John 5:17

17 But Jesus responded to them, "My Father is still working, and I am working also."

John 5:17 Meaning and Commentary

John 5:17

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 ^F3.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Leg. Ailegor. l. 1. p. 41.
F3 Quod Deus sit Immutab. p. 318.

John 5:17 In-Context

15 The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

16 Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.

17 But Jesus responded to them, "My Father is still working, and I am working also."

18 This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill Him: not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

19 Then Jesus replied, "I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way.