said: "My Father worketh, and I work." He calls God his own Father in order to give the understanding that he is his Father by nature, but the Father of others by adoption: according to which manner of speaking he says below, 20:17: "I go to my Father," namely by nature, "and your Father," namely by grace. Likewise he says that he works in likeness to him, resolving by this the calumny of the Jews concerning the breaking of the Sabbath: which would not be a fitting excuse, unless he had equal authority with God in working. And therefore they say that he makes himself equal to God. And indeed great is the blindness of the Arians, who in the words of the Lord cannot understand what the Jews understood, saying that Christ is less than God the Father. But the Arians say that Christ did not make himself equal to God, but that the Jews only suspected this. But through the things that have been said in the text itself, it is manifest otherwise as well. For the Evangelist says that the Jews persecuted Christ because he broke the Sabbath, and because he called God his Father, and because he made himself equal to God. Therefore either Christ is a liar, or he is equal to God. But if he is equal to God, then Christ is God by nature. Now the Evangelist says "making himself equal to God," not because he himself made himself equal to God — for through eternal generation he was equal to God — but speaking according to the intention of the Jews, who, not believing Christ to be the Son of God by nature, understood from his words that he called himself the Son of God, as though wishing to make himself equal to God, while nonetheless not believing that he was this; below, chapter 10:33: "Thou, being a man, makest thyself God" — that is, thou sayest that thou art God: which is interpreted as if thou thyself wert making thyself God.”

“But Jesus answered , &c. “ The Father worketh ,” says S. Augustine {lib. 4, de Gen ., cap. 12), “both affording suitable government to things created, and having in Himself eternal tranquillity : ” for, as he says elsewhere, “ being still He worketh, and working He is at rest” And after an interval, “The power and virtue of the Creator is the cause of existence of every creature. And if this virtue were ever to cease from governing created things, their forms (, species ) would cease at the same time, and all nature would come to an end.” Like as the light in the air vanishes if the sun withdraw his rays, by which light is produced. The meaning is, “ You, O ye scribes, object against Me the law of Sabbatical rest, which God commanded you because He Himself rested on Digitized by V^rOOQie MY FATHER WORKETH. 1 73 the Sabbath from all His work. But I answer that God on the Sabbath only rested from producing new species of things. But He did not rest in such a manner that He is not every Sabbath continually working, that is to say, governing and preserving the world, and all the things that are in it, moving the heavens, bringing forth one thing out of another, feeding and healing all living things, &c. This, which is work of the highest beneficence, is not servile work, but pious and Divine. Such work is indeed lawful ; yea, it adorns and hallows the Sabbath. So too I, who am the co-equal Son of the Father, always work, and always have wrought the same things with Him. For neither do I work without the Father, nor the Father without Me.” So S. Augustine and others. Observe the Hebraism : and I work , that is, so, or in like manner , I work. For the word and, when it is the mark of conjunction, since it joins like things, is a sign of comparison and similitude, and means the same thing as thus , as is constantly the case in the Book of Proverbs. Ver. 1 8 . — Wherefore, &c. His Father, Greek, wariga 73/or, $e., His own Father , because Christ alone is the peculiar, and by nature, Son of God. Making Himself equal with God , because He had said that not merely like things, but that the selfsame things which the Father works, were wrought by Him, and therefore that He in all things co-operated, not as a servant, but as a Son, of the same substance with the Father. As Cyril says, “ Seeing that He was a man, and not knowing that God dwelt in Him, they could not bear that He should call God His Father in a special manner.” The chief priests and scribes therefore wished to kill Jesus, because they feared lest, as His glory increased, their authority should decrease ; indeed lest Jesus, persuading the people that He was God, should be preferred by the people to the priests, and should deprive them of their authority, and should bring in His own new priests and pontifis, which we see He actually did do”

“We have here Christ's discourse upon occasion of his being accused as a sabbath-breaker, and it seems to be his vindication of himself before the sanhedrim, when he was arraigned before them: whether on the same day, or two or three days after, does not appear; probably the same day. Observe, I. The doctrine laid down, by which he justified what he did on the sabbath day (Joh 5:17): He answered them. This supposes that he had something laid to his charge: or what they suggested one to another, when they sought to slay him (Joh 5:16), he knew, and gave this reply to, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. At other times, in answer to the like charge, he had pleaded the example of David's eating the show-bread, of the priests' slaying the sacrifices, and of the people's watering their cattle on the sabbath day; but here he goes higher and alleges the example of his Father and his divine authority; waiving all other pleas, he insists upon that which was instar omnium - equivalent to the whole, and abides by it, which he had mentioned, Mat 12:8. The Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day; but he here enlarges on it. 1. He pleads that he was the Son of God, plainly intimated in his calling God his Father; and, if so, his holiness was unquestionable and his sovereignty incontestable; and he might make what alterations he pleased of the divine law. Surely they will reverence the Son, the heir of all things. 2. That he was a worker together with God. (1.) My Father worketh hitherto. The example of God's resting on the seventh day from all his work is, in the fourth commandment, made the ground of our observing it as a sabbath or day of rest. Now God rested only from such work as he had done the six days before; otherwise he worketh hitherto, he is every day working, sabbath days and week-days, upholding and governing all the creatures, and concurring by his common providence to all the motions and operations of nature, to his own glory; therefore, when we are appointed to rest on the sabbath day, yet we are not restrained from doing that which has a direct tendency to the glory of God, as the man's carrying his bed had. (2.) I work; not only therefore I may work, like him, in doing good on sabbath days as well as other days, but I also work with him. As God created all things by Christ, so he supports and governs all by him, Heb 1:3. This sets what he does above all exception; he that is so great a worker must needs be an uncontrollable governor; he that does all is Lord of all, and therefore Lord of the sabbath, which particular branch of his authority he would now assert, because he was shortly to show it further, in the change of the day from the seventh to the first. II. The offence that was taken at his doctrine (Joh 5:18): The Jews sought the more to kill him. His defence was made his offence, as if by justifying himself he had made bad worse. Note, Those that will not be enlightened by the word of Christ will be enraged and exasperated by it, and nothing more vexes the enemies of Christ than his asserting his authority; see Psa 2:3-5. They sought to kill him, 1. Because he had broken the sabbath; for, let him say what he would in his own justification, they are resolved, right or wrong, to find him guilty of sabbath breaking. When malice and envy sit upon the bench, reason and justice may even be silent at the bar, for whatever they can say will undoubtedly be over-ruled. 2. Not only so, but he had said also that God was his Father. Now they pretend a jealousy for God's honour, as before for the sabbath day, and charge Christ with it as a heinous crime that he made himself equal with God; and a heinous crime it had been if he had not really been so. It was the sin of Lucifer, I will be like the Most High. Now, (1.) This was justly inferred from what he said, that he was the Son of God, and that God was his Father, patera idion - his own Father; his, so as he was no one's else. He had said that he worked with his Father, by the same authority and power, and hereby he made himself equal with God. Ecee intelligunt Judaei, quod non intelligunt Ariani - Behold, the Jews understand what the Arians do not. (2.) Yet it was unjustly imputed to him as an offence that he equalled himself with God, for he was and is God, equal with the Father (Phi 2:6); and therefore Christ, in answer to this charge, does not except against the innuendo as strained or forced, makes out his claim and proves that he is equal with God in power and glory. III. Christ's discourse upon this occasion, which continues without interruption to the end of the chapter. In these verses he explains, and afterwards confirms, his commission, as Mediator and plenipotentiary in the treaty between God and man. And, as the honours he is hereby entitled to are such as it is not fit for any creature to receive, so the work he is hereby entrusted with is such as it is not possible for any creature to go through with, and therefore he is God, equal with the Father. 1. In general. He is one with the Father in all he does as Mediator, and there was a perfectly good understanding between them in the whole matter. It is ushered in with a solemn preface (Joh 5:19): Verily, verily, I say unto you; I the Amen, the Amen, say it. This intimates that the things declared are, (1.) Very awful and great, and such as should command the most serious attention. (2.) Very sure, and such as should command an unfeigned assent. (3.) That they are matters purely of divine revelation; things which Christ has told us, and which we could not otherwise have come to the knowledge of. Two things he saith in general concerning the Son's oneness with the Father in working: - [1.] That the Son conforms to the Father (Joh 5:19): The Son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the Father do; for these things does the Son. The Lord Jesus, as Mediator, is First, Obedient to his Father's will; so entirely obedient that he can do nothing of himself, in the same sense as it is said, God cannot lie, cannot deny himself, which expresses the perfection of his truth, not any imperfection in his strength; so here, Christ was so entirely devoted to his Father's will that it was impossible for him in any thing to act separately. Secondly, He is observant of his Father's counsel; he can, he will, do nothing but what he sees the Father do. No man can find out the work of God, but the only-begotten Son, who lay in his bosom, sees what he does, is intimately acquainted with his purposes, and has the plan of them ever before him. What he did as Mediator, throughout his whole undertaking, was the exact transcript or counterpart of what the Father did; that is, what he designed, when he formed the plan of our redemption in his eternal counsels, and settled those measures in every thing which never could be broken, nor ever needed to be altered. It was the copy of that great original; it was Christ's faithfulness, as it was Moses's, that he did all according to the pattern shown him in the mount. This is expressed in the present tense, what he sees the Father do, for the same reason that, when he was here upon earth, it was said, He is in heaven (Joh 3:13), and is in the bosom of the Father (Joh 1:18); as he was even then by his divine nature present in heaven, so the things done in heaven were present to his knowledge. What the Father did in his counsels, the Son had ever in his view, and still he had his eye upon it, as David in spirit spoke of him, I have set the Lord always before me, Psa 16:8. Thirdly, Yet he is equal with the Father in working; for what things soever the Father does these also does the Son likewise; he did the same things, not such things, but tauta, the same things; and he did them in the same manner, homoiōs, likewise, with the same authority, and liberty, and wisdom, the same energy and efficacy. Does the Father enact, repeal, and alter, positive laws? Does he over-rule the course of nature, know men's hearts? So does the Son. The power of the Mediator is a divine power. [2.] That the Father communicates to the Son, Joh 5:20. Observe, First, The inducement to it: The Father loveth the Son; he declared, This is my beloved Son. He had not only a good will to the undertaking, but an infinite complacency in the undertaker. Christ was now hated of men, one whom the nation abhorred (Isa 49:7); but he comforted himself with this, that his Father loved him. Secondly, The instances of it. He shows it, 1. In what he does communicate to him: He shows him all things that himself doth. The Father's measures in making and ruling the world are shown to the Son, that he may take the same measures in framing and governing the church, which work was to be a duplicate of the work of creation and providence, and it is therefore called the world to come. He shows him all things ha autos poiei - which he does, that is, which the Son does, so it might be construed; all that the Son does is by direction from the Father; he shows him. 2. In what he will communicate; he will show him, that is, will appoint and direct him to do greater works than these. (1.) Works of greater power than the curing of the impotent man; for he should raise the dead, and should himself rise from the dead. By the power of nature, with the use of means, a disease may possibly in time be cured; but nature can never, by the use of any means, in any time raise the dead. (2.) Works of greater authority than warranting the man to carry his bed on the sabbath day. They thought this a daring attempt; but what was this to his abrogating the whole ceremonial law, and instituting new ordinances, which he would shortly do, "that you may marvel!" Now they looked upon his works with contempt and indignation, but he will shortly do that which they will look upon with amazement, Luk 7:16. Many are brought to marvel at Christ's works, whereby he has the honour of them, who are not brought to believe, by which they would have the benefit of them. 2. In particular. He proves his equality with the Father, by specifying some of those works which he does that are the peculiar works of God. This is enlarged upon, Joh 5:21-30. He does, and shall do, that which is the peculiar work of God's sovereign dominion and jurisdiction - judging and executing judgment, Joh 5:22-24, Joh 5:27. These two are interwoven, as being nearly connected; and what is said once is repeated and inculcated; put both together, and they will prove that Christ said not amiss when he made himself equal with God. (1.) Observe what is here said concerning the Mediator's power to raise the dead and give life. See [1.] His authority to do it (Joh 5:21): As the Father raiseth up the dead, so the Son quickeneth whom he will. First, It is God's prerogative to raise the dead, and give life, even his who first breathed into man the breath of life, and so made him a living soul; see Deu 32:30; Sa1 2:6; Psa 68:20; Rom 4:17. This God had done by the prophets Elijah and Elisha, and it was a confirmation of their mission. A resurrection from the dead never lay in the common road of nature, nor ever fell within the thought of those that studied only the compass of nature's power, one of whose received axioms was point blank against it: A privatione ad habitum non datur regressus - Existence, when once extinguished, cannot be rekindled. It was therefore ridiculed at Athens as an absurd thing, Act 17:32. It is purely the work of a divine power, and the knowledge of it purely by divine revelation. This the Jews would own. Secondly, The Mediator is invested with this prerogative: He quickens whom he will; raises to life whom he pleases, and when he pleases. He does not enliven things by natural necessity, as the sun does, whose beams revive of course; but he acts as a free agent, has the dispensing of his power in his own hand, and is never either constrained, or restrained, in the use of it. As he has the power, so he has the wisdom and sovereignty, of a God; has the key of the grave and of death (Rev 1:18), not as a servant, to open and shut as he is bidden, for he has it as the key of David, which he is master of, Rev 3:7. An absolute prince is described by this (Dan 5:19): Whom he would he slew or kept alive; it is true of Christ without hyperbole. [2.] His ability to do it. Therefore he has power to quicken whom he will as the Father does, because he has life in himself, as the Father has, Joh 5:26. First, It is certain that the Father has life in himself. Not only he is a self-existent Being, who does not derive fRom. or depend upon, any other (Exo 3:14), but he is a sovereign giver of life; he has the disposal of life in himself; and of all good (for so life sometimes signifies); it is all derived from him, and dependent on him. He is to his creatures the fountain of life, and all good; author of their being and well-being; the living God, and the God of all living. Secondly, It is as certain that he has given to the Son to have life in himself. As the Father is the original of all natural life and good, being the great Creator, so the Son, as Redeemer, is the original of all spiritual life and good; is that to the church which the Father is to the world; see Co1 8:6; Col 1:19. The kingdom of grace, and all the life in that kingdom, are as fully and absolutely in the hand of the Redeemer as the kingdom of providence is in the hand of the Creator; and as God, who gives being to all things, has his being of himself, so Christ, who gives life, raised himself to life by his own power, Joh 10:18. [3.] His acting according to this authority and ability. Having life in himself, and being authorized to quicken whom he will, by virtue hereof there are, accordingly, two resurrections performed by his powerful word, both which are here spoken of: - First, A resurrection that now is (Joh 5:29), a resurrection from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, by the power of Christ's grace. The hour is coming, and now is. It is a resurrection begun already, and further to be carried on, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. This is plainly distinguished from that in Joh 5:28, which speaks of the resurrection at the end of time. This says nothing, as that does, of the dead in their graces, and of all of them, and their coming forth. Now, 1. Some think this was fulfilled in those whom he miraculously raised to life, Jairus's daughter, the widow's son, and Lazarus; and it is observable that all whom Christ raised were spoken to, as, Damsel, arise; Young man, arise; Lazarus, come forth; whereas those raised under the Old Testament were raised, not by a word, but other applications, Kg1 17:21; Kg2 4:34; Kg2 13:21. Some understand it of those saints that rose with Christ; but we do not read of the voice of the Son of God calling them. But, 2. I rather understand it of the power of the doctrine of Christ, for the recovering and quickening of those that were dead in trespasses and sins, Eph 2:1. The hour was coming when dead souls should be made alive by the preaching of the gospel, and a spirit of life from God accompanying it: nay, it then was, while Christ was upon earth. It may refer especially to the calling of the Gentiles, which is said to be as life from the dead, and, some think, was prefigured by Ezekiel's vision (Eze 37:1), and foretold, Isa 26:19. Thy dead men shall live. But it is to be applied to all the wonderful success of the gospel, among both Jews and Gentiles; an hour which still is, and is still coming, till all the elect be effectually called. Note, (1.) Sinners are spiritually dead, destitute of spiritual life, sense, strength, and motion, dead to God, miserable, but neither sensible of their misery nor able to help themselves out of it. (2.) The conversion of a soul to God is its resurrection from death to life; then it begins to live when it begins to live to God, to breathe after him, and move towards him. (3.) It is by the voice of the Son of God that souls are raised to spiritual life; it is wrought by his power, and that power conveyed and communicated by his word: The dead shall hear, shall be made to hear, to understand, receive, and believe, the voice of the Son of God, to hear it as his voice; then the Spirit by it gives life, otherwise the letter kills. (4.) The voice of Christ must be heard by us, that we may live by it. They that hear, and attend to what they hear, shall live. Hear and your soul shall live, Isa 55:3. Secondly, A resurrection yet to come; this is spoken of, Joh 5:28, Joh 5:29, introduced with, "Marvel not at this, which I have said of the first resurrection, do not reject it as incredible and absurd, for at the end of time you shall all see a more sensible and amazing proof of the power and authority of the Son of man." As his own resurrection was reserved to be the final and concluding proof of his personal commission, so the resurrection of all men is reserved to be a like proof of his commission to be executed by his spirit. Now observe here, a. When this resurrection shall be: The hour is coming; it is fixed to an hour, so very punctual is this great appointment. The judgment is not adjourned sine die - to some time not yet pitched upon; no, he hath appointed a day. The hour is coming. (a.) It is not yet come, it is not the hour spoken of at Joh 5:25, that is coming, and now is. Those erred dangerously who said that the resurrection was past already, Ti2 2:18, But, (b.) It will certainly come, it is coming on, nearer every day than other; it is at the door. How far off it is we know not; but we know that it is infallibly designed and unalterably determined. b. Who shall be raised: All that are in the graves, all that have died from the beginning of time, and all that shall die to the end of time. It was said (Dan 12:2), Many shall arise; Christ here tells us that those many shall be all; all must appear before the Judge, and therefore all must be raised; every person, and the whole of every person; every soul shall return to its body, and every bone to its bone. The grave is the prison of dead bodies, where they are detained; their furnace, where they are consumed (Job 24:19); yet, in prospect of their resurrection, we may call it their bed, where they sleep to be awaked again; their treasury, where they are laid up to be used again. Even those that are not put into graves shall arise; but, because most are put into graves, Christ uses this expression, all that are in the graves. The Jews used the word sheol for the grave, which signifies the state of the dead; all that are in that state shall hear. c. How they shall be raised. Two things are here told us: - (a.) The efficient of this resurrection: They shall hear his voice; that is, he shall cause them to hear it, as Lazarus was made to hear that word, Come forth; a divine power shall go along with the voice, to put life into them, and enable them to obey it. When Christ rose, there was no voice heard, not a word spoken, because he rose by his own power; but at the resurrection of the children of men we find three voices spoken of, Th1 4:16. The Lord shall descend with a shout, the shout of a king, with the voice of the archangel; either Christ himself, the prince of the angels, or the commander-in-chief, under him, of the heavenly hosts; and with the trumpet of God: the soldier's trumpet sounding the alarm of war, the judge's trumpet publishing the summons to the court. (b.) The effect of it: They shall come forth out of their graves, as prisoners out of their prison-house; they shall arise out of the dust, and shake themselves from it; see Isa 52:1, Isa 52:2, Isa 52:11. But this is not all; they shall appear before Christ's tribunal, shall come forth as those that are to be tried, come forth to the bar, publicly to receive their doom. d. To what they shall be raised; to a different state of happiness or misery, according to their different character; to a state of retribution, according to what they did in the state of probation. (a.) They that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life; they shall live again, to live for ever. Note, [a.] Whatever name men are called by, or whatever plausible profession they make, it will be well in the great day with those only that have done good, have done that which is pleasing to God and profitable to others. [b.] The resurrection of the body will be a resurrection of life to all those, and those only, that have been sincere and constant in doing good. They shall not only be publicly acquitted, as a pardoned criminal, we say, has his life, but they shall be admitted into the presence of God, and that is life, it is better than life; they shall be attended with comforts in perfection. To live is to be happy, and they shall be advanced above the fear of death; that is life indeed in which mortality is for ever swallowed up. (b.) They that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation; they shall live again, to be for ever dying. The Pharisees thought that the resurrection pertained only to the just, but Christ here rectifies that mistake. Note, [a.] Evil doers, whatever they pretend, will be treated in the day of judgment as evil men. [b.] The resurrection will be to evil doers, who did not by repentance undo what they had done amiss, a resurrection of damnation. They shall come forth to be publicly convicted of rebellion against God, and publicly condemned to everlasting punishment; to be sentenced to it, and immediately sent to it without reprieve. Such will the resurrection be. (2.) Observe what is here said concerning the Mediator's authority to execute judgment, Joh 5:22-24, Joh 5:27. As he has an almighty power, so he has a sovereign jurisdiction; and who so fit to preside in the great affairs of the other life as he who is the Father and fountain of life? Here is, [1.] Christ's commission or delegation to the office of a judge, which is twice spoken of here (Joh 5:22): He hath committed all judgment to the Son; and again (Joh 5:27): he hath given him authority. First, The Father judges no man; not that the Father hath resigned the government, but he is pleased to govern by Jesus Christ; so that man is not under the terror of dealing with God immediately, but has the comfort of access to him by a Mediator. Having made us, he may do what he pleases with us, as the potter with the clay; yet he does not take advantage of this, but draws us with the cords of a man. 2. He does not determine our everlasting condition by the covenant of innocency, nor take the advantage he has against us for the violation of that covenant. The Mediator having undertaken to make a vicarious satisfaction, the matter is referred to him, and God is willing to enter upon a new treaty; not under the law of the Creator, but the grace of the Redeemer. Secondly, He has committed all judgment to the Son, has constituted him Lord of all (Act 10:36; Rom 14:9), as Joseph in Egypt, Gen 41:40. This was prophesied of, Psa 72:1; Isa 11:3, Isa 11:4; Jer 23:5; Mic 5:1-4; Psa 67:4; Psa 96:13; Psa 98:9. All judgment is committed to our Lord Jesus; for 1. He is entrusted with the administration of the providential kingdom, is head over all things (Eph 1:11), head of every man, Co1 11:3. All things consist by him, Col 1:17. 2. He is empowered to make laws immediately to bind conscience. I say unto you is now the form in which the statues of the kingdom of heaven run. Be it enacted by the Lord Jesus, and by his authority. All the acts now in force are touched with his sceptre. 3. He is authorized to appoint and settle the terms of the new covenant, and to draw up the articles of peace between God and man; it is God in Christ that reconciles the world, and to him he has given power to confer eternal life. The book of life is the Lamb's book; by his award we must stand or fall. 4. He is commissioned to carry on and complete the war with the powers of darkness; to cast out and give judgment against the prince of this world, Joh 12:31. He is commissioned not only to judge, but to make war, Rev 19:11. All that will fight for God against Satan must enlist themselves under his banner. 5. He is constituted sole manager of the judgment of the great day. The ancients generally understood these words of that crowning act of his judicial power. The final and universal judgment is committed to the Son of man; the tribunal is his, it is the judgment-seat of Christ; the retinue is his, his mighty angels; he will try the causes, and pass the sentence. Act 17:31. Thirdly, He has given him authority to execute judgment also, Joh 5:27. Observe, 1. What the authority is which our Redeemer is invested with: An authority to execute judgment; he has not only a legislative and judicial power, but an executive power too. The phrase here is used particularly for the judgment of condemnation, Jde 1:15. poiēsai krisin - to execute judgment upon all; the same with his taking vengeance, Th2 1:8. The ruin of impenitent sinners comes from the hand of Christ; he that executes judgment upon them is the same that would have wrought salvation for them, which makes the sentence unexceptionable; and there is no relief against the sentence of the Redeemer; salvation itself cannot save those whom the Saviour condemns, which makes the ruin remediless. 2. Whence he has that authority: the Father gave it to him. Christ's authority as Mediator is delegated and derived; he acts as the Father's Viceregent, as the Lord's Anointed, the Lord's Christ. Now all this redounds very much to the honour of Christ, acquitting him from the guilt of blasphemy, in making himself equal with God; and very much to the comfort of all believers, who may with the greatest assurance venture their all in such hands. [2.] Here are the reasons (reasons of state) for which this commission was given him. He has all judgment committed to him for two reasons: - First, Because he is the Son of man; which denotes these three things: - 1. His humiliation and gracious condescension. Man is a worm, the son of man a worm; yet this was the nature, this the character, which the Redeemer assumed, in pursuance of the counsels of love; to this low estate he stooped, and submitted to all the mortifications attending it, because it was his Father's will; in recompence therefore of this wonderful obedience, God did thus dignify him. Because he condescended to be the Son of man, his Father made him Lord of all, Phi 2:8, Phi 2:9. 2. His affinity and alliance to us. The Father has committed the government of the children of men to him, because, being the Son of man, he is of the same nature with those whom he is set over, and therefore the more unexceptionable, and the more acceptable, as a Judge. Their governor shall proceed from the midst of them, Jer 30:21. Of this that law was typical; One of thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee, Deu 17:15. 3. His being the Messiah promised. In that famous vision of his kingdom and glory, Dan 7:13, Dan 7:14, he is called the Son of man; and Psa 8:4-6. Thou has made the Son of man have dominion over the works of thy hands. He is the Messiah, and therefore is invested with all this power. The Jews usually called the Christ the Son of David; but Christ usually called himself the Son of man, which was the more humble title, and bespeaks him a prince and Saviour, not the Jewish nation only, but to the whole race of mankind. Secondly, That all men should honour the Son, Joh 5:23. The honouring of Jesus Christ is here spoken of as God's great design (the Son intended to glorify the Father, and therefore the Father intended to glorify the Son, Joh 12:32); and as man's great duty, in compliance with that design. If God will have the Son honoured, it is the duty of all to whom he is made known to honour him. Observe here, 1. The respect that is to be paid to our Lord Jesus: We must honour the Son, must look upon him as one that is to be honoured, both on account of his transcendent excellences and perfections in himself, and of the relations he stands in to us, and must study to give him honour accordingly; must confess that he is Lord, and worship him; must honour him who was dishonoured for us. 2. The degree of it: Even as they honour the Father. This supposes it to be our duty to honour the Father; for revealed religion is founded on natural religion, and directs us to honour the Son, to honour him with divine honour; we must honour the Redeemer with the same honour with which we honour the Creator. So far was it from blasphemy for him to make himself equal with God that it is the highest injury that can be for us to make him otherwise. The truths and laws of the Christian religion, so far as they are revealed, are as sacred and honourable as those of natural religion, and to be equally had in estimation; for we lie under the same obligations to Christ, the Author of our being; and have as necessary a dependence upon the Redeemer's grace as upon the Creator's providence, which is a sufficient ground for this law - to honour the Son as we honour the Father. To enforce this law, it is added, He that honours not the Son honours not the Father who has sent him. Some pretend a reverence for the Creator, and speak honourably of him, who make light of the Redeemer, and speak contemptibly of him; but let such know that the honours and interests of the Father and Son are so inseparably twisted and interwoven that the Father never reckons himself honoured by any that dishonour the Son. Note, (1.) Indignities done to the Lord Jesus reflect upon God himself, and will so be construed and reckoned for in the court of heaven. The Son having so far espoused the Father's honour as to take to himself the reproaches cast on him (Rom 15:3), the Father does no less espouse the Son's honour, and counts himself struck at through him. (2.) The reason of this is because the Son is sent and commissioned by the Father; it is the Father who hath sent him. Affronts to an ambassador are justly resented by the prince that sends him. And by this rule those who truly honour the Son honour the Father also; see Phi 2:11. [3.] Here is the rule by which the Son goes in executing this commission, so those words seem to come in (Joh 5:24): He that heareth and believeth hath everlasting life. Here we have the substance of the whole gospel; the preface commands attention to a thing most weighty, and assent to a thing most certain: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, I, to whom you hear all judgment is committed, I, in whose lips is a divine sentence; take from me the Christian's character and charter." First, The character of a Christian: He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me. To be a Christian indeed is, 1. To hear the word of Christ. It is not enough to be within hearing of it, but we must attend on it, as scholars on the instructions of their teachers; and attend to it, as servants to the commands of their masters; we must hear and obey it, must abide by the gospel of Christ as the fixed rule of our faith and practice. 2. To believe on him that sent him; for Christ's design is to bring us to God; and, as he is the first original of all grace, so is he the last object of all faith. Christ is our way; God is our rest. We must believe on God as having sent Jesus Christ, and recommended himself to our faith and love, by manifesting his glory in the face of Jesus Christ (Co2 4:6), as his Father and our Father. Secondly, The charter of a Christian, in which all that are Christians indeed are interested. See what we get by Christ. 1. A charter of pardon: He shall not come into condemnation. The grace of the gospel is a full discharge from the curse of the law. A believer shall not only not lie under condemnation eternally, but shall not come into condemnation now, not come into the danger of it (Rom 8:1), not come into judgment, not be so much as arraigned. 2. A charter of privileges: He is passed out of death to life, is invested in a present happiness in spiritual life and entitled to a future happiness in eternal life. The tenour of the first covenant was, Do this and live; the man that doeth them shall live in them. Now this proves Christ equal with the Father that he has power to propose the same benefit to the hearers of his word that had been proposed to the keepers of the old law, that is, life: Hear and live, believe and live, is what we may venture our souls upon, when we are disabled to do and live; see Joh 17:2. [4.] Here is the righteousness of his proceedings pursuant to this commission, Joh 5:30. All judgment being committed to him, we cannot but ask how he manages it. And here he answers, My judgment is just. All Christ”

“But Jesus answered them,.... Being convened before them, and charged by them with the violation of the sabbath, he vindicated himself in the following manner, saying; my Father worketh hitherto: he who is my Father, not by creation, or adoption, but by nature, though he ended all his work on the seventh day, and rested from what he had done; yet he did not cease from working at all, but has continued to work ever since, on sabbath days, as well as on other days; in upholding and governing the world, in continuing the species of beings, and all creatures in their being; in providing for them, and in dispensing the bounties of his providence to them; in causing his sun to shine, and showers of rain to descend on the earth; and in taking care of, and protecting even the meanest of his creatures: and much more men; and still more his own people: and I work; or "also I work"; as the Syriac and Arabic version reads; i.e. in conjunction with him, as a co-efficient cause in the works of providence, in the government of the world, in upholding all things in it, in bearing up the pillars of the earth, in holding things together, and sustaining all creatures: or I also work in imitation of him, in doing good both to the bodies and souls of men on the sabbath day, being the Lord of it: I do but what my Father does, and therefore, as he is not to be blamed for his works on that day, as none will say he is, no more am I. So Philo the Jew says (b), "God never ceases to work; but as it is the property of fire to burn, and of snow to cool, so of God to work.'' And what most men call fortune, he calls the divine Logos, or word, to whom he ascribes all the affairs of providence (c). (b) Leg. Ailegor. l. 1. p. 41. (c) Quod Deus sit Immutab. p. 318.”

“My Father worked hitherto, and I work - Or, As my Father worketh until now, etc., καθως being understood. God created the world in six days: on the seventh he rested from all creating acts, and set it apart to be an everlasting memorial of his work. But, though he rested from creating, he never ceased from preserving and governing that which he had formed: in this respect he can keep no sabbaths; for nothing can continue to exist, or answer the end proposed by the Divine wisdom and goodness, without the continual energy of God. So I work - I am constantly employed in the same way, governing and supporting all things, comforting the wretched, and saving the lost; and to me, in this respect, there is no sabbath.”

“My father worketh until now: [3] and I work. The Jews looked upon it of obligation to do nothing on the sabbath, because God is said to have rested the seventh day; on which account the rest on the seventh day was commanded. Christ puts them in mind, that though it be said he rested the seventh day, (that is, produced no more new kinds of creatures) yet that God may be said to work always, by preserving and continually governing the world: and I, saith he, do all things that he doth, I work with him, being one and the same in nature and substance with him: nay, even as man, I do nothing but what is conformable to his will; and so you need not fear that I break the sabbath. — The Christian faith teacheth us, that Jesus Christ was both God and Man. The objections of the ancient and modern Arians, only shew that Christ was also truly a man, and that divers things which he speaks of himself, or which are said of him in the holy Scriptures, apply to him as man. Nothing is more certain, and agreed on by all. But at the same time we ought to take notice, that Christ has affirmed many things of himself, and many things are asserted of him in the Scriptures, which by no means could be applied to him unless he were also truly and properly one and the same God with his eternal Father. And these are the passages by which the Arians and Socinians might be convinced of their errors and blasphemies. (Witham) — If Christ had not been the natural Son of God, these words, which he says in excuse of his seeming breach of the sabbath, would rather have increased the strength of their accusation. For no governor, when accused of any crime, excuses himself by saying the king does the same. But as the Son is equal to the Father, his excuse is a true one. (St. Chrysostom, hom. xxxvii. in Joan.) — The rest God entered into after the creation, and which he was pleased to honour by that of the sabbath, is no hinderance to the operations of his power in the preservation of his works, nor to the operations of his grace in the sanctification of souls.”