5:19 So Jesus answered them, 1 “I tell you the solemn truth, 2 the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, 3 but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father 4 does, the Son does likewise. 5
5:36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds 6 that the Father has assigned me to complete – the deeds 7 I am now doing – testify about me that the Father has sent me.
Then 9 they said to Jesus, 10 “We were not born as a result of immorality! 11 We have only one Father, God himself.”
1 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
2 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
3 tn Grk “nothing from himself.”
4 tn Grk “that one”; the referent (the Father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 sn What works does the Son do likewise? The same that the Father does – and the same that the rabbis recognized as legitimate works of God on the Sabbath (see note on working in v. 17). (1) Jesus grants life (just as the Father grants life) on the Sabbath. But as the Father gives physical life on the Sabbath, so the Son grants spiritual life (John 5:21; note the “greater things” mentioned in v. 20). (2) Jesus judges (determines the destiny of people) on the Sabbath, just as the Father judges those who die on the Sabbath, because the Father has granted authority to the Son to judge (John 5:22-23). But this is not all. Not only has this power been granted to Jesus in the present; it will be his in the future as well. In v. 28 there is a reference not to spiritually dead (only) but also physically dead. At their resurrection they respond to the Son as well.
6 tn Or “works.”
7 tn Grk “complete, which I am now doing”; the referent of the relative pronoun has been specified by repeating “deeds” from the previous clause.
8 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
9 tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (א B L W 070 it sys,p co) lack the conjunction here, while the earliest witnesses along with many others read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì66,75 C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë13 33 Ï). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the combined testimony of two early papyri for the conjunction is impressive, the reading seems to be a predictable scribal emendation. In particular, οὖν is frequently used with the plural of εἶπον (eipon, “they said”) in John (in this chapter alone, note vv. 13, 39, 48, 57, and possibly 52). On balance, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic, even though “Then” is virtually required in translation for English stylistic reasons. NA27 has the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.
10 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.
11 sn We were not born as a result of immorality! is ironic, because Jesus’ opponents implied that it was not themselves but Jesus who had been born as a result of immoral behavior. This shows they did not know Jesus’ true origin and were not aware of the supernatural events surrounding his birth. The author does not even bother to refute the opponents’ suggestion but lets it stand, assuming his readers will know the true story.
12 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
13 tn Or “will do.”
14 tn Grk “the works.”
15 tn Or “that I do.”
sn See the note on miraculous deeds in v. 11.
16 tn Or “will do.”
17 tn Grk “greater works.”
sn What are the greater deeds that Jesus speaks of, and how is this related to his going to the Father? It is clear from both John 7:39 and 16:7 that the Holy Spirit will not come until Jesus has departed. After Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit to indwell believers in a permanent relationship, believers would be empowered to perform even greater deeds than those Jesus did during his earthly ministry. When the early chapters of Acts are examined, it is clear that, from a numerical standpoint, the deeds of Peter and the other Apostles surpassed those of Jesus in a single day (the day of Pentecost). On that day more were added to the church than had become followers of Jesus during the entire three years of his earthly ministry. And the message went forth not just in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, but to the farthest parts of the known world. This understanding of what Jesus meant by “greater deeds” is more probable than a reference to “more spectacular miracles.” Certainly miraculous deeds were performed by the apostles as recounted in Acts, but these do not appear to have surpassed the works of Jesus himself in either degree or number.
18 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.
19 tn Or “does not know.”
20 tn Grk “all things.”
21 tn Or “learned.”