But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”
Parallel translations
- WEB But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.”
- KJV But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
- NKJV But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
- NASB But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”
- NLT But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus answered that his Father is working still, and so is he. He claims a unique, ongoing relationship with God the Father.
Overview
Jesus justifies his Sabbath healing by appealing to God's continual upholding of creation, which the Sabbath rest never halted. By calling God 'my Father' and aligning his work with the Father's, he makes a profound claim. This statement asserts his divine sonship and his right to act with the Father's own authority.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- John 9:4While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
- John 14:10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father dwelling in Me, performing His works.
- Col 1:16For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.
- 1 Cor 12:6There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people.
- Heb 1:3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
- Gen 2:1–2Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
- Isa 40:26Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
- Acts 17:28‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’
- Acts 14:17Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
- Matt 10:29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
- Ps 65:6You formed the mountains by Your power, having girded Yourself with might.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 5:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.