16So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules.17But Jesus replied, "My Father never stops working, so why should I?"18So the Jewish leaders tried all the more to kill him. In addition to disobeying the Sabbath rules, he had spoken of God as his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.19Jesus replied, "I assure you, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.20For the Father loves the Son and tells him everything he is doing, and the Son will do far greater things than healing this man. You will be astonished at what he does.
(commentary by Marion Adams from www.easyenglishinfo/bible-commentary)
Verse 16 Jesus had done a wonderful *miracle. But the *Jewish leaders did not care about that. They cared only that Jesus had not obeyed one of their rules. But Jesus explained that God never stops his work. On the 7th day after God created everything, he rested (Genesis 2:2). But he rested only from his work of creation (that is, when God made everything out of nothing). If he had rested from all activities, the earth could not continue to go round the sun! God does not need to rest, because he does everything perfectly and without effort. However, people do need to rest. This is why God gave the *Sabbath as a special, holy day. But the *Jewish leaders had made it into a day when people had to follow many rules.
Verses 17-18 Jesus’ reply to the *Jewish leaders made them very angry. In fact, they hated him so much that they wanted to kill him. He said that God, his *Father, never stopped his work. So that was why Jesus had to work, too. Even on the *Sabbath, God continued to love people. So when Jesus cured people on the *Sabbath, he was doing God’s work. Jesus was saying that his work was really God’s work. And he was saying that he was *equal with God.
This upset the *Jewish leaders and it caused them to feel angry. They understood Jesus’ words. And Jesus was saying that he was God. The *Jews *believed in one God. But Jesus did not mean that he was another god. He was God’s Son and so he had a very special relationship with God, his *Father.
The *Jewish leaders had a choice. They could believe that Jesus was God’s Son. Or they could say that he was insulting God. It was a very serious crime to insult God. They chose to accuse Jesus of this crime.
We have the same choice today. Jesus said that he was God’s Son. We can believe what he said. Or we can say that his words are lies. We do not have any other choice.
Verses 19-20 In this passage, Jesus continued to explain more about his special relationship with his *Father. Jesus was *equal with God. But Jesus was also in complete unity with God. Jesus obeyed his *Father completely. So Jesus wanted only what his *Father wanted. All Jesus’ desires were the same as God’s desires. Jesus lived in the way that God wanted. Jesus did only what God wanted. When we look at Jesus, we are really looking at God.
Jesus obeyed his *Father because of the perfect love between them. And Jesus wants us to obey him, God’s Son, because then we are obeying God. We have unity with Jesus by means of the *Holy Spirit. So we must do only what Jesus wants. Our desires should be the same as his desires. Our relationship with Jesus should be like Jesus’ relationship with God, his *Father. We obey Jesus because we love him. When we have a decision to make, we should ask Jesus what to do. We should talk to him often, by means of prayer. Jesus prayed often. Then he knew what his *Father wanted him to do.
‘The *Father will show the Son even greater things to do than this’ (verse 20). Jesus had cured one man by means of a *miracle. But he would do even more wonderful things than this!
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