ACC ~ John 5 v18

HE CALLED GOD HIS OWN FATHER

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: If he had simply called God his father, they would have not grumbled. But he called him his own Father as if he proceeded directly from him and was equal to him. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2 5.18. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:105.

THE REASON FOR HOSTILITY

AMBROSE: The Evangelist testifies that in calling himself God’s own Son, Jesus made himself equal to God. For the Jews are not presented as saying, “For this cause we sought to kill him.” Rather, the Evangelist, speaking for himself, says, “For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him.” Moreover, he has discovered the cause, [in saying] that the Jews were stirred with desire to slay him because, when as God he broke the sabbath and also claimed God as his own Father, Jesus ascribed to himself not only the majesty of divine authority in breaking the sabbath but also, in speaking of his Father, the right pertaining to eternal equality. ON THE CHRISTIAN FAITH 2.8.68. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 10:232*.

A LESSER BEING COULD NOT BREAK THE SABBATH LAW WITH IMPUNITY

CHRYSOSTOM: If he had not been the very Son and of the same essence, the defense he offered here would have been worse than the charge. For no viceroy could clear himself from altering a royal law by asserting that the king also broke the law. Not only would he not escape, but he would even increase the weight of the charge against him. But in this instance, since the dignity is equal, the defense is valid. And so he says, in effect, “Absolve me from the same charges from which you absolve God.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 38.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:133**.

JEWS UNDERSTAND WHAT ARIANS DO NOT

AUGUSTINE: So, the Jews understood what the Arians do not. For the Arians say that the Son is not equal to the Father, and hence sprang up that heresy that afflicts the church. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 17.16. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:116*.

THEY KNEW WHAT CHRIST WAS CLAIMING

CHRYSOSTOM: But those who do not want to receive these words with a reasonable mind assert that Christ did not make himself equal to God, but only that the Jews thought he did. Come then and let us go over what was said from the beginning. Did the Jews persecute him or not? It is clear to everyone that they did. Did they persecute him for this [1] or something else? Again, it was for this. Did he then break the sabbath or not? No one can have anything to say against the fact that he did. Did he call God his Father, or did he not call him so? This is true too. Then the rest also follows. To call God his Father, to break the sabbath and to be persecuted by the Jews for these things does not belong to the realm of false imagination but is actual fact. This means that his making himself equal to God was a declaration that is true as well. [2] HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 38.3. [3]

[1] That is, of breaking the sabbath.

[2] Lit.”of the same meaning.”

[3] NPNF 1 14:133-34**.

THE EVANGELIST WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SILENT IF THE JEWS WERE WRONG

CHRYSOSTOM: If Jesus had not wished to establish his equality and the Jews had made such a supposition without reason, Jesus would not have allowed their minds to be deceived. He would have corrected them. The Evangelist also would not have remained silent but would have plainly said that the Jews thought this but that Jesus did not actually make himself equal to God, which is what [John] had done elsewhere. [1] HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 38.3. [2]

[1] See Jn 2:19.

[2] NPNF 1 14:134**.

THE FLESH SEEN, BUT NOT THE WORD

AUGUSTINE: In one sense the Jews were right [about their indignation], because a man dared to make himself equal to God. But they were also wrong because they did not understand that it was God in the man. They saw the flesh, but they did not know God. They looked on the dwelling place, but they did not know the dweller. That flesh was a temple; God dwelt within it. Therefore Jesus did not equate his flesh to the Father. It was not the form of the servant that he compared to the Lord—not what he became for us, but what he was when he made us. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 18.2.1. [1]

[1] FC 79:125-26**.