Jesus had the power to perform... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son of man can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do; for whatever he does, the Son also does in like manner. ...I can of myself do nothing...I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me.
John 5:19.30.

Jesus had the power to perform astonishing miracles: He is, after all, God the Son. The words, "I can of myself do nothing" seem to indicate that His power was in some way limited.

Should anything in the Bible sound unusual, it is often important, as here. Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders who were furious that He had again healed on the Sabbath (vv. 1-18). They wanted the law that God had given Moses to be kept at all costs in the way they understood and interpreted it. As the law forbade work on the Sabbath, healing on the Sabbath was equally forbidden, so they thought. But the Lord explained that it was not disobedience if He exercised mercy.

Jesus here called God His Father and Himself the Son. His listeners clearly understood that He thus claimed to be equal with God. But they considered that blasphemy. The Lord did not tone down His assertion, but stressed it further by confirming what the Bible teaches about the relationships within the deity.

As the Son, He indeed claimed equality with the Father (cf. Philippians 2:6). On earth, however, He voluntarily accepted a position of dependence on God His Father in His life and dealings, although He possessed divine power at the same time (vv. 25-27).

What we learn here about the Lord's Person and about God is important: all that the Lord did corresponded fully to the Father's will. His life made it clear how mankind should live.

Today's reading: Leviticus 15:1-33 · Psalms 63:1-11