John 5:17-30
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
17 [a]But Jesus answered them,(A) “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.(B)
The Work of the Son. 19 [b]Jesus answered and said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing;(C) for what he does, his son will do also. 20 For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed.(D) 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,[c] so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.(E) 22 Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment[d] to his Son,(F) 23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life.(G) 25 Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.(H) 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself.(I) 27 And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man.(J) 28 [e]Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice(K) 29 and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation.(L)
30 “I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.(M)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 5:17 Sabbath observance (Jn 5:10) was based on God’s resting on the seventh day (cf. Gn 2:2–3; Ex 20:11). Philo and some rabbis insisted that God’s providence remains active on the sabbath, keeping all things in existence, giving life in birth and taking it away in death. Other rabbis taught that God rested from creating, but not from judging (= ruling, governing). Jesus here claims the same authority to work as the Father, and, in the discourse that follows, the same divine prerogatives: power over life and death (Jn 5:21, 24–26) and judgment (Jn 5:22, 27).
- 5:19 This proverb or parable is taken from apprenticeship in a trade: the activity of a son is modeled on that of his father. Jesus’ dependence on the Father is justification for doing what the Father does.
- 5:21 Gives life: in the Old Testament, a divine prerogative (Dt 32:39; 1 Sm 2:6; 2 Kgs 5:7; Tb 13:2; Is 26:19; Dn 12:2).
- 5:22 Judgment: another divine prerogative, often expressed as acquittal or condemnation (Dt 32:36; Ps 43:1).
- 5:28–29 While Jn 5:19–27 present realized eschatology, Jn 5:28–29 are future eschatology; cf. Dn 12:2.
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