Jesus was a hard worker

JESUS WAS A HARD WORKER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 5:16-1816So, because Jesus was doing these
things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to
persecute him. 17In his defense Jesus said to them,
"My Father is always at his work to this very day, and
I too am working." 18Forthis reasonthey tried all the
more to kill him; not only was he breaking the
Sabbath, but he was even callingGod his own Father,
making himselfequal with God.
17In his defense Jesus said to them, "My Father is
always at his work to this very day, and I too am
working."
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
My Fatherworkedhitherto, and I work - Or, As my Fatherworkethuntil
now, etc., καθως being understood. God createdthe world in six days: on the
seventh he rested from all creating acts, and set it apart to be an everlasting
memorial of his work. But, though he rested from creating, he never ceased

from preserving and governing that which he had formed: in this respecthe
can keepno sabbaths; for nothing can continue to exist, or answerthe end
proposedby the Divine wisdom and goodness, withoutthe continual energy of
God. So I work - I am constantly employed in the same way, governing and
supporting all things, comforting the wretched, and saving the lost; and to me,
in this respect, there is no sabbath.
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
My Father- God.
Workethhitherto - Worketh“until now,” or until this time. God has not
ceasedto work on the Sabbath. He makes the sun to rise; He rolls the stars;
He causes the grass, the tree, the flowerto grow. He has not suspended His
operations on the Sabbath, and the obligationto “rest” onthe Sabbath does
not extend to Him. He createdthe world in six days, and ceasedthe work of
creation;but He has not ceasedto govern it, and to carry forward, by His
providence, His greatplans on the Sabbath.
And I work - “As God does goodon that day; as he is not bound by the law
which requires his creatures to reston that day, so “I” do the same. The law
on that subject may be dispensed with, also, in my case,for the Son of man is
Lord of the Sabbath.” In this reply it is implied that he was equal with God
from two circumstances:
1.Becausehe called God his Father, John 5:18.
2.Becausehe claimed the same exemption from law which God did, asserting
that the law of the Sabbath did not bind him or his Father, thus showing that
he had a right to impose and repeallaws in the same manner as God. He that
has a right to do this must be God.
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
But Jesus answeredthem, My Fatherworketheven until now, and I work.

My Father... Jesus here, as usually, affirmed the unique relationship between
himself and God. He taught the disciples to pray "Our Father," but many
times used "My Father" in his own reference to God. Jesus'argument here is
that such an interpretation as the priests insisted upon would make God
himself a sabbath-breaker!Does Godnot heal on the sabbath? Is not the
maintenance of the universe a work of God going on every secondof time,
sabbath days and all? These are the implications of Jesus'words, "My Father
workethhitherto." Also, it should be noted that Jesus here, by the use of the
first personpossessive, "MyFather," and by his statementthat he also works
(on the sabbath day) claimed equality with God, a claim made more
dogmaticallylater on in the interview, but clearly visible here also.
And I work ... By this, Jesus affirmed that he was doing exactly what God was
doing. The Fatherhad never ceasedto work in the support and maintenance
of all things, and therefore the Lord was in full characterwith the Father
when he healeda man on the sabbath day. Furthermore, no sabbath
regulation of any divine sanctionhad ever forbidden such an act.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
But Jesus answeredthem,.... Being convened before them, and chargedby
them with the violation of the sabbath, he vindicated himself in the following
manner, saying;
my Fatherworkethhitherto: he who is my Father, not by creation, or
adoption, but by nature, though he ended all his work on the seventh day, and
restedfrom what he had done; yet he did not cease fromworking at all, but
has continued to work eversince, on sabbath days, as wellas on other days; in
upholding and governing the world, in continuing the species ofbeings, and
all creatures in their being; in providing for them, and in dispensing the
bounties of his providence to them; in causing his sun to shine, and showers of
rain to descendon the earth; and in taking care of, and protecting even the
meanestof his creatures:and much more men; and still more his own people:

and I work;or "also I work";as the Syriac and Arabic version reads;i.e. in
conjunction with him, as a co-efficientcause in the works ofprovidence, in the
government of the world, in upholding all things in it, in bearing up the pillars
of the earth, in holding things together, and sustaining all creatures:or I also
work in imitation of him, in doing goodboth to the bodies and souls of men on
the sabbath day, being the Lord of it: I do but what my Father does, and
therefore, as he is not to be blamed for his works on that day, as none will say
he is, no more am I. So Philo the Jew saysF2,
"Godnever ceasesto work; but as it is the property of fire to burn, and of
snow to cool, so of God to work.'
And what most men call fortune, he calls the divine Logos, or word, to whom
he ascribes all the affairs of providenceF3.
Geneva Study Bible
3 But Jesus answeredthem, My Fatherworkethhitherto, and I work.
(3) The work of God was never the breach of the sabbath, and the works of
Christ are the works ofthe Father, both because they are one God, and also
because the Father does not work exceptin the Son.
John Lightfoot's Commentary on the Gospels
17. But Jesus answeredthem, My Fatherworkethhitherto, and I work.
[My Fatherworketh hitherto.] Our Saviour being called before the
Sanhedrim, 1, asserts the Messiahto be God: and, 2, that he himself is the
Messiah. 'The Sonof God' and 'the Messiah'are convertible terms, which the
Jews deny not; and yet have very wrong conceptions about'filiation,' or being
made a son.

St. Peterconfesseth, Matthew 16:16, "Thouart the Christ, the Son of the
living God." So also Caiaphas in his interrogatory, Matthew 26:63, "Tellus
whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God?" But they hardly agree in the
same sense and notion of sonship. Aben Ezra upon Psalm2:12, Kiss the Son,
confesseththat this is properly spokenof the Messiah;but in Midras Tillin
there is a vehement dispute againsttrue filiation. The same Aben Ezra
likewise confesseth, that in Daniel 3:25, one like the Son of God is to be taken
in the same sense with that of Proverbs 31:2, What, my son? and what, the son
of my womb? But Saadias and R. Solomonunderstand it of an angel.
"There is one who hath neither son nor brother; the Holy Blessed;who hath
neither brother nor son: he hath no brother, how should he have a son? only
that God loved Israel, and so calledthem his children."
It is not unknown with what obstinacy the Jews deny the Godheadof the
Messiah. Whence the apostle, writing to the Hebrews, lays this down as his
first foundation of discourse, Thatthe Messiahis truly God, Hebrews 1.
Which they, being ignorant of the great mystery of the Trinity, deny; fearing
lest, if they should acknowledge Messiahto be God, they should acknowledge
more Gods than one. Hence they every day repeatedin the recitals of their
phylacteries, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." And so, being
blind as to the mystery of the Trinity, are the more hardened to deny that.
Our Saviour strenuously asserts here the Godheadof the Son, or Messiah;
namely, that he hath the same power with the Father, the same honour due to
him as to the Father, that he hath all things in common with the Father. And
hence he makes this reply upon them about healing on the sabbath; "My
Father workethon the sabbath day, so do I also."
People's New Testament
My Fatherworkethhitherto, and I work. The answerof Jesus to his accusers
goes to the very rootof the matter. The basis on which the Sabbath restedwas
that God had ceasedhis creative labors on the seventh day. Jesus shows that

God's rest was not idleness. The Fatherhad continued his works of love and
mercy. He workedin these works right on till Jesus came;"now," says the
Son, "I work as my Fatherworks. There is no suspensionon the Sabbath of
works of benevolence and mercy." The Father's example is the pattern given
to direct man.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
Answered (απεκρινατο — apekrinato). Regularaoristmiddle indicative of
αποκρινομαι — apokrinomaiin John here only and John 5:19, elsewhere
απεκριτη — apekrithē as in John 5:11.
My Father(ο πατερ μου — ho pater mou). Not “our Father,” claim to
peculiar relation to the Father.
Worketheven until now (εως αρτι εργαζεται — heōs arti ergazetai). Linear
present middle indicative, “keeps onworking until now” without a break on
the Sabbath. Philo points out this fact of the continuous activity of God. Justin
Martyr, Origen and others note this fact about God. He made the Sabbath for
man‘s blessing, but cannotobserve it himself.
And I work (καγω εργαζομαι — kagō ergazomai). Jesusputs himself on a par
with God‘s activity and thus justifies his healing on the Sabbath.
Vincent's Word Studies
Worketh
The discussionturned on work on the Sabbath. The Father's work in
maintaining and redeeming the world has continued from the creationuntil
the presentmoment ( ἕως ἄρτι ): until now, not interrupted by the Sabbath.

And I work ( κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι )
Or, I also work. The two clauses are coordinated. The relation, as Meyer
observes, is not that of imitation, or example, but of equality of will and
procedure. Jesus does not violate the divine ideal of the Sabbath by His holy
activity on that day. “Man's true rest is not a restfrom human, earthly labor,
but a restfor divine, heavenly labor. Thus the merely negative, traditional
observance ofthe Sabbath is placedin sharp contrastwith the positive, final
fulfillment of spiritual service, for which it was a preparation” (Westcott).
Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes
But Jesus answeredthem, My Fatherworkethhitherto, and I work.
My Fatherworkethuntil now, and I work — From the creationtill now he
hath been working without intermission. I do likewise. This is the proposition
which is explained John 5:19-30, confirmed and vindicated in John 5:31 and
following verses.
The Fourfold Gospel
But Jesus answeredthem, My Fatherworketheven until now, and I work1.
My Fatherworketheven until now, and I work. The dual nature of Jesus
permitted both a divine and human attitude toward the sabbath. We have
shown that Jesus chose to asserthis divine attitude, for in no other matter did
these Jews have clearerdistinction as to the difference betweendivine and
human right than in this matter of sabbath observance.See . If Jesus were a
mere man, their ideas of law clearlycondemned him; but if Jesus were indeed
God, their knowledge ofdivine conduct in the whole realm of nature clearly
justified him, and the miracle assertedhis divine controlin nature's realm.
While God rested from creationon the sabbath, nothing can be clearerthan
that in works of sustenance, reproduction, healing, and providence. God has

never rested, and never made distinctions betweenthe days of our week. In
the light of the gospelwe find also that his redemptive work has never ceased
and, considering the part which Jesus was eventhen accomplishing in this
field of labor, his words, "and I work", are full of meaning.
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
17.MyFather workethhitherto. We must see what kind of defense Christ
employs. He does not reply that the Law about keeping the Sabbath was
temporary, and that it ought now to be abolished; but, on the contrary,
maintains that he has not violated the Law, because this is a divine work. It is
true that the ceremony of the Sabbath was a part of the shadows ofthe Law,
(99) and that Christ put an end to it by his coming, as Paul shows, (Colossians
2:16;) but the presentquestion does not turn on that point. For it is only from
their own works that men are commanded to abstain; and, accordingly,
circumcision— which is a work of God, and not of men — is not at variance
with the Sabbath.
What Christ insists upon is this, that the holy rest which was enjoined by the
Law of Moses is not disturbed when we are employed in works ofGod. (100)
And for this reasonhe excuses not only his own action, but also the actionof
the man who carried his bed; for it was an appendage, and — as we might say
— a part of the miracle, for it was nothing else than an approbation of it.
Besides, if thanksgiving and the publication of the divine glory be reckoned
among the works of God, it was not a profanation of the Sabbath to testify the
grace ofGod by feetand hands. But it is chiefly concerning himself that
Christ speaks, to whom the Jews were more hostile. He declares that the
soundness of body which he has restoredto the diseasedman is a
demonstration of his divine power. He asserts thathe is the Son of God, and
that he acts in the same manner as his Father.
What is the use of the Sabbath, and for what reasons itwas enjoined, I do not
now argue at greaterlength. It is enoughfor the present passage, that the

keeping of the Sabbath is so far from interrupting or hindering the works of
God, that, on the contrary, it gives way to them alone. For why does the Law
enjoin men to abstainfrom their ownworks, but in order to keepall their
senses free and occupiedfor considering the works of God? Consequently, he
who does not, on the Sabbath, allow a free course and reign to the works of
God, is not only a false expounder of the Law, but wickedlyoverturns it.
If it be objected, that the example of God is held out to men, that they may
rest on the seventh day, the answeris easy. Men are not conformed to God in
this respect, that He ceasedto work, but by abstaining from the troublesome
actions of this world and aspiring to the heavenly rest. The Sabbath or rest of
God, (101)therefore, is not idleness, but true perfection, which brings along
with it a calm state of peace. Noris this inconsistentwith what Moses says,
that God put an end to his works, (Genesis 2:2;) for he means that, after
having completedthe formation of the world, God consecratedthat day, that
men might employ it in meditating on his works. Yet He did not ceaseto
sustain by this powerthe world which he had made, to govern it by his
wisdom, to support it by his goodness, andto regulate all things according to
his pleasure, both in heavenand on earth. In six days, therefore, the creation
of the world was completed, but the administration of it is still continued, and
God incessantlyworkethin maintaining and preserving the order of it; as
Paul informs us, that in him we live, and move, and are, (Acts 17:28;) and
David informs us, that all things stand so long as the Spirit of God upholds
them, and that they fail as soonas he withdraws his support, (Psalms 104:29.)
Nor is it only by a generalProvidence that the Lord maintains the world
which He has created, but He arranges and regulates every part of it, and
more especially, by his protection, he keeps and guards believers whom he has
receivedunder his care and guardianship.
And I work. Leaving the defense of the present cause, Christnow explains the
end and use of the miracle, namely, that by means of it he may be
acknowledgedto be the Son of God; for the object which he had in view in all
his words and actions was, to show that he was the Author of salvation. What
he now claims for himself belongs to his Divinity, as the Apostle also says, that
he upholdeth all things by his powerful will, (Hebrews 1:3.)

But when he testifies that he is God, it is that, being manifested in the flesh, he
may perform the office of Christ; and when he affirms that he came from
heaven, it is chiefly for the purpose of informing us for what purpose he came
down to earth.
Ver. 17. "Jesus answeredthem: My Father workethuntil now, and I work."
The aoristmiddle ἀπεκρίνατο is found only here and in John 5:19; perhaps
also John 12:23. Its use may be occasionedby the personal, apologetic
characterof the following discourse. This utterance, like that of John 2:19
(comp. Luke 2:49), is like a flash of light breaking forth from the inmost
depths of the consciousnessofJesus, from the point of mysterious union where
He inwardly receives the Father"s impulse. These sudden and immeasurably
profound outbreakings of thought distinguish the language of Jesus from all
other language.
These words are ordinarily explained in this sense:"My Fatherworks
continually (that is without allowing Himself to stop on the Sabbath), and, for
myself, I work in the same way, without being bound by the legalstatute;"
either in that this declarationis applied to the work of God in the preservation
of the universe, when once the creationis finished, (Reuss), or in that it is
referred to the work of the salvationof humanity, which admits of no
interruption (Meyer). In both cases,Jesus wouldaffirm that He is no more
subjected, as a man, to the obligationof the Sabbatic rest, than is God
Himself. But if this were, indeed, His thought, He would not have said: until
this very hour ( ἔως ἄρτι), but always, continually ( ἀεί). This objectionis the
more serious, because,according to the position of the words, this adverb of
time, and not the verb, has the emphasis. Then, in the secondmember of the
sentence, Jesuscouldnot have refrained from either repeating the adverb or
substituting for it the word ὁμοίως, in the same way; "And I also work
continually, or likewise."

Besides, it would have been very easyto answerto this argument that the
position of a man with regard to the Sabbatic commandment is not the same
with that of God. Finally the declarationof Jesus, thus understood, would
contradict the attitude of submission to the law which He constantlyobserved
during His life. Born a Jew, He lived as a faithful Jew. He emancipated
Himself, undoubtedly, from the yoke of human commandments and Pharisaic
traditions, but never from that of the law itself. It is impossible to prove in the
life of Jesus a single contravention of a truly legalprescription. Death alone
freed Him from this yoke. Such is the impression which He left, that St. Paul
says of Him (Galatians 4:4): "born under the law," and characterizesHis
whole life by the expression(Romans 15:8): "minister of the circumcision."
Luthardt has fully perceivedthe specialsense whichthe adverb ἔως ἄρτι,
until this hour, must have. He has had the idea of contrasting it, not with the
Sabbatic institution, but with the final Sabbath yet to come:"Since up to this
time the work of salvationhas not been consummated, as it will be in the
future Sabbath, and consequentlymy Father works still, I also work." This
sense is certainly much nearerto the thought of Jesus;only the antithesis
betweenthe presentSabbath and the Sabbath to come is not indicated by
anything in the text.
To apprehend thoroughly the meaning of this utterance, let us for a moment
setaside the words ἕως ἄρτι, until this hour. Jesus says:"My Fatherworks,
and I also work." The relationbetweenthese two propositions is obvious. We
easilyunderstand that it is necessaryto combine logicallywhat is
grammatically in juxtaposition, and that it is as if it were: "Since my Father
works, I also work." The Son cannotremain idle when the Father is working.
We find again here that paratactic constructionwhich is conformed to the
genius of the Hebrew language, and which expresses by the simple copula,and,
one of the numerous logicalrelations which the genius of the Greek states with
precisionby means of some other conjunction; comp. John 1:10, John 2:9, etc.
Nothing is changedin this relation by the addition of the adverb ἐως
ἄρτι,until this hour. The meaning becomes the following:"Since my Father
works up to this moment, I also work."Passow, inhis Dictionary, remarks
that in Greek, especiallyin the later writers, ἄρτι following καί, as is the case
here, serves to indicate the immediate and rapid successionoftwo states;thus

in this sentence:ἄρτι ἀπείργαστο τὸ ἆσμα καὶ ἀπῆλθεν (the song was no
soonerfinished than he departed).
This is preciselythe relation of immediate successionwhich Jesus affirms here
as the law of His activity, as the true relationbetweenHis Father"s work and
His own, from which He draws the justification of the miracle which had been
made the subject of incrimination.Westcott, Weiss andKeil are unwilling to
see here an idea of subordination; they claim that the work of the Son is much
rather co-ordinated with that of the Father. But this allegedco-ordination
would not justify Jesus;for, as we have already said, the position of a man
cannot be compared to that of God. We must reachthe point ofdependence in
order that the argument may avail. And this relation of dependence it is,
indeed, which appears from the relation betweenthe two propositions: "Since
my Fatherworks until this moment, I also work." In order to graspthe
meaning of this word, at once simple and profound, it is sufficient to imagine
Jesus working with Josephin the carpenter"s shopat Nazareth. Can we not
readily understand the reply which He would have addressedto the one who
wished to turn Him aside from the work:"My Father works until now, and I
also [consequently] cannotcease to work." Jesusfinds Himself now with His
Heavenly Father in a vaster workshop;He sees Godat work in the theocracy
and in the whole world, occupiedwith working for the salvation of mankind,
and He suits His own localand personalworking to this immense work. This
is what He has just done in healing the impotent man; this modest healing is a
link in the greatchain suspended from His Father"s hand, a realfactor in the
work which Godis accomplishing here on earth. The development of this
thought will follow in John 5:19-20.
The meaning, therefore, is not: "I, as truly as God, have the right to work on
the Sabbath;" but: "I have done nothing but obey the signalwhich God gave
me at the moment..." Jesus sets forth, not the continuity of His working, but
his filial and devoted adaptation to the work of the Father. And if objectionis
made that this amounts to the same thing, since God might direct Him to
work even on the Sabbath, the answeris easy. God will not direct him to do
anything which is contrary to the position of Jew, which He has imposed upon
Him for the time of His earthly life. And He has done this none the more in
this case, since neitherthe wayin which Jesus healedthe impotent man, nor

the return of the latter to His dwelling, carrying his bed, really fell under the
prohibition of the Mosaic law, as rightly understood. Hilgenfeld has gone even
so far as to see in this saying of the Gospelan intentional contradictionof the
idea of the restof God in Genesis.
But the rest in Genesis refers to the work of God in the sphere of nature, while
the question here is of the divine work for the salvation of the human race. Is
there here, as is affirmed, pretentious metaphysics? No. It is the deepest
foundation of the peculiar filial life of Jesus, which all at once appears in this
marvelously concise saying. The life of Socratespresents a phenomenon which
has some analogyto that of which we have just had a glimpse. His genius
arrestedhim when he was on the point of acting contrary to the will of the
gods. But what a distance betweenthis purely negative actionand the positive
divine impulse to which Jesus attaches His whole work! And what an
appropriateness in this saying, what an imposing apology!It was to sayto His
adversaries:In accusing me, it is the Fatherwhom you accuse. It is the
legislatorHimself whom you reproach with the transgressionofthe law;for I
only acton a signalreceivedfrom Him. We canunderstand, however, how
this saying, instead of pacifying the adversaries, was onlylike the drop of oil
thrown upon the fire, and causedtheir rage to overflow.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
17 But Jesus answeredthem, My Father workethhitherto, and I work.
Ver. 17. My Father worketh]Yet without labour or lassitude, in conserving
the whole creature. This he doth every day, and yet breakethnot the sabbath;
Ergo nec ego, Therefore, neithdo I.
Sermon Bible Commentary

John 5:17
I do not think there is a better characteristic ofthe more earnestthinking of
these days than its profound reverence for faithful work;its profound sense
that if a man have found his work he has found his felicity. In the text we have
our Lord's own example, "My Fatherworketh hitherto, and I work." We are
not able to understand much concerning God; but we are perfectly sure of
this, that week-dayor sabbath-day He is never idle. He does not abide in
remote glory, hearkening to the praises of heaven. We think of Him as with
the keeneye that misses not a movement of a being in nature; with the sharp
ear that loses not a sound; with the unwearying hand that has wrought on
from eternity and will work on to eternity. The Being who has set every man
his work does not shrink from His own. And if He has appointed man's lot to
be a laborious one, He bids His creature do no other than He does Himself. He
does not say, Go; He says, Come.
I. God works in creation. When our bewildered mind owns its utter incapacity
to grasp the millionth part of the awful sum that we name so easilywhen we
say the universe, then remember that One Mind planned it all, and One Hand
fashionedit; that all this, with its infinite relations and adaptations, of which
science is daily telling us more, is God's work;and think what commentary it
reads on my text—"My Father workethhitherto."
II. God works in Providence. It is fresh this day. It is sustaining eachof us at
this moment. The universe is not like a machine that just needed to be wound
up once and then it could go by itself. It was not enough to launch a world on
its orbit and then leave it alone; its course must be steeredand prescribed, as
it rolls on its way. To think that everything that is high and low, in earth, and
air, and sea, is consideredby God's eye, is tended by God's hand—what a
comment on the Creatorand Redeemer's declaration, "MyFather worketh
hitherto, and I work."
III. God works in Redemption. What work on God's part is implied in man's
Redemption! All the persons of the Godhead are taskedhere. The Father so
loved us as to send the Son; the Son came and lived and died; the Blessed
Spirit must now apply the Gospelremedy to the refractory and repellent soul.

Truly, in the case ofeachseparate soulbrought into the fold of the Good
Shepherd, you may see a repetition of the work that was done in the creation,
that is done in the Providence of the outer world.
A. K. H. B., From a Quiet Place, p. 225.
References:John 5:17.—ChristianWorld Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 14; A.
Blomfield, Sermons in Townand Country, p. 233. John 5:19.—C. Kingsley,
Townand Country Sermons; p. 331. John 5:21-23.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol.
ii., p. 484. John 5:23.—H. Bonar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. v., p. 163;
Clergyman's Magazine, vol. i., p. 49. John 5:22-23.—Ibid., vol. iii., p. 18.
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
John 5:17. My Father workethhitherto,— Jesus beganhis defence with
shewing the rulers the unreasonableness oftheir displeasurewithhim, because
he had restoredthe infirm man to health on the sabbath-day. He told them,
that, in performing cures on the sabbath-day, he only imitated his Father, who
wrought every day of the week in doing goodto men by his unwearied
Providence;for, on the sabbath, as on other days, through the invisible
operationof his power, God supports the whole frame of nature, and carries
on the motion of the heavens, upon which the vicissitudes of day and night,
and of the seasons,depend; which are so necessaryto the production of food,
and the other means of life. As the Jews built their observationof the sabbath
upon God's having rested thereonfrom the works of creation, this argument
was decisive. Some render it, My Fatherworketheven till now.
Expository Notes with PracticalObservations onthe New Testament
From this verse to the end of the chapter, we have our Saviour's apologyfor
his working the foregoing cure on the impotent man on the sabbath day. And
the chief argument he insists upon, is drawn from his unity and eqaulity in
nature and operation with his Father; As the Father worketh, says he, so I

work. Here he speaks ofhimself, not as a servant, or instrument in the
Father's hand, but as the fellow-workerwith the Father, both in the works of
creation, and in the works of providence, and preservation also.
Learn hence, 1. That though Almighty God has long since ceasedfrom the
work of creation, yet not from the work of preservation. My father worketh
hitherto; not by creating new kinds of creatures but by upholding and
preserving what he has already created.
Learn, 2. That Christ the Son of God, is joined with, and undivided from the
Father, in working. As the Father createdall things by him (not as a man, and
as an instrument in his Father's hand; for then he was not such) but as his
fellow-worker, being equal in nature and power with the Father: in like
manner as the Fatherpreserveth, sustaineth, governeth, and upholdeth all
things, so doth Christ; the Father's actions and his being the same, My Father
workethhitherto, and I work.
Greek Testament CriticalExegeticalCommentary
17.]The true keeping of the restof the Sabbath was not that otiose and
unprofitable cessationfrom even gooddeeds, which they would enforce:the
Sabbath was made for man;—and, in its Jewishform, for man in a mere state
of legaldiscipline (which truth could not yet be brought out to them, but is
implied in this verse, because His people are even as He is—in the liberty
wherewith He hath made them free); whereas He, the only-begotten of the
Father, doing the works of God in the world, stands on higher ground, and
hallows, insteadof breaking the Sabbath, by thus working on it. “He is no
more a breakerof the Sabbath than God is, when He upholds with an energy
that knows no pause the work of His creationfrom hour to hour, and from
moment to moment; ‘My Father workethhitherto, and I work;’ My work is
but the reflex of His work. Abstinence from outward work belongs not to the
idea of a Sabbath, it is only more or less the necessarycondition of it for
beings so framed as ever to be in dangerof losing the true collectionand rest
of the spirit in the multiplicity of earthly toil and business. Man indeed must
ceasefrom his work if a higher work is to find place in him. He scatters

himself in his work, and therefore he must collecthimself anew, and have
seasonsforso doing. But with Him who is one with the Father, it is otherwise.
In Him the deepestrestis not excluded by the highest activity.” (Trench, Mir.
p. 257, edn. 2.)
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
John 5:17. ὁ πατήρμου, My Father) In what sense Jesus said, My Father, even
the Jews themselves understoodbetter than the Photinians: John 5:18, “The
Jews soughtto kill Him, because—He saidthat God was His Father, making
Himself equal with God.” Here is set down the main point of the discourses of
Jesus, whichJohn subsequently records:and especiallythose statements are
to be observed, which Jesus sometimes ofHis own accordhas put forth as a
kind of text to the fuller discourses whichfollow; for instance, ch. John 6:27,
“Labour—for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son
of man shall give unto you;” John 7:37, “If any man thirst, let him come unto
Me and drink;” John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.”— ἕως ἄρτι, hitherto)
all along from creation, without any Sabbath intermission. For He is not
bound by the Sabbath: He lacks not perpetual rest. If He were not to work,
where would be the Sabbath itself?— ἐργάζεται, worketh)An excellentspeech
as to the Divine works.— κἀλώ, andI) The Father works not without the Son:
the Sonnot without the Father: John 5:19, “The Son can do nothing of
Himself, but what He seeththe Fatherdo.” It is this proposition that is
explained from John 5:19-30 (whence John 5:19 is repeatedat John 5:30, “I
can of mine own self do nothing”), and is confirmed and vindicated, John
5:31, etc.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
We read of no objection they made to Christ, as to what he had done, only
that they persecutedhim, which they might do without speaking to him: but it
should seemby what we read in this verse, that some of the Jews had objected
to him his violation of the sabbath (as they thought); yet, as we before noted,

answered(in the dialect of the gospel)doth often signify no more than the
beginning of a discourse upon some proper occasionoffered. Our Saviour
defends himself from the example of his Father, in the remembrance of whose
resting from his work of creationon the seventhday from the beginning of the
creation, the Jews kepttheir sabbath; who, though he rested from his work of
creation, yet hitherto
worketh, as well on the sabbath day as any other day, by his preservationof
createdbeings: so (saith he) I, who am the Son of this Father, also work;
upholding all things by the word of my power, Hebrews 1:3. So that works of
Divine Providence are lawful on the sabbath day; such was this. I work no
other way than my Fatherstill worketh, though he restedon the seventh day
from the creation.
Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament
Workethhitherto; worketh without intermission in upholding and quickening
creation, ever since the day when he finished it.
I work;he claimed to be the Sonof God in such a sense that he had the power
and right of working as God works. This they thought was blasphemy; and
had he been only a man, it would have been. But as he was God as well as
man, chap John 1:1, it was speaking and acting according to truth. The
question was not whether Jesus possessedpowerto do those things, but it was
whether he exercisedhis power agreeableto the will of the Father, or in
opposition to it; and he answeredthem accordingly.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
17. ἕως ἄρτι. See on John 2:10. My Fatheris working evenuntil now; I am
working also. 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 cessationfrom activity is not of the essenceofthe Sabbath; and to
ceaseto do goodis not to keepthe Sabbath but to sin. Sabbaths have never

hindered the Father’s work;they must not hinder the Son’s. Elsewhere (Mark
2:27) Christ says that the Sabbath is a blessing not a burden; it was made for
man, not man for it. Here He takes far higher ground for Himself. He is equal
to the Father, and does what the Father does. Mark 2:28 helps to connectthe
two positions. If the Sabbath is subjectto man, much more to the Son of Man,
who is equal to the Father. Is not the Law-Giver greaterthan His laws? Note
the co-ordinationof the Son’s work with the Father’s.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
I. The eternal Sonship of Christ.
17. Workethhitherto—By virtue of his oneness with God, Jesus is truly Lord
of the Sabbath; and he no more violates the Sabbath by sending the current of
vitality through the limbs of this paralytic, than the Father violates the
Sabbath by keeping the stars in their courses, orsustaining the generations of
men in the flow of life. God, having indeed closedthe work of original creation
with the creationof man, rested therefrom through a long Sabbath of time,
even until now. God’s creative days were eachperhaps an age;and this
world’s long age may be his Sabbath. But he breaks neither that Sabbath, nor
the Sabbath-day that commemorates that repose, by carrying on the ordinary
train of nature or redemption. And as he has hitherto workedeven through
these Sabbaths, so do I work. I create nothing absolutely; but I control,
hasten, or evenvary, the processesofordinary nature.
Hitherto—From the close ofhis creative work until now.
I work—Mysecretpowerin healing this man worked, just as God’s secret
powerworkedin his generationand birth.
Expository Notes ofDr. Thomas Constable

Jesus defended Himself by stating that He was doing God"s work. The rabbis
regardedGod as working on the Sabbath by simply maintaining the universe
and continuing to impart life. They did not accuse Him of violating the
Sabbath. [Note:Carson, The Gospel . . ., p247.]Jesus, too, viewedGodas
constantly at work. Jesus claimedto be doing what God did. God did not
suspend His activities on the Sabbath and neither did Jesus.
This was a virtual claim to deity. Jesus was claiming that His relationship to
the law was the same as God"s, not the same as man"s. Moreoverby speaking
of God as "My Father" Jesus was claiming a relationship with Him that was
unique from that of the Jews corporately. The work that Jesus had done was
the same kind as the Father"s work. He provided deliverance and a new life
for the paralyzed man as the Father provides salvationfor those whom sin has
bound. Obviously Jesus was arguing differently here than in the instances of
Sabbath controversythat the Synoptics record.
"The most notable feature about Jesus in the Fourth Gospel... is the control
He displayed over all persons and situations." [Note:Tom Thatcher, "Jesus,
Judas, and Peter:Characterby Contrastin the Fourth Gospel," Bibliotheca
Sacra153:612(October-December1996):448.]
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
John 5:17. But he answeredthem, My Fatherworkethuntil now: I also work.
In three different ways does our Lord rebut the charge which His foes so often
brought againstHim, that He broke the sabbath. At one time He showedthat
it was not the law but the vain tradition that He set aside (Matthew 12:11;
Luke 13:15; Luke 14:5); at another He declaredHimself as the Sonof man
Lord of the sabbath, and taught that the law of the sabbath must be
determined from its aim and object(Mark 2:27-28);here only does He take
even higher ground. God restedfrom His works of creationon the seventh
day; this day was hallowedand set apart for man’s rest from labour,—a rest

which was the shadow of the rest of God, and which was designedto remove
from man everything that might hinder him from entering in spirit into that
fellowship with Godwhich is perfect rest. From the creationto this very
moment the Fatherhath been working; in His very rest upholding all things
by the word of His power, providing all things for His creatures, working out
the purpose of His love in their redemption. ‘My Father workethuntil now,’
with no pause or intermission: ‘I also work.’He who canthus call God His
Father finds in the works ofHis Fatherthe law of His ownworks. No works of
the Fathercan interrupt the sabbath rest: no works of the Son on earth can
break the sabbath law. The 19th and 20th verses more fully explain what is
expressedin these majestic words.
The Expositor's Greek Testament
John 5:17. In some informal way these accusations were broughtto the ears of
Jesus, and His defence was:ὁ πατήρ μου … ἐργάζομαι. “MyFatheruntil now
works, and I work”;as if the work of the Father had not come to an end on
the seventhday, but continued until the presenthour. Nay, as if the
characteristic ofthe Father were just this, that He works. Philo perceivedthe
same truth; παύεται οὐδέποτε ποιῶνὁ θεὸς ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἴδιοντὸ καίεινπυρὸς
καὶ χίονος τὸ ψύχειν, οὕτω καὶ θεοῦ τὸ ποιεῖν. Godnever stops working, for as
it is the property of fire to burn and of snow to be cold so of God to work (De
allegor., ii. See Schoettgenin loc.). 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 goodon the
Sabbath day, and I as the Father’s hand also do goodon the Sabbath. In
charging Him with breaking the Sabbath (John 5:18), it was God they
chargedwith breaking it. But this exasperatedthem the more “because He not
only was annulling ( ἔλυε, ‘laws, as having binding force, are likened to bonds,
hence λύειν is to annul, subvert, deprive of authority,’ Thayer) the Sabbath,
but also saidthat God was His own Father, making Himself equal to God”.
The Jews found in ὁ πατήρ μου (John 5:17) and the implication in κἀγὼ
ἐργάζομαι a claim to some peculiar and exclusive ( ἴδιον) sonship on the part
of Jesus;that He claimed to be Son of God not in the sense in which other men

are, but in a sense which involved equality with God. Starting from this, Jesus
took occasionto unfold His relationto the Father so far as it concernedmen to
know it.
The passage19–30divides itself thus: John 5:19-20 exhibit the ground of the
Son’s activity in the Father’s activity and love for the Son; John 5:21-23, the
works given by the Fatherto the Son are, generally, life-giving and judging;
John 5:24-27, these works in the spiritual sphere; John 5:28-29, in the
physical sphere; and John 5:30, reaffirmation of unity with the Father.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
===============================
[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Patermeus usque modo operatur, Greek:ergazetai. SeeSt. John Chrysostom,
Greek:om. le. on these words. St. Cyril, lib. ii. in Joan. chap. vi. St. Augustine,
trac. xvii. in Joan. &c.
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
My Father. See note on John 2:16.
worketh. Compare John 9:4, and see App-176.
hitherto until now; referring to the O.T. Dispensation. Now Jehovahwas
speaking "by His Son"(Hebrews 1:2).
and I work = I also am working [now].
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

But Jesus answeredthem, My Fatherworkethhitherto, and I work. The "I"
here is emphatic [ kagoo (Greek #2504)] - q.d., 'The creative and conservative
activity of My Fatherhas known no Sabbath-cessationfrom the beginning
until now, and that is the law of My working.'
The Bible Study New Testament
17. My Fatherworks always, and I too must work. The basis of the Sabbath
recess,was that God had recessedhis work of creationon the seventh day. But
God had not quit, but continued to do his works of love and mercy. The
Sabbath does not suspend benevolence and mercy. The Father's example is
our pattern.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(17) My Father workethhitherto (or, up to this moment).—They charge Him
with breaking the law of God. His answerto this charge is that His actionwas
the result of His Sonship and unity with that God. The very idea of God
implied action. This was familiar to the thought of the day. Comp., e.g., in the
contemporary Philo, “Godnever ceasesworking;but as to burn is the
property of fire, and to be cold is the property of snow, thus also to work is the
property of God, and much the more, inasmuch as He is the origin of action
for all others” (Legis Allegor. i. 3. See the whole section. The English reader
will find it in Bohn’s Ed., vol i., p. 53). The rest on the seventhday was the
completion of the works ofcreation(see this statedemphatically in Genesis
2:2-3). It was not, it could not be, a cessationin divine work, or in the flow of
divine energy. That knew nor day nor night, nor summer nor winter, nor
Sabbath nor Jubilee. For man, and animal, and tree, and field, this alternation
of a time of production and a time of reception was needed, but God was the
ever-constantsource ofenergy and life for all in heaven and earth and sea.
The powergoing forth to heal that suffererwas the same powerwhich
sustainedthem in well-being. The strength which passedthrough his half-
dead frame, and bade it live, was the same which every Sabbath morning

awoke them from death’s image, sleep, and would awakefrom death itself
(John 5:21). The sun shone, and fruitful showers fell, and flower burst its bud,
and harvest ripened, and they themselves, in energy of life, had grown on
every day alike. God everworketh up to this present moment. That God is
also Father. The Son, therefore, workethin the same way. This poor sufferer,
lying helpless, is of the same human nature with the Sonof God. He has in
faith and hope made himself receptive of the divine energy, and that energy
which can know no Sabbath, but is ever going forth to every heart that can
receive it, hath made him whole.
Treasuryof Scripture Knowledge
My
9:4; 14:10;Genesis 2:1,2;Psalms 65:6; Isaiah40:26; Matthew 10:29;Acts
14:17;17:28; 1 Corinthians 12:6; Colossians1:16;Hebrews 1:3
Ver. 17. "But Jesus answeredthem, My Fatherworkethhitherto, and I
work."
He answeredthem, to the charges which they had made againstHim, in the
direction indicated in ver. 16. Jesus does not here, as in Luke 13:15; Luke
14:5, enter into the question, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?" from a
generalhuman point of view. He bases His deduction on His wholly peculiar
and individual relation to the Father. To present this fully before the chiefs of
the people as a testimony for them, and, under some circumstances, against
them, and to make a confessionin reference to this, is the objectfor which He
has brought on the whole conflict.
If any other than the Sonof God in the most peculiar sense should say, "My
Father," etc., it would be a greaterror. The necessityof restdoes not exist for

God, but it does indeed for man, who is rendered dull and stupid by unceasing
labour, and needs the regularly returning day of rest, as a corrective of the
injury done by the week.
It is a confusing remark of De Wette, that Christ corrects the false opinion,
that God has rested since the creation, by the idea of the continued creative or
preserving activity of God. The thought of nature existing independently by
the side of God, on which the failure to recognise the uninterruptedly
continuous activity of God must be founded, could not enter the mind of a
Jew. The proposition that God works unceasingly, on the Sabbath not less
than on the other days, was common to the Jews with Christ. The rest on the
seventh day in Genesis 2:3, as is expressly remarked, refers only to the
creative work, and was always so referredby the Jews. It pertained only to
the first Sabbath. The later Divine operationknows no distinction of days.
That Christ calledGod His Father in a different sense from that in which He
was so calledby all Israel(Isaiah 54:7), was implied, as the Jews perceived, in
the conclusionwhich He drew from this relation. Only on participation in the
Godheadcould be basedthe entire exemption from the sabbatic command to
which Christ lays claim. This is the real point at issue. If the Jews had believed
Jesus to be the Son of God in the fullest sense, theywould not have
commenceda dispute with Him. With the expression"hitherto," cf. ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς
κόσμου ἕως τοῦ νῦν, Matthew 24:21. It indicates the uninterrupted operation
from the beginning of the world to the present time, in which the actof
healing just performed gave a testimony to the continuance of this agency.
Quesnel:"Sublime defence againstthe charge of violating the Sabbath! It is
marvellous how God causesthe malice of the enemies of the truth to subserve
the revelationof the sublimest truths of religion; and how He instructs His
elect, while apparently He is speaking only to His enemies." Calvin calls
attention to the circumstance, that Christ, in justifying His action, justifies at
the same time that of the sick man, in carrying his bed: "erat enim appendix
et quasi pars miraculi, quia nihil quam ejus approbatio erat."
END OF STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES

Three Exemplary Jesus PracticesaboutMoney and Work
Dr. Klaus Issler
September 12, 2012
Excerpt from Living into the Life of Jesus:The Formation of Christian
Characterby Klaus Issler © 2012.
Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box1400,Downers Grove, IL
60515. www.ivpress.com
Excerpt from Chapter 8, pages 184-197
Chapter 8: THREE EXEMPLARY JESUS PRACTICES ABOUT MONEY
AND WORK
You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up
hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other.
You can’t worship God and Moneyboth.
Matthew 6:24 – The Message
Jesus regards our attitudes about money as very important in the formation
of our character. “Forwhere your treasure is, there will your heart be also”
(Mt 6:21, Lk 12:33). This verse comes next, “If your eyes are generous, your
whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are stingy [lit. “evil eye”]your
whole body will be full of darkness” (Mt 6:22-23, Lk 11:34, emphasis added).
1 R. T. France summarizes that, “One indication of a person’s spiritual health
is their generosityor lack of it in the use of their material possessions.”2 When
was the last time we thought about our reputation regarding our possessions

on loan from God? Do we leantoward being more tight-fisted or more open-
handed? It’s ultimately God’s money we’re managing, so shouldn’t it be
easierto give away someone else’smoney? Loving Godmeans developing a
proper attitude about money, as noted in the verse at the beginning of the
chapter.
This chapter’s purpose is to explore Jesus’life and teaching on these matters
and offer suggestions forour formation. Yet Jesus’teachings onmoney have
been perceivedas difficult to harmonize and difficult to discernthe meaning
of, reminding us of the challenges ofinterpretation raised in chapter one.
Also, clarifying an understanding of a biblical view of money requires some
idea about a biblical view of work. Consequently, the initial sectionof the
chapter explores the subject of work, which in many cases is the means we
engage to earn money for our material needs. Aspects ofthe discussionon
work and money may seem new. I invite readers to work through the whole
chapter before drawing preliminary conclusions. Perhapsrecordthe
questions that come to mind and note which items were addressedand which
items need further study.
Due to space limits, I’ll our focus on the potentially goodaspects of the topic
as related to our formation. Andrew Perriman notes, “We cannot ignore the
fact that wealthis a positive resource. It is a hazardous resource, certainly,
but within a redeemed community there should be the wisdom and grace
available to handle wealth responsibly.”3 Only brief comments are mentioned
about the dangers of money. On that issue, please consultrelevant sources
cited in the notes.4
Part one (chapters one through three) of this book focusedon our core
worldview beliefs—how these canhelp us or hinder us from living more into
the life of Jesus. Overthe past sevenyears, I’ve experiencedsome perspective
shifts regarding Jesus’view on money and work that have been liberating.
From this journey, I’ve identified two particular gaps of my own for
discussionlater in the chapter: the “Sunday-Monday” gap and the “Moneyis
worldly” gap. Some insights are helping me move forward, but I’m still on the
way. This chapter has three major sections, exploring the topics of work,
money, and giving. These particular areas relate to three exemplary practices

from Jesus’ownlife: doing our work well, trusting in God’s provision while
wiselyusing money on loan from God, and giving generously.
PRACTICE 1:DOING OUR WORKWELL
Work is a permanent feature of humankind’s designand destiny, not the
result of the Fall into sin. Work was initiated in the Garden of Eden (Gen
1:28, 2:15) and it will continue into the next age, as we serve and reign with
God forever (Rev 22:3,5). Dallas Willard suggestssome distinctions among
four key terms helpful for this discussion(the terms were displayed in
concentric circles, the first term as the smallestcircle;so a later term
incorporates and includes the previous term):
Job: What I am paid to do, how I earn my living
Ministry: That part of God’s specialwork in my time that He has specifically
allotted me
Work: The total amount of lasting goods that I will produce in my lifetime
Life: Me. My experience and who I am5
Accordingly, when the term work is used in the following discussion, it
includes a reference to our ministry and our job as well. Furthermore, there
are an increasing number of academic contributions towarda theology of
work for all believers in Christian thought. Two of these resourceswill be
cited in the following section.6
Work’s Instrumental and Intrinsic Value. Darrell Cosden, summarizing his
scholarlybook-lengthtreatment, proposes the following technicaldefinition of
work. Note that various factors are clusteredaround three particular
dimensions.
Human work is a transformative activity essentiallyconsisting ofdynamically
interrelated instrumental, relational, and ontologicaldimensions:whereby,
along with work being an end in itself [ontological], the worker’s and others’
needs are providentially met; believers’sanctificationis occasioned

[instrumental]; and workers express, explore and develop their humanness
while building up their natural, socialand cultural environments thereby
contributing protectively and productively to the order of this world and the
one to come [relational].7
Hints about these three dimensions are included in the definition: the
ontologicaldimensionincludes the transcendent, transformative and eternal
value of work as an end itself—that work is greaterthan the sum of its
parts—an activity that can be “permeatedwith the ethos of [God’s] sabbath”8
(Gen 2:2, Heb 4:9-11); the instrumental dimension involves both material
sustenance needs connectedwith economic issues andpersonalspiritual
formation/sanctificationthrough work;and the relational dimension aligns
with the opportunity for self-expressionand flourishing as well as for broader
societaldevelopmentand matters of socialjustice.
Work is a continuing “community” endeavor, a fitting follow-up topic to the
last chapter. Work is never accomplishedsolelyas an individual performance,
but requires the collaboration, coordination, and trust, of many, such as
suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and of course, customers. Also, we
cannot fail to mention resources from the material world and the dynamics of
its physical laws that contribute to work–allprovisions from God. Without
these varied partnerships, work cannotbe sustained.
As a blessing of the New Covenant, believers are indwelt and empoweredby
the Spirit to serve the common goodin cooperationwith God (Ezek 36:26-27;
2 Cor 3:6). MiroslavVolf proposes “work in the Spirit” as the foundation for
a biblical theologyof work, expanding the use and scope ofour spiritual
empowerments beyond the localchurch, rather than relying on the traditional
conceptof vocation. “All human work, howevercomplicated or simple, is
made possible by the operations of the Spirit of God in the working person;
and all work whose nature and results reflectthe values of the new creationis
accomplishedunder the instruction and inspiration of the Spirit of God (see Is
28:24-29).”9Yeteven those outside of God’s family, being createdin the
image of God, are animated by God’s powerwith the divine gifts of natural
abilities. The point is that Jesus’followers have greaterpotentialto work for
the goodof all as we partner with the Spirit.

Regardlessofour occupations as plumber, trash collector, teacher, mechanic,
or pastor, we cooperate withGod in doing goodwork. The apostle Paul uses
the analogyof a physical body with many members with implications for the
division of labor: not all canbe the eye; some will be the foot, knee or internal
organs. “Thoseparts of the body that seemto be weakerare indispensable” (1
Cor 12:22). Eachmember, regardless offunction, is important for the
functioning of the body. “The whole body. . . grows and builds itself up in
love, as eachpart does its work” (Eph 4:16). Of course, one motivation to
work is to make money to provide for material needs and share with others
(Eph 4:28, 2 Thes 3:6-13). But there is more. Labor—as a permanent feature
of our human designand destiny—also involves other instrumental and
intrinsic values. If we wish to bring all of our life under the Lordship of Jesus
Christ then our day job must be included too.
Three job sectors. Ourjob tasks range acrossa wide spectrum, classifiedinto
three main working sectors:public (working for government), private not-for-
profit (civic, moral, and religious organizations that rely on donations for all
or part of their operating budgets), and private for-profit (various small and
large businesses in the marketplace). Table 8.1 provides estimates of the
percentagesofthe 2010 U.S. total workforce.Musing on these differing
percentagesyields insight about two issues. First, some may wonder, with so
much greed in the for-profit sector, how canChristians affirm business? Of
course, a greaternumber of cases ofgreedand corruption will likely occur in
the for-profit sectordue to the vast majority of people working in this sector.
Such evil also occurs routinely in other sectors since greedis a matter of the
human heart (Mk 7:21-22), as reported somewhatregularly in the news.
Second, one need not be a rocketscientistto recognize a basic economic
principle: a much higher percentage ofthe workforce is essentialin the
business sector(currently around 80 percent) to sustain financial support for
the continued existence of the other two sectors. CanChristians recognize how
important goodbusinesses are forcreating the wealth that sustains charities
and government services?
Table 8.1 Three Sectors ofthe United States TotalWorkforce—2010 Data

Jesus and business. Do we realize that Jesus workedata “secular” jobfor
most of his young adult years? We might have expecteda different career
path and preparation for the one who would be Messiah. As was customary
for boys in that day, Jesus was probably apprenticed alongside his father
Joseph. His former neighbors knew Jesus by his previous trade: “Isn’t this
the tektōn?” (Mk 6:3; Mt 13:55). Tektōnhas been rendered as “carpenter”
since William Tyndale’s English Bible translation (1526). YetKen Campbell
suggests“builder” as a more accurate translation. “In the context of first-
century Israel, the tektōn was a generalcraftsmanwho workedwith stone,
wood, and sometimes metal in large and small building projects.”10
If apprenticed at the customary age of twelve, then Jesus spentat least
eighteenyears as a builder, six times as long as his public ministry (see table
8.2). Tradition suggests thathis father Josephdied a few years prior to Jesus
entering public ministry. During that time, then, Jesus headedup the family
building business, implying Jesus’primary responsibility for financially
supporting the family (Matt 13:55-56). DarrelBock notes, “Onlyartisans or
other craftspeople had the ancientequivalent of small, independent
businesses. They constituteda minority of the labor force.”11 ForJesus’
family to work in a trade indicates they were in the lower middle-income class
of that day.12
Table 8.2 Jesus’18 years in the Building Trade
Almost 50% of Jesus’parables have a “business setting” (see Table 8.3).
Perhaps some aspects ofthese stories had a personalconnection. Forexample,
when teaching on the costof discipleship, Jesus mentions one should have the
funds at the start to complete a tower(Lk 14:28). Might Jesus have built a
towerfor a customerbut never have been fully paid?

Table 8.3 Jesus’Parables SetWithin Business-RelatedContexts
Can we conclude Jesus understands the business world as an insider? He
probably workedas a sub-contractoralongside other artisans, completing
projects, and handling finances—negotiating bids, purchasing supplies, and
contributing to family living expenses. Forthose many years Jesus worked
with his hands in masonry and carpentry, in goodand bad weather, getting
paid and not getting paid. Jesus canidentify with the ups and downs of a
business workday. For a few years, he had responsibilities for day-to-day
operations of running what we’d call a small business. And considerthat this
day job—where he spent a goodpart of his young adult years—contributedto
Jesus’characterformationto become the kind of person we read about in the
Gospels.
Reflecting on the three-sectorworkforce framework(table 8.1), we can
discern that Jesus affirmed eachone. He implicitly acknowledgedgovernment
has a legitimate role, by paying taxes himself (Mt 17:24-27;see also 22:21), by
not requiring Zacchaeus as a chief tax collectorto change his profession(Lk
19:2-10), and by including the tax collectorMatthew as one of the twelve
disciples (Mt 9:9, 10:3; he wrote the gospelof Matthew). Regarding the
private, not-for-profit sector, Jesus livedon the donations of others during his
three years of public ministry (Lk 8:3, Mk 15:41, Jn 12:6). Finally, Jesus
workedin the for-profit sectorin the building trade. Similarly, the Apostle
Paul affirms eachsector:he workedas a tent-maker (Acts 18:30), on occasion
paying for his companions’needs (Acts 20:33-35);he acceptedfinancial
support from churches (2 Cor 11:7-9, Phil 4:15-16);and he relied on the
benefits of his Romancitizenship (Acts 16:37-38, 22:25-27),accepting
government funding and personnelfor his trip to Rome to receive Caesar’s
judgment (Acts 25:10-12, 27:1-2).
Jesus quoted the common business proverb “workersdeserve their wages”
(Lk 10:7, Mt 10:10) and extended the application to the not-for-profit sector,
when he commissionedhis disciples for their itinerant ministry. Since Jesus
affirms the value of eachof the three working sectors,canwe conclude that

Christians are able to seek God’s kingdom values with a goodjob that seeks
the common goodwithin any sector?
Furthermore, Jesus acknowledgedto the Father, “I glorified you on earth by
finishing the work that you gave me to do” (Jn 17:4). He carried out this
messianic responsibility in such an excellentfashion, that the Father“exalted
him to the highestplace and gave him the name that is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and
under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9-11). Amen! I think we can infer from his
messianic work, that Jesus also gave this same kind of excellence to his job as
a builder. Yet, despite Jesus’own role in dignifying work in the business
world, Christianity generally has not had a favorable view of business.
The “Sunday-Monday” Gap. What is the connectionbetweenour worship of
God on Sunday and “secular” jobon Monday? Such “secularMonday” labor
has often been viewedprimarily as a means of making money to support
“God’s Sunday” ministry. Beyond that, there’s a continuing concernabout
business among most clergy. David Miller explains that, “Many business
people are hungry to know how to integrate their faith into work.
Unfortunately, most clergy don’t know how to help these parishioners, and
they often show benign neglect, oreven outright hostility, toward the
marketplace.”13
As a card-carrying member of this group—having been a pastor and now a
seminary professor—Ibecome aware ofmy limiting core belief only late in
life. ScottRae and Kenman Wong note in their business ethics textbook, “The
weight of historicalChristian thought seems to lean againstwholehearted
participation in business”14Fromher study of 65 Evangelicalchiefexecutive
officers, Laura Nashreported that, “ManyevangelicalCEOs . . . felt that the
clergywere unable to acknowledgethe legitimacy of their roles as
businesspeople orto see that the problems of business go beyond financial
accountability.”15 Have we ever askedthose employed in the for-profit
sectors abouttheir honest perceptions on this matter? I acknowledgethat the

church cooperates withthe business sectorin various ways, such as applying
helpful business leadership principles. But these efforts do not address this
deep-seated“Christian-cultural” unease about business itself.
Severalfactors contribute to this long-standing disconnect. Christian
philanthropist Ken Eldred notes, “The Church tends to have a skepticalview
of the role of faith in business, and many in the Church have difficulty making
the connectionbetweenthe two. A subtle divide exists betweenthe Church
and business, betweenbusiness schools andseminaries, and betweenrealms
consideredsacredand secular.”16 Onthis lastpoint, A. W. Tozer (d.1963)
clarifies this underlying tension, when writing about our relationship with
God.
One of the greatesthindrances to internal peace whichthe Christian
encounters is the common habit of dividing our lives into two areas, the sacred
and the secular. As these areas are conceivedto exist apart from eachother
and to be morally and spiritually incompatible, and as we are compelledby
necessitiesofliving to be always crossing back andforth from the one to the
other, our inner lives tend to break up so that we live a divided insteadof a
unified life. . . . This is the old sacred-secularantithesis. MostChristians are
caught in its trap.17
Yet this false dichotomy has become entrenchedin an institutional way in the
church. Isn’t there an implied pecking order of value within our Christian
culture about kinds of work? A “calling” to so-called“full-time Christian
ministry” (missions, pastoring, teaching at a seminary) are often perceived as
having greatervalue to God than those roles without such a calling (e.g.,
business owner, plumber, homemaker). Sadly, such hierarchicalvaluing
negatively impacts believers in business. John Beckett, Chairmanof R. W.
Beckett, shares,
For years, I thought my involvement in business was a second-class
endeavor—necessaryto put bread on the table, but somehow less noble than
more sacredpursuits like being a minister or a missionary. The clear
impression was that to truly serve God, one must leave business and go into

“full-time Christian service.” Overthe years, I have met countless other
business people who feelthe same way.18
GeoffreyBromiley bemoans the “unfortunate distinction betweenthe laity
and the clergy, or the secularand the sacred, or the secularand the religious,
or the people and the Church, which has causedso much mischief in both
doctrine and practice.”19 Canwe affirm that all believers are called to full-
time Christian ministry as we labor in different job sectors?
I’ll summarize the key points about work before proposing some practical
formational implications. This summary helps provide a background for our
discussionof money in the next section. Creation is goodand thus physical
matter is good. Work is normative for humans, part of our designand destiny.
Work has eternal intrinsic value. All goodlabor is equally pleasing to God.
There is no hierarchy of ultimate job valuations among the three sectors:for-
profit, not-for-profit, and public. Jesus affirmed work within eachsector. A
robust and substantial for-profit sectoris required to sustain the not-for-
profit and public sectors.Manyof us earn money through our labor to meet
our material needs and so we canshare with others. Workers are worthy of
their wages andbusinesses must make a profit so wages canbe paid. Some
jobs are more spectacular, others more mundane, and people may wish they
could have done other kinds of work. Regardless, in doing goodwork, we each
can cooperatewith God for kingdom values and purposes, being empowered
by the Spirit of God. We caninfer, from our study in chapter five, that Jesus
himself exemplified such daily living at his building job.
A formation approachto our job, our ministry, our work. Christians desire
guidance for how to integrate their God life with their work life—especially
those in the business sector. Ken Eldred suggestsone integrative model that
highlights a three-fold Christian ministry focus at the office:20
1. a ministry at work:pointing those around us to God,
2. a ministry of work:serving and creating via work itself
3. a ministry to work:redeeming the practices, policies andstructures of
institutions.

Pointing others to God has been a traditional and important idea. Let’s also
expand our horizons to include the other two, of doing work well, and also
improving how work is done, regardless ofour full- or part-time occupations
as mother, as flight attendant, or as nurse. Doing our work well and
interacting well with others around us not only gets the job done, but can help
Jesus’peace to dissolve the frustration and anxiety other ay carry, improving
the relationalinteractions that are part of our work.
For example, what happens when people notice our good actions? Bill
Heatley, an IT professional, wantedto invite God to operate in and through
him. Specificallyone way to do this was by looking for ways to appreciate and
support his fellow colleagues,providing space forGod’s love. Bill was
involved in a project in which two departments were coordinating aspects of
the project. His counterpart from the other department was a woman who
was well prepared and “sweating the details”, so he could anticipate a
productive meeting for the project. The only problem was that these two
groups had an eighteen-month history of feuding and Bill was new on the job.
In light of this history Bill “did three simple things: I prayed for her. I
thanked the managementin another meeting, and I sent an email to her boss
expressing my appreciation for her hard work.” 21 The results were
surprising—“the effectwas immediate and beyond any reasonable
explanations from my efforts.”22Tensionwas easedand greatercooperation
became evident betweenthe two departments. As a result of this powerful
experience, Heatleyconfessed, his God-confidence increased, encouraging him
to look for more opportunities to make space for Godat work.
We may not often see how doing goodwork may involve life-and-death
circumstances. DavidLarsenshared with me how he greatlyappreciated the
smooth roads paved by the works department in Dallas, Texas. The pothole-
free streets permitted an ambulance to transport his granddaughter, whose
life was threatenedby any major jostling, from one hospital to another
without a mishap.23 Eachday we have the opportunity to co-operate with
God the Holy Spirit, fulfilling our design and destiny at work. Pastoral
responsibility for equipping “God’s people for the works of service” (Eph 4:

12) includes teaching the wide range of ministries Eldred noted above to be
kingdom representatives atwork.24
Work prayer projects. Considerthese prayer projects as a way to emphasize a
formation approachat work.
a. Reflecton Jesus’work as builder with stone and wood, probably doing this
for eighteenyears of his life. Talk with Jesus aboutyour reflections. Do any
insights have implications for your work?
b. William Peeland Walter Latimer propose we first build a platform of
credibility with work colleagues so they’ll be more receptive to hearing about
Jesus. We earncredibility to share the goodnews through developing a good
track record in eachof these three areas:competency(doing excellent work
on the job), character(making wise job decisions of integrity), and
considerationor concern(showing genuine mercy and compassionfor our
colleagues).25Considerthe past month at work. Does a particular event or
person come to mind that awakens some further formational attention?
c. Envision yourself partnering with Jesus to do your work well, since Jesus is
very interestedin your job as part of his kingdom. Talk with Jesus about your
work, how it’s going, about your hopes about ways to do it more excellently,
and about new ideas to fulfill your company’s overall mission.
1 Alternate translation, TNIV; so also R. T. France, The Gospelof Matthew,
New International Commentary on the New Testament(Grand Rapids, MI:
Eerdmans, 2007), pp. 261-62.
2 Ibid., p. 262.
3 Andrew Perriman, ed. Faith, Health and Prosperity (Carlisle, UK:
Paternoster, 2003), p. 223, Reportof The EvangelicalAlliance [UK]
Commissions on Unity and Truth among Evangelicals.

4 Among Christian scholars there are divergent views regarding a Christian
perspective about money and business. Ofcourse, there are common
agreements, suchas affirming the dangers of wealth, the importance for
Christians to be generous givers, and the greatneed to care for and seek
justice for the poor, locally and globally (see the “Oxford Declarationon
Christian Faith and Economics,” Jan. 1990;first published in Transformation
7, no. 2, [April/June 1990]:1-8). Yet major differences remain among
Christian leaders on these matters, as is the case with other Christian
doctrines.
One common view is championed by Ron Sider (Rich Christians in an Age of
Hunger, [1977;reprint, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005]). In this chapter I
give voice to an alternative paradigm representedby the writings of, for
example, John Schneider(The Good of Affluence, [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
2002]), Wayne Grudem (Business for the Glory of God, [Wheaton, IL:
Crossway, 2003]), KenmanWong and ScottRae (Business forthe Common
Good:A Christian Perspective forthe Marketplace,[Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2011]), and MichaelNovak (Business as a Calling: Work
and the Examined Life,[New York: Free Press, 1996]).
Differences are evident in the biblical teaching about meeting the challenges of
the poor. For example, Schneideremphasizes the greatpotential for good
through the expansionof goodbusiness and wealth creationto benefit all in
the world—including the poor—forGod’s Kingdom purposes, whereas, Sider
gives greateremphasis to reducing use of the earth’s resourcesand the
redistribution of Christian wealth as the primary solution for addressing
poverty.
5 Dallas Willard, “Some Steps TowardSoul Restin Eternal Living,” Biola
University FacultyWorkshop, August 17, 2011
6 For an on-going project to study the Bible’s teaching about work, see
“TheologyofWork” (www.theologyofwork.org). Forexample, see
“Ecclesiastes andWork,” which can be downloadedfrom their website.
Another organization, The Acton Institute, promotes the integration of Judeo-
Christian truths and business (www.acton.org).

7 Darrell Cosden, A Theologyof Work (Eugene, Ore.:Wipf & Stock, 2006
[2004]), pp 178-179.
8 Ibid., p. 184.
9 MiroslavVolf, Work in the Spirit (1991;reprint, Eugene, Ore.:Wipf &
Stock, 2001), p. 114.
10 Ken M. Campbell, “What Was Jesus’Occupation?”Journalof the
EvangelicalTheologicalSociety48, no. 3, (September 2005):512.
11 Darrell Bock, Studying the HistoricalJesus (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002),
p. 122.
12 Walter Pilgrim, GoodNews to the Poor(Minneapolis:Augsburg, 1981), p.
46. Darrell Bock notes, “Fishing was a major industry in Galilee. [James and
John] even had ‘hired servants’(Mark 1:20), showing that they were among
the closestthing to a middle class that existed at the time.” Jesus According to
Scripture (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002),p. 98.
13 “Scripture and the Wall Street Journal,” an interview by Collin Hansen,
Christianity Today, November 2007, p. 33.
14 ScottRae and Kenman Wong, Beyond Integrity, 2nd Ed. (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2004), p. 73.
15 Laura Nash, Believers in Business (Nashville:Thomas Nelson, 1994), pp.
279-80.
16 Ken Eldred, GodIs At Work (Ventura, Calif.: Regal, 2005), p. 269.
17 A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Harrisburg, Penn.: Christian
Publications, 1948), p. 117.
18 John Beckett, Loving Monday (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,
1998), p. 69. Beckettwas named Christian Businessmanof the Year by the
Christian Broadcasting Network(1999)andmanufacturing Entrepreneur of
the Year by Ernst & Young (2003).

19 Geoffrey W. Bromiley, “Vocation,”in International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia, ed. GeoffreyW. Bromiley (Grand Rapids:Eerdmans, 1998),
4:995.
20 Ken Eldred, The Integrated Life (Montrose, Colo.:Manna, 2010), p. 107.
21 Bill Heatley, The Gift of Work (Colorado Springs:NavPress, 2008),p. 32-
33.
22 Ibid., p. 32
23 David Larsen, personalcommunication, June 30, 2011.
24 For further study on work see Wong and Rae, Business forthe Common
Good. See Saddleback Church’s website for an example of such an equipping
emphasis, initiated by Helen Mitchell
<http://www.saddleback.com/lakeforest/adults/atwork>.
25 William Peeland Walt Larimore, Going Public with Your Faith (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 2004).
A sermon preachedat New Hope Lutheran Church, WestMelbourne, FL
Sermon Date:January 17, 2017
Sermon By: PastorDale Raether
Scripture: Matthew 10:34-42
Jesus Rewards Hard Work
A sermon preachedat New Hope Lutheran Church, WestMelbourne, FL on
June 22, 2008 by PastorDale RaetherJesus Encourages Us…1. In our hardest
work 2. With the highestrewards Matthew 10:34-42 Children, what’ s the
hardest work you have to do? How ‘ bout cleaning your room? Or, when
schoolis going again, is it hard to always getgoodgrades? Anyway, when you
have a big job to do, sometimes your parents might offer a reward. They’ ll

say, “ After you pick up all your toys, we’ llgo to the park. But if you don’ t
pick up your toys, no park!” Having something to look forward to does make
work a little easier. But it’ s that waytoo for us adult. Forexample, how
many of you have said this? “ If I lose 20 pounds, I’ m going to treat myself to
some new clothes.” Or, “ If I cankeepfrom smoking for six months, I’ m
going to reward myself with a big screenTV.” Now, maybe some would say
we shouldn’ t need rewards. We should just always do the right thing. That’ s
true enough. But even God uses rewards to encourage us. On the basis of our
text, then, let’ s think about what our hardestwork is and what Godpromises
as a reward.In the verses before our text, Jesus had taught the disciples to
pray for the lost. In answerto their prayers, He put it on their hearts to want
to share the Gospel. NextHe told them how to do that, but He also warned
what kind of response to expect. They would be persecuted. Theywould be
insulted, beaten, imprisoned, or even killed. NeverthelessJesus toldthem not
to be afraid. Their Heavenly Father loved them so much that He even kept
track of many hairs were on their head, and would never let anything bad
happen, unless He could work that into a blessing. This is also true for us.
However, waiting for that blessing can be hard sometimes. Forexample if
you’ re sitting in a dentist chair, don’ t you love it when he says, “ We’ re
almost done.” And then a half hour later he says it again. That’ s when I
start wondering then how many more times he’ s going to sayit before he’ s
really done?” Now, I know what the dentist is doing. He’ s trying to
encourage me to be patient. Or, how ‘ bout this encouragement? “ Justlive
eachday a day at a time.” Does that help? It does to a decree. But what if we
really can’ t stand our day, and what if we know that our future days are
going to be even worse? How do we not getdiscouraged? Partof the answeris
we need to keepthings in perspective. So, at this time please think about the
hardest thing you have to go through or do eachday. Now let’ s compare that
with what really is the hardest thing. Jesus describes whatthat is in our text.
We read, “ Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did
not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn "'a man against
his father, a daughter againsther mother, a daughter-in-law againsther
mother-in-law-- a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.”
The hardest thing a Christian can go through is being persecutedfor his faith
by the people he loves. Also, in our text Jesus was quoting from the Old

Testamentbook of Micah. Actually Micah was describing how unbelievers
treated eachother. He said, they would plot, they would manipulate the legal
system; they would cut eachother to pieces with their lies. One minute they
would pretend to be someone’ sbestfriend and the next minute they would
betray or even kill him. By quoting Micah, Jesus was warning that this how
unbelievers may treat Christians. But why? Well, when our first parents fell
into sin and put themselves on the side of Satan, Godsaid to Satanso Adam
and Eve could hear it too, “ I will put enmity betweenyou and the woman,
and betweenyour offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will
strike his heel – Genesis 3:15." Noticethe matchup. There is warfare between
Christ and Satan, and betweenChrist’ s followers and Satan’ s followers.
Now, as Christ’ s followers we don’ t want to back down. He is our Savior.
He is the center of our life for time and eternity. Also, it is our deepestdesire
that others believe on Him, so that they too canbe with us in heaven someday.
This priority affects everything about us. It affects how we use our time and
money. It affects our faithfulness on the job, and how we talk and even what
we do for entertainment. People, who are on Satan’ s side, can’ tstand any of
that. Forthis reason, the only they will ever be at peace with us, is if we go
over to their side and agree with them that all styles of morality are equal, and
that all ways to heavenget you there. On the other hand, if we don’ t go along
with these things, Satan will make sure that his followers keeptreating us as
enemies. Have you ever experiencedwhat I’ m talking about? If it’ s just a
few people at work or that one cranky neighbor across the street, that’ s bad
enough. But how do you handle it if the people you love the most are the ones
hurting you the most? If we find ourselves in that kind of situation, the first
thing we’ ll have to do is make a choice. We read, “ Anyone who loves his
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take
his cross andfollow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoeverloses his life for my sake will find it – Matthew 10:37-39.” Even
on an earthly level, peoples sometimes will choose short-term fixes to getaway
from their problems. For example if your short-term fix is buying something,
or having a stiff drink, or eating something fattening, you will feel better for a
while. But you’ ll still have your problems, and now on top of that you’ ll
have more credit card debt, or fewer brain cells, or more weightto lose. In the

same way, if we hide our Christianity, if we just go along with everything, we
will have “ peace” for a while. But in the long run our hearts will become
empty, and in the life to come we will be eternally separatedfrom God. Not a
goodchoice. Here’ s a better one. If we give up the “ good” life for the sake of
standing firm on our faith and living it, Jesus will reward us. We read, “ He
who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who
sent me – Matthew 10:40.” When we receive what the Bible says, we are
welcoming Jesus into our life. And when we welcome Jesus into our life, we
are also welcomedinto the presence of our Heavenly Father. However,
there’ s something here I need to clarify. When Jesus talks about receiving
him, he’ s not talking about coming to faith. We cannotcome to faith by our
own poweror decision. Faith is God’ s gift through the Waterand the Word.
However, once we are in faith, we can choose to not go along with this world
or with Satan or with the sin that still clings to us. Also, we can prioritize His
Word in our life, and we candaily look to Him for guidance and strength. Our
reward for this is God will give us a greaterawareness ofHis presence in our
life. Reading on in our text, “ Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a
prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous
man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward –
Matthew 10:41.” The prophet Daniel tells us that people who lead others to
faith, in the life to come, will shine like the stars. I don’ t know what that
exactly means, but whatever it is, I’ m sure it’ s good. And now by listening to
the writers of the Old and New Testament, by listening to your pastoras he
teaches whatthe Bible writers taught, whateverreward they get for leading
people to Jesus, youget also. In other words, hang in there in the Word, and
hang in there in following the Word and sharing it, because in the life to come,
like Danieland Moses andElijah, you too will shine like the stars. However,
there are also earthly rewards. In Psalm 91 we read, “ If you make the Most
High your dwelling-- even the LORD, who is my refuge-- then no harm will
befall you, no disasterwill come near your tent. For he will command his
angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” What happens if we do
things that are illegal, immoral or just plain stupid? Usually there’ ll be
consequences. Butwhat if instead we seek first what God desires and what
our new man in us desires? Godwill take care of us: and He will bless all that
we do, which brings us to yet anotherreward for living our faith. Not

everyone who is on the side of Satan is going to stay on his side. Rather by our
example combined with the Word of God we share, some are going to cross
over to Jesus’ side. Wheneversee that, God lets us experience joy just like
the angels have. On the other hand, even when we don’ t get to see that, there
are still rewards for doing the little day to day things we do. We reading,
“ And if anyone gives even a cup of cold waterto one of these little ones
because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his
reward – Matthew 10:42." Again, there’ s something here I need to clarify.
We don’ t do what’ s right to earn God’ s favor. God has made us His
children through Christ. We HAVE His favor. But now, because we are his
children, when we see something that needs doing, we just do it. And the
reward for that is it feels goodfor having done it; not to mention there are
going to be even more rewards for it in heaven. What a deal, huh? Being
rewardedfor what we want to do anyway. But then it’ s not even really a
reward. It’ s grace, for it is God who works in us to will and to do His good
pleasure. So now, in view of all that God has promised, how do you feel about
all those hard things you have to go through or do? Do they seem easiernow?
Sometimes it works that way. By faith we end up breezing through some
really tough things – and this glorifies God. At other times if this is what God
determines, things may go on seeming just as hard for us as ever. But either
way, be encouraged, because we are His, and because the day is coming, when
we will be able to look back and see that everything we endured or did for
Jesus’ sakewas more than worth it! Amen.
https://www.newhopelutheran.net/sermon/66-jesus-rewards-hard-work.html
Hard Work
Colossians 3:23 ESV / 2,043 helpful votes

Whateveryou do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
Proverbs 13:4 ESV / 1,296 helpful votes
The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent
is richly supplied.
Proverbs 14:23 ESV / 1,006 helpful votes
In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
Philippians 4:13 ESV / 990 helpful votes
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 ESV/ 981 helpful votes
For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone
is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk
in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command
and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn
their own living.
Proverbs 16:3 ESV / 747 helpful votes
Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
Philippians 2:14-15 ESV / 675 helpful votes
Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless
and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crookedand
twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV / 540 helpful votes
So, whether you eator drink, or whateveryou do, do all to the glory of God.
The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 ESV/ 510 helpful votes

And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with
your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before
outsiders and be dependent on no one.
Luke 1:37 ESV / 461 helpful votes
For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Colossians 3:17 ESV / 398 helpful votes
And whateveryou do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Fatherthrough him.
1 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 396 helpful votes
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especiallyfor members of
his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Ecclesiastes9:10 ESV / 396 helpful votes
Whateveryour hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or
thought or knowledge orwisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
Galatians 6:9 ESV / 351 helpful votes
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due seasonwe will reap, if we
do not give up.
Colossians 3:24 ESV / 347 helpful votes
Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.
You are serving the Lord Christ.
2 Timothy 2:6 ESV / 304 helpful votes
It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.
Proverbs 6:6-8 ESV / 291 helpful votes
Go to the ant, O sluggard;considerher ways, and be wise. Without having
any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her
food in harvest.

Whoeverworks his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows
worthless pursuits lacks sense.
Genesis 2:15 ESV / 271 helpful votes
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and
keepit.
Acts 20:35 ESV / 255 helpful votes
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help
the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It
is more blessedto give than to receive.’”
Ephesians 4:28 ESV / 210 helpful votes
Let the thief no longersteal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with
his ownhands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
John 5:17 ESV / 180 helpful votes
But Jesus answeredthem, “My Father is working until now, and I am
working.”
Whoeveris slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.
Psalm90:17 ESV / 172 helpful votes
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establishthe work of our
hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!
1 Corinthians 4:12 ESV / 74 helpful votes
And we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless;when
persecuted, we endure;
Acts 20:33-35 ESV/ 61 helpful votes

I covetedno one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these
hands ministered to my necessitiesandto those who were with me. In all
things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the
weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is
more blessedto give than to receive.’”
What Can Jesus TeachUs About Our Work?
Dr. Andrew Spencer
April 18, 2013
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There is no doubt that Jesus’greatestpurpose while on earth was to glorify
God and bring about atonement through his death on the cross. His death
paved the path for salvation, and his life showedus what the Kingdom of God
looks like.
When Jesus came, he came to roll back the curse brought about by Adam’s
sin (cf. Rom. 5:12–21). He demonstratedthis by undoing the sicknessand
discord resulting from the fall.
In Jesus’miracles we see him heallepers (Matt. 8:1–4), heal a paralytic (Matt.
9:1–8), bring a widow’s son to life (Luke 6:11–17), and cause a crookedtax
collectorto repay what he stole (Luke 19:1–10).
Jesus clearlydemonstratedwhat life was supposedto be like. In terms of the
four-chapter gospel, he gave us a foretaste ofthe restorationfor which we
long. Jesus also gave us a picture of what a heavenly citizen would do.
Being the perfect man, Jesus lived his life like Adam was intended. He was
human in every way. We know that he ate and slept and grieved. But we
sometimes miss that Jesus worked, too.

Jesus came to lift the curse by taking awaysorrows and pains, but he didn’t
come to get rid of work. Insteadof taking awaywork, we see that Jesus did
work. In John 9:4, Jesus tells his disciples,
We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming,
when no one can work.
When Jesus says this, he is talking about work that he is doing to demonstrate
God’s goodness, specificallyin healing a blind man. He is doing so-called
Kingdom work, the kind of work that we so often associatewith holiness, like
preaching a sermonor helping old ladies across the street.
But Jesus didn’t only do work specificallyfor God’s kingdom in the sense that
we often think of it. Jesus had a job for the majority of his life. He did real,
hands-on work as a carpenter(Mark 6:3). In fact, when we considerthe fact
that Jesus only performed his role as professionalteacherand healerfor
about three years, his careeras a carpentershould rise in significance in our
minds.
The fact that Jesus workedas a carpenterillustrates three things for us:
1. Work can be holy.
Unless the work you are doing is inherently sinful (e.g., robbing a bank,
working in a brothel), the work you do can be holy. Often it is not the work
that is unholy; it is the manner in which we conduct it. Jesus did not sin, and
Jesus had a vocation. Therefore, it must be possible for us to do our work in a
manner that glorifies God; our task is to figure out how.
2. Work should be integral to our lives.
It is hard to imagine Jesus living the divided life that many of us lead. We are
often one personat work, anotherat church, and in our family still another.
Jesus was as much the son of God when he was cutting a board as when he
was healing a sick girl. We should strive to make our work an expressionof
our personality, as a wayof demonstrating God’s goodnessto those around
us.
3. Our vocationis as important as our service atchurch.

Nothing that Jesus did was by accident. No doubt Jesus was just as holy as a
carpenteras he was as a teacher;however, in God’s plan, Jesus spent more
than a decade doing carpentry. It must have been important for Jesus to do
that work, otherwise he would have either come later and began his ministry
at an earlierage, or he would have takena professionalreligious role.
None of those happened, so it seems that we should value our role at our
workplace equallywith our role in our church. They can both promote the
kingdom of God.
What can Jesus teachyou about your work? How does his life and love help
you see your work in a new way? Leave your comments here.
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Dr. Andrew Spencer
Andrew Spenceris a Senior ResearchFellow forIFWE. He holds a Ph.D. in
TheologicalStudies from SoutheasternBaptistTheologicalSeminary and
regularly blogs at www.ethicsandculture.com. He previously served in the
United States Navyas a Submarine Officer after graduating from the United
States NavalAcademy.
Question:"What does the Bible sayabout work ethic? What is a Christian
work ethic?"
Answer: Colossians3:23-25 says, “Whateveryou do, work at it with all your
heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will
receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you
are serving.” Another translation says to “work heartily” (ESV). Yet another
says to “work willingly” (NLT). The Amplified Bible adds “from the soul.”
Ephesians 6:7-8 shares a similar concept:“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you

were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward
everyone for whatevergoodhe does, whether he is slave or free.” In essence,
this is the Christian work ethic. We are commanded to put forth our best
efforts, to work from our heart and soul at whatever we do. We are
accountable to God and stewards ofthe gifts He has given us. Our work flows
out of our gratefulness to Him.
God instituted work with creation, prior to the Fall. Genesis 2:15 says, “The
Lord God took the man and put him in the Gardenof Eden to work it and
take care of it.” After Adam and Eve sinned, work became toil (Genesis 3:17-
19), but work itself is included in the “very good” part of creation(Genesis
1:31).
Throughout the Old Testament, Godgave the Israelites specific instructions
about how to do their work. He also gave instructions about providing for
those who had less:“Whenyou reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to
the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave
them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:22).
This command confirms the importance of work. God does not tell the people
to harvest everything and then simply give food to the poor. Instead, He tells
them to leave enough of the grain to allow the poor to work for themselves.
Work has a way of giving us a sense ofpurpose, productivity, and dignity.
The Proverbs and Ecclesiastescontainsome wise sayings regarding work.
Proverbs 14:23 says, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only
to poverty.” Proverbs 6:6-11 says, “Go to the ant, you sluggard;consider its
ways and be wise!It has no commander, no overseerorruler, yet it stores its
provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie
there, you sluggard? Whenwill you getup from your sleep? A little sleep, a
little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on
you like a bandit and scarcitylike an armed man.” Ecclesiastes 9:10 says,

Jesus was a hard worker

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