
John Chrysostom
Catena Aurea · Johannesevangelium 5
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. And (He) said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee.
(Hom. xxxviii. 2) Christ defended His disciples, by putting forward the example of their fellow-servant David: but He defends Himself by a reference to the Father. We may observe too that He does not defend Himself as man, nor yet purely as God, but sometimes as one, sometimes as the other; wishing both to he believed, both the dispensation of His humiliation, and the dignity of His Godhead; wherefore He shews His equality to the Father, both by calling Him His Father emphatically, (My Father,) and by declaring that He doeth the same things, that the Father doth, (And I work.) Therefore, it follows, the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was His Father.