John 5:17 My Father is working_

But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working. John‬ ‭5:17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

For me, Jesus’ encounter with the sick man raises a few questions: Of the many people seeking healing, why only this man? Why the instruction to pick up his bed? It was the Sabbath and every Jew knows that this type of work is prohibited (with a penalty of death! Numbers 15:32-33). Then, why did Jesus circle back around with the man and give him further instructions?

For Jesus the answer to these questions is simple: He is going to do what he saw his Father doing.

Work and the Sabbath

There is something about work that is both sacred and dangerous. Men (usually) love to work. There is something about “doing” that is wired into us. It’s easy to have an objective and to measure our success toward it. Achieving a goal is empowering — what I do matters and has consequences. Work, and good work, is sacred. And the best work was performed by God in Genesis 1 and 2 at the starting gun of man’s time on Earth. Yet by itself, the activity of work does not produce fellowship or intimacy. And therein is the danger — relationships take time, but so does work. I can only imagine that in the Garden Adam was mesmerized by the work he was doing and the power he felt in it. In a very real sense he was fulfilling Genesis 1:26 “Let us make man in our image…” But while working at the tasks at hand, his heart drifted ever so slightly from the walk with his Maker, it was our adversary’s opportunity to tempt. Adam and Eve took the bait. I find the resulting penalties that God handed out curious — if it is work that you value, then work you shall have. By the sweat of your brow you will eat.

Work is necessary, curse or no curse. It’s who we are. When we work, we reflect the very nature of God who is also a worker. And sometimes the work must be done to restore, such as with this man, before relationship may again take root.

Since that fateful day back in the garden, work is no longer optional. We must work to eat. And in this is the reason for the Sabbath, it was a requirement to help man recognize the need for real rest, and flip a switch of faith that comes with it. God stopped his work, rested, and enjoyed the work of creation on the seventh day. The law of Moses required men to do the same. There will always be work, but the Sabbath was established as an act of faith, saying, on this day God will provide even though I do not work. And in the observance of the Sabbath, He creates the capacity for relationship. This was reflecting a deeper truth—even in the middle of the curse of working—the works of God are complete. That’s really an amazing thing—they are complete even though he is still working. Just like I say I am redeemed when my body is dying. We don’t always see the reality of the kingdom on earth, but we may live knowing it is true. Stumbling over the timing of God’s fulfillment of a promise will always be an option, but He is trustworthy. The Sabbath is referring to a rest that is to come, that He delivered in experience today, but not one that is here. Yet he gives us the means to experience this rest both here and now in the Holy Spirit. There is still work to do and until His kingdom comes, we must still work as He works. The point Jesus and the Father are making with the Pharisees is that the Sabbath rest is not achieved by avoiding carrying a certain weight limit — that hardy provides real rest in one’s soul. It is achieved by removing the burden of sin and restoring our relationship with our God.

From the Creation up to this moment God has been ceaselessly working for man’s salvation. From such activity there is no rest, no Sabbath: for mere cessation from activity is not of the essence of the Sabbath. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

“My Father until now works, and I work”; as if the work of the Father had not come to an end on the seventh day, but continued until the present hour. Nay, as if the characteristic of the Father were just this, that He works. Philo perceived the same truth; God never stops working, for as it is the property of fire to burn and of snow to be cold so of God to work, Jesus means them to apprehend that there is no Sabbath, such as they suppose, with God, and that this healing of the impotent was God’s work. The Father does not rest from doing good on the Sabbath day, and I as the Father’s hand also do good on the Sabbath. In charging Him with breaking the Sabbath (John 5:18), it was God they charged with breaking it.
Expositor’s Greek NT

My Father

Jesus was calling God his father and based on what the Jews heard, distinguished himself as equal with Him. There were a few instances in Israel’s history in which God was referred to as Father. The prophets tenderly called Israel, as a nation, God’s child. God is our Father in a sense that from Him we were all created — not that he had intercourse with our mom. Yet Jesus was calling God his Father, like a child would call a man his dad. It was intimate and personal. As close as Moses and David were to God and as much as Isaiah and the prophets understood His heart as individuals, they did not have an “Abba, Father” relationship with him. They still were men from a fallen seed.

Jesus was, in fact, born from the seed of the Holy Spirit. God was his daddy, Mary was his mama. He had every right to call God his Father. The Jews considered this “making himself equal with God.” A father’s DNA is passed to the son. He is raised in the same house. And when he comes of age, he inherits what belongs to his father. So, in a very real sense, a son will become an equal with his father. This is an amazing reality because no man (since Adam) could make this claim. Yet, Jesus made it clear that he was his Father’s son.

“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” John‬ ‭10:29-30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” John‬ ‭10:37-38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:5-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

After Jesus said this, and the Jews accused him for it, he went on to explain what it means. And in this I can see an answer to many of my questions. This situation was an opportunity for the Father to make a point. He is not bound by the law of Sabbath, but rather, he is compelled by the law of relationship. And this interaction helps reset the relationship we are to have with him.

As I read this story and the coming verses of Jesus’ reply to the Jews, I am reminded that now believers are also considered the sons of God. We have been “grafted in” as Paul says in Romans. We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ who is our brother. Although we do not have the same biological seed as Jesus, we have been adopted and filled with the Holy Spirit and if we will believe it, there is no distinction between us. I long to be able to say the same: “My Father is working and so am I.”