John 5:19 (WEB)
Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise.
Catechism · 2
"I Believe in Life Everlasting"
“Our Lord often used the word "Amen," sometimes repeated,” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Mt 6:2, 5, 16; Jn 5:19.
The Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
“As "the Son can do nothing of his own accord," but receives everything from the Father who sent him, so those whom Jesus sends can do nothing apart from him,” — Catechism footnote: Jn 5:19, 30; cf. Jn 15:5.
Fathers and councils · 61
Tertullian
“It was the Son, therefore, who was always seen, and the Son who always conversed with men, and the Son who has always worked by the authority and will of the Father; because “the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do”—“do” that is, in His mind and thought.” — editor's note: John v. 19.
Read the whole comment“For as the Father hath eternal life in Himself, so also hath He given to the Son to have eternal life in Himself; and He hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man”—that is, according to the flesh, even as He is also the Son of God through His Spirit.” — editor's note: John v. 19–27.
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John Damascene
“And just as we say both that the fire shines and again that the light of the fire shines, So all things whatsoever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” — editor's note: St. John v. 19.
Read the whole comment“…whom shall we attribute this, My Father worketh hitherto and I work: and this, What things soever He seeth the Father doing, these also doeth the Son likewise: and this, If ye believe not Me, believe My works: and this, The work which I do bear witness concerning Me: and this, As the Father raised up the dead and…” — editor's note: Ibid. 19.
Read the whole comment“But all that He hath is not His by free gift or by teaching, but in a causal sense, as, The Son can do nothing of Himself but what He seeth the Father do.” — editor's note: Ibid. v. 19.
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Cyril of Jerusalem
“For honouring His own Father the Only-begotten saith, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do; for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” — editor's note: John v. 19.
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Eusebius of Caesarea
“As to our first and great High Priest, it is said, ‘Whatsoever he seeth the Father doing those things likewise the Son also doeth.’” — editor's note: John v. 19.
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Origen
“…the Lord Jesus Christ also, who is the Wisdom of God, declares of Himself when He says, “The works which the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”” — editor's note: John v. 19.
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Theodoret of Cyrus
“This then is He who said that He could do nothing of Himself.” — editor's note: John v. 19
Read the whole comment“Of the same from his discourse on “the Son can do nothing of Himself”:—” — editor's note: John v. 19
Read the whole comment“Of the same from his discourse on “The Son can do nothing of Himself”:—” — editor's note: John v. 19
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Ambrose of Milan
“For whatsoever things the Father doeth, the same also doeth the Son, in like manner.” — editor's note: S. John v. 19, 30.
Read the whole comment“Seeing that the Son worketh the works which the Father doeth, and that the Son quickens whom He will, as it is written, He is then equal in power and free in respect of His will.” — editor's note: S. John v. 19, 21.
Read the whole comment““Whatsoever things,” He said, “the Father hath done, the Son doeth also in like wise.”” — editor's note: S. John. v. 19.
Read the whole comment“Again, another objection that the Arians bring up, denying that the Power of the Father and the Son can be one and the same, is rested on His saying: “Verily, verily, I say unto you; the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He hath seen the Father doing.”” — editor's note: S. John v. 19.
Read the whole comment“We see, then, that two sorts of impossibility furnish no explanation, inasmuch as the Power of God can be neither insensible nor weakly.” — editor's note: i.e. we are not to suppose that in S. John v. 19 Jesus refers to any sort of physical impossibility, to any external restraint or limitation.
Read the whole comment“Thus the Son alone does what the Father does; for it is written: “Whatsoever things I do, He doth.”” — editor's note: S. John v. 19.
Read the whole comment“…argument to the injury of the Son, because the Son said of Himself: “As I hear I judge,” and “The Son can do nothing else than what He seeth the Father doing.”” — editor's note: S. John v. 19.
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Augustine of Hippo
“…the Father, and the Father is in me;” “that they may be one, even as we are one;” and, “Whatsoever the Father doeth, these same things doeth the Son likewise.”” — editor's note: John v. 19.
Read the whole comment“And this is in accordance with what He states a little further on in the same passage, when these parties were incensed at His declaration, namely, “For what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”” — editor's note: John v. 19.
Read the whole comment““Whatsoever things the Father doeth, these also the Son likewise doeth.”” — editor's note: John v. 19
Read the whole comment“Yet the same Son saith, “As the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will.”” — editor's note: John v. 19, 21
Read the whole comment“…life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself;” and that other: “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do.”” — editor's note: John v. 22, 27, 26, 19
Read the whole comment“For “the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do.”” — editor's note: John v. 19
Read the whole comment“And a little after, “For what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”” — editor's note: John v. 19.
Read the whole comment“On the words of the Gospel, John v. 19, “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing.”” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment““For what things soever the Father doeth;” Himself hath said, the Lord hath said, the Only-Begotten hath said, the Son hath said, the Truth hath said.” — editor's note: John v. 19.
Read the whole comment“…be regarded as distinct in person from the Father, let us listen to His other words, “What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise;” and He will be understood as speaking not of one person twice over, but of two who are one.” — editor's note: Chap. v. 21, 19.
Read the whole comment““For what things soever the Father doeth,” not other things, but “these also doeth the Son,” not in a different way, but “in like manner.”” — editor's note: Chap. v. 21, 19.
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John Chrysostom
“Ver.” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment“Seest thou that there was a cause wherefore He said there too that He “did nothing of Himself”? ( c. v. 19, and viii. 28.)” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment“…done so; but now, His saying, “That they should honor the Son even as they honor the Father” ( c. v. 23 ); His saying, “The works which He doeth, I do also” ( c. v. 19 ); His saying that He is “the Resurrection, and the Life, and the Light of the world” ( c. xi. 25; c. viii. 12 ), are the expressions of One making…” — the author cites it
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Hilary of Poitiers
“…assuredly He could Himself do all things that the Father could, as He says: What things soever the Father doeth, the Son also doeth in like manner, while the name describing the divine nature which was His inseparably involved the inseparable possession of divine power,—yet in order that He might present…” — editor's note: St. John v. 19.
Read the whole comment“…the Son to have life in Himself, as well as His likeness in activity by teaching us that What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise, such a man robs himself of the knowledge of eternal life which is in the Father and the Son, and let him be anathema.”” — editor's note: Ib. v. 19.
Read the whole comment“And they profess to be quite clear about His meaning in this passage, since He also says, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He hath seen the Father doing.” — editor's note: Ib. v. 19.
Read the whole comment“He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him.” — editor's note: St. John v. 19–22.
Read the whole comment“Further, to exclude Him from the proper nature of the true God, they quote, The Son can do nothing of Himself except that which He hath seen the Father do.” — editor's note: St. John v. 19.
Read the whole comment“In the same way He says, The Son can do nothing of Himself but what He hath seen the Father doing: for what things soever He doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner.” — editor's note: Ib. v. 19.
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Gregory of Nyssa
“…those blessings, I was saddened in my journey back to my native land, estimating now the truth of the Lord’s words, that “the whole world lieth in wickedness,” so that no single part of the inhabited earth is without its share of degeneracy.” — editor's note: 1 S. John v. 19.
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Jerome
“For “what things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”” — editor's note: Joh. v. 19.
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Basil the Great
“But another passage is also seized by those who are fighting against God to the perversion of their hearers: I mean the words “The Son can do nothing of Himself.”” — editor's note: John v. 19.
Read the whole comment““I live through [by, A.V.] the Father,” and the power of God; “The Son hath power [can, A.V.] to do nothing of himself.”” — editor's note: John v. 19.
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Gregory of Nazianzus
“…Add, if you like, Servant and Obedient and Gave and Learnt, and was commanded, was sent, can do nothing of Himself, either say, or judge, or give, or will.” — editor's note: Ib. v. 19, 30.
Read the whole comment“X. Sixthly, let it be asserted that it is written, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do.” — editor's note: John v. 19.
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Clement of Alexandria
“For still the Saviour saves, “and always works, as He sees the Father.”” — editor's note: John. v. 17, 19.
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Catena Aurea on John
- Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on John
He refers to the charge of violating the sabbath, brought against Him. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work; meaning that He had a precedent for claiming the right He did; and that what He did was in reality His…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Some who would be thought Christians, the Arian heretics, who say that the very Son of God who took our flesh upon Him, was inferior to the Father, take advantage of these words to throw discredit upon our doctrine,…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on John
Lest then that assertion of His equality, which must belong to Him, as by Name and Nature the Son, might throw doubt upon His Nativityf, He says that the Son can do nothing of Himself.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
As if He said: Why are ye offended that I called God My Father, and that I make Myself equal with God? I am equal, but equal in such a sense as is consistent with His having begotten Me; with My being from Him, not…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on John
That the wholesome order of our confession, i. e. that we believe in the Father and the Son, might remain, He shews the nature of His birth; viz. that He derived the power of acting not from an accession of strength…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
If we understand this subordination of the Son to arise from the human nature, it will follow that the Father walked first upon the water, and did all the other things which the Son did in the flesh, in order that…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Yet that walking of the flesh upon the sea was done by the Father through the Son. For when the flesh walked, and the Divinity of the Son guided, the Father was not absent, as the Son Himself saith below, The Father…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on John
Or thus; All things and the same, He says, to shew the virtue of His nature, its being the same with God’s. That is the same nature, which can do all the same things. And as the Son does all the same things in a like…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
Or thus; That the Son can do nothing of Himself, must be understood to mean, that He can do nothing contrary to, or displeasing to, the Father. And therefore He does not say that He does nothing contrary, but that He…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
This is not a sign of failing in Him, but of His abiding in His birth from the Father. And it is as high an attribute of the Almighty that He does not change, as it is that He does not die. The Son could do what He…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
And this is confirmed by what follows: For whatsoever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For if the Father does all things by Himself, so does the Son also, if this likewise is to stand good. You see how…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Having said that He did the same things that the Father did, and in a like way, He adds, For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth Him all things that Himself doeth. And sheweth Him all things that Himself doeth:…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on John
It must not be supposed that the Only Begotten God needed such shewing on account of ignorance. For the shewing here is only the doctrine of the nativityh; the self-existing Son, from the self-existing Father.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
For to see the Father is to see His Son. The Father so shews all His works to the Son, that the Son sees them from the Fatheri. For the birth of the Son is in His seeing: He sees from the same source, from which He…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on John
Nor did the heavenly discourse lack the caution, to guard against our inferring from these words any difference in the nature of the Son and the Father. For He says that the works of the Father were shewn to Him, not…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
But now from Him whom we called coeternal with the Father, who saw the Father, and existed in that He saw, we return to the things of time, And He will shew him greater works than these. But if He will shew him, i.…
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Cross-references · 39
Cited together in An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith III.15.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith I.18 and 2 other places.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith I.18 and 2 other places.
Cited together in An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith I.8 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Catechism §859.
Cited together in Letters Letter 17.
Cited together in Letters Letter 17.
Cited together in Homilies on the Psalms Homily 2.
Cited together in Homilies on the Psalms Homily 2.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith IV.4 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Catechism §859.
Cited together in Catechism §859.
Cited together in Catechism §859.
Cited together in Catechism §859.
Cited together in An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith I.8.
Cited together in An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith III.15 and 1 other place.
Cited together in An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith III.15 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith I.18.
Cited together in Letters Letter 17.
Cited together in Homilies on the Psalms Homily 2.
Cited together in Letters Letter 17.
Cited together in An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith I.8.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith IV.4.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith IV.4.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith IV.4.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith I.18.
Cited together in Catechism §1063 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith IV.4.
Cited together in An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith III.15.
Cited together in Catechism §1063.
Cited together in Catechism §1063.
Cited together in Catechism §1063.
Cited together in An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith III.15.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith I.18.
Cited together in Tractates on the Gospel of John Tractate 71.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith IV.4.
Cited together in An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith III.15.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith IV.4 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Exposition of the Christian Faith IV.4.