John 5:17

RV 'My Father worketh even unto now, and I work.' (1) These words enunciate a new ideal of the sabbath. The 'rest' of God after the creation, which the sabbath typifies, is not mere inertia, but activity in doing good. So man's true sabbath rest is not inactivity, but leisure for work of a higher character, e.g. the worship of God, and works of mercy. (2) The words also imply our Lord's Deity, for (a) He claims that God is His Father in a unique sense ('My Father,' not 'our Father'), and (b) He coördinates His own work with God's.

19-29. An important doctrinal section. Our Lord, while affirming His filial subordination to the Father ('the Son can do nothing of Himself,' John 5:19), and the derivation of His own Being from His (John 5:26); yet declares that He exercises the Father's whole power and authority (John 5:20);—the power to quicken those dead in sins (John 5:25), the power to raise men from literal death at the Last Day (John 5:28), and the power to judge the world (John 5:22). He accordingly demands 'that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.'