But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Parallel translations
- WEB But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.”
- BSB But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”
- 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 9:4I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
- John 14:10Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
- Col 1:16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
- 1 Cor 12:6And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
- Heb 1:3Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
- Gen 2:1–2Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
- Isa 40:26Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
- Acts 17:28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
- Acts 14:17Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
- Matt 10:29Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
- Ps 65:6Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power:
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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
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