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Selected Verse: John 5:17 - Webster
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Joh 5:17 |
Webster |
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. |
| |
King James |
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
| My Father worketh hitherto and I work--The "I" is emphatic; "The creative and conservative activity of My Father has known no sabbath-cessation from the beginning until now, and that is the law of My working." |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
My Father - God.
Worketh hitherto - Worketh "until now," or until this time. God has not ceased to work on the Sabbath. He makes the sun to rise; He rolls the stars; He causes the grass, the tree, the flower to grow. He has not suspended His operations on the Sabbath, and the obligation to "rest" on the Sabbath does not extend to Him. He created the world in six days, and ceased the work of creation; but He has not ceased to govern it, and to carry forward, by His providence, His great plans on the Sabbath.
And I work - "As God does good on that day; as he is not bound by the law which requires his creatures to rest on that day, so "I" do the same. The law on that subject may be dispensed with, also, in my case, for the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath." In this reply it is implied that he was equal with God from two circumstances:
1. Because he called God his Father, Joh 5:18.
2. Because he claimed the same exemption from law which God did, asserting that the law of the Sabbath did not bind him or his Father, thus showing that he had a right to impose and repeal laws in the same manner as God. He that has a right to do this must be God. |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
Worketh
The discussion turned on work on the Sabbath. The Father's work in maintaining and redeeming the world has continued from the creation until the present moment (ἕως ἄρτι): until now, not interrupted by the Sabbath.
And I work (κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι)
Or, I also work. The two clauses are coordinated. The relation, as Meyer observes, is not that of imitation, or example, but of equality of will and procedure. Jesus does not violate the divine ideal of the Sabbath by His holy activity on that day. "Man's true rest is not a rest from human, earthly labor, but a rest for divine, heavenly labor. Thus the merely negative, traditional observance of the Sabbath is placed in sharp contrast with the positive, final fulfillment of spiritual service, for which it was a preparation" (Westcott). |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| My Father worketh until now, and I work - From the creation till now he hath been working without intermission. I do likewise. This is the proposition which is explained Joh 5:19-30, confirmed and vindicated in Joh 5:31 and following verses. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| My Father worked hitherto, and I work - Or, As my Father worketh until now, etc., καθως being understood. God created the world in six days: on the seventh he rested from all creating acts, and set it apart to be an everlasting memorial of his work. But, though he rested from creating, he never ceased from preserving and governing that which he had formed: in this respect he can keep no sabbaths; for nothing can continue to exist, or answer the end proposed by the Divine wisdom and goodness, without the continual energy of God. So I work - I am constantly employed in the same way, governing and supporting all things, comforting the wretched, and saving the lost; and to me, in this respect, there is no sabbath. |
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
31 If I testify concerning myself, my testimony is not true.
19 Then answered Jesus, and said to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, The Son can do nothing by himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for whatever things he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
20 For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
21 For as the Father raiseth the dead, and reviveth them; even so the Son reviveth whom he will.
22 For the Father judgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment to the Son:
23 That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father who hath sent him.
24 Verily, verily, I say to you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but hath passed from death to life.
25 Verily, verily, I say to you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
26 For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation.
30 I can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father who hath sent me.