¹⁷ Jesus defended himself. He said to them, “My Father is always doing his work. He is working right up to this day. I am working too.” ¹⁸ For this reason the Jewish leaders tried even harder to kill him. According to them, Jesus was not only breaking the law of the Sabbath day. He was even calling God his own Father. He was making himself equal with God.

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “What I’m about to tell you is true. The Son can do nothing by himself. He can do only what he sees his Father doing. What the Father does, the Son also does.