Yohanes 5:17-20

5:17 So he ¹  told ²  them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” ³  5:18 For this reason the Jewish leaders ⁴  were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.

5:19 So Jesus answered them, ⁵  “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁶  the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, ⁷  but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father ⁸  does, the Son does likewise. ⁹  5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed.

Yohanes 9:33

9:33 If this man ¹⁰  were not from God, he could do nothing.”

Yohanes 11:40-42

11:40 Jesus responded, ¹¹  “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” 11:41 So they took away ¹²  the stone. Jesus looked upward ¹³  and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. ¹⁴  11:42 I knew that you always listen to me, ¹⁵  but I said this ¹⁶  for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

Yohanes 14:10-11

14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? ¹⁷  The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, ¹⁸  but the Father residing in me performs ¹⁹  his miraculous deeds. ²⁰  14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, but if you do not believe me, ²¹  believe because of the miraculous deeds ²²  themselves.

[5:17]  ¹ tc ‡ Most witnesses (Ì⁶⁶ A D L Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt co) have ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, while generally better witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א B W {0141} 892 1241 pbo) lack the name. Although it is possible that Alexandrian scribes deleted the name due to proclivities to prune, this is not as likely as other witnesses adding it for clarification, especially since multiple strands of the Alexandrian text are represented in the shorter reading. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating some doubts as to authenticity.

[5:17]  ² tn Grk “answered.”

[5:17]  ³ sn “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” What is the significance of Jesus’ claim? A preliminary understanding can be obtained from John 5:18, noting the Jewish authorities’ response and the author’s comment. They sought to kill Jesus, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God. This must be seen in the context of the relation of God to the Sabbath rest. In the commandment (Exod 20:11) it is explained that “In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth…and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Philo, based on the LXX translation of Exod 20:11, denied outright that God had ever ceased his creative activity. And when Rabban Gamaliel II, R. Joshua, R. Eleazar ben Azariah, and R. Akiba were in Rome, ca. a.d. 95, they gave as a rebuttal to sectarian arguments evidence that God might do as he willed in the world without breaking the Sabbath because the entire world was his private residence. So even the rabbis realized that God did not really cease to work on the Sabbath: Divine providence remained active on the Sabbath, otherwise, all nature and life would cease to exist. As regards men, divine activity was visible in two ways: Men were born and men died on the Sabbath. Since only God could give life and only God could deal with the fate of the dead in judgment, this meant God was active on the Sabbath. This seems to be the background for Jesus’ words in 5:17. He justified his work of healing on the Sabbath by reminding the Jewish authorities that they admitted God worked on the Sabbath. This explains the violence of the reaction. The Sabbath privilege was peculiar to God, and no one was equal to God. In claiming the right to work even as his Father worked, Jesus was claiming a divine prerogative. He was literally making himself equal to God, as 5:18 goes on to state explicitly for the benefit of the reader who might not have made the connection.

[5:18]  ⁴ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 10.

[5:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[5:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:19]  ⁷ tn Grk “nothing from himself.”

[5:19]  ⁸ tn Grk “that one”; the referent (the Father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:19]  ⁹ sn What works does the Son do likewise? The same that the Father does – and the same that the rabbis recognized as legitimate works of God on the Sabbath (see note on working in v. 17). (1) Jesus grants life (just as the Father grants life) on the Sabbath. But as the Father gives physical life on the Sabbath, so the Son grants spiritual life (John 5:21; note the “greater things” mentioned in v. 20). (2) Jesus judges (determines the destiny of people) on the Sabbath, just as the Father judges those who die on the Sabbath, because the Father has granted authority to the Son to judge (John 5:22-23). But this is not all. Not only has this power been granted to Jesus in the present; it will be his in the future as well. In v. 28 there is a reference not to spiritually dead (only) but also physically dead. At their resurrection they respond to the Son as well.

[9:33]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “this one.”

[11:40]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”

[11:41]  ¹² tn Or “they removed.”

[11:41]  ¹³ tn Grk “lifted up his eyes above.”

[11:41]  ¹⁴ tn Or “that you have heard me.”

[11:42]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “that you always hear me.”

[11:42]  ¹⁶ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[14:10]  ¹⁷ tn The mutual interrelationship of the Father and the Son (ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστιν, egw en tw patri kai Jo pathr en emoi estin) is something that Jesus expected even his opponents to recognize (cf. John 10:38). The question Jesus asks of Philip (οὐ πιστεύεις, ou pisteuei") expects the answer “yes.” Note that the following statement is addressed to all the disciples, however, because the plural pronoun (ὑμῖν, Jumin) is used. Jesus says that his teaching (the words he spoke to them all) did not originate from himself, but the Father, who permanently remains (μένων, menwn) in relationship with Jesus, performs his works. One would have expected “speaks his words” here rather than “performs his works”; many of the church fathers (e.g., Augustine and Chrysostom) identified the two by saying that Jesus’ words were works. But there is an implicit contrast in the next verse between words and works, and v. 12 seems to demand that the works are real works, not just words. It is probably best to see the two terms as related but not identical; there is a progression in the idea here. Both Jesus’ words (recall the Samaritans’ response in John 4:42) and Jesus’ works are revelatory of who he is, but as the next verse indicates, works have greater confirmatory power than words.

[14:10]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “I do not speak from myself.”

[14:10]  ¹⁹ tn Or “does.”

[14:10]  ²⁰ tn Or “his mighty acts”; Grk “his works.”

[14:10]  sn Miraculous deeds is most likely a reference to the miraculous signs Jesus had performed, which he viewed as a manifestation of the mighty acts of God. Those he performed in the presence of the disciples served as a basis for faith (although a secondary basis to their personal relationship to him; see the following verse).

[14:11]  ²¹ tn The phrase “but if you do not believe me” contains an ellipsis; the Greek text reads Grk “but if not.” The ellipsis has been filled out (“but if [you do] not [believe me]…”) for the benefit of the modern English reader.

[14:11]  ²² tn Grk “because of the works.”

[14:11]  sn In the context of a proof or basis for belief, Jesus is referring to the miraculous deeds (signs) he has performed in the presence of the disciples.