John 5:19

The fundamental proposition is οὐ δύναται ὁ υἱὸς ποιεῖν ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ οὐδέν. “The Son can do nothing of Himself.” This is not, as sometimes has been supposed, a general statement true of all sons, but is spoken directly of Jesus. δύναται is moral not physical ability though here the one implies the other; but cf. John 5:26. So perfect is the Son's sympathy with the Father that He can only do what He sees the Father doing. He does nothing at His own instance. That is to say, in healing the impotent man He felt sure He was doing what the Father wished done and gave Him power to do. ἃ γὰρ … ποιεῖ, as Holtzmann observes, the force of the repetition lies in ὁμοίως, pariter, “in like manner”.