Bible Strands
John 5:17
But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the Jewish leaders who are actively persecuting Him for performing a healing on the Sabbath. He speaks this reply at the precise moment they confront His Sabbath actions and prepare to intensify their hostility.
The words — πατήρ (patēr) = Father identifies the divine source sustaining creation, while ἀπεκρίνατο (apekrinato) = answered marks His direct rebuttal to their accusations. The parallel structure of His response claims identical operational authority with the Father.
The thread — This working motif continues in John 9:4 where Jesus links His daytime labor to the One who sent Him, and in John 14:10 where He grounds His words in the indwelling Father. Paul later echoes the theme in 1 Corinthians 12:6 by noting the same God works all things through varied operations.
Why it lands — The text states that Jesus places His own ongoing work on the same plane as the Father’s perpetual activity. It requires the reader to recognize that claiming divine working authority is the direct cause of the Jewish leaders’ attempt to kill Him.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Cross-references
- John 9:4 While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
- John 14:10 Do 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.
- 1 Corinthians 12:6 There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people.
- Colossians 1:16 For 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.
- Hebrews 1:3 The 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.
- Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
- Isaiah 40:26 Lift 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 14:17 Yet 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.”
- 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.’
- Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.