Juan 5:19

Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for whatsoever things he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner.

In the words of Hovey, the action of Jesus here was:

To convince his foes, if they will suffer themselves to be convinced that his action has been in harmony with the will of God. In doing this, he is not called upon to emphasize his personal distinction from the Father (that was admitted by his accusers), or to insist directly on his equality with the Father (for to do that would be to confirm their impression that he was a blasphemer), but rather, without denying either of these, to convince them, if possible, of his absolute unity with the Father in action.[10]

All the actions of Jesus were in complete harmony with God's will; neither is the Son of God capable of doing anything contrary to it.

The Son can do nothing of himself ... This stresses the obvious truth that no mere man could have healed the cripple, demanding the deduction that Jesus displayed the power of God in doing so great a wonder.

But what he seeth the Father doing ... The divine insight of Jesus Christ is evident in this. He was not an observer, merely, of mortal deeds alone; but he beheld supernaturally all the works of God.

These the Son also doeth in like manner ... Jesus' actions were in full harmony with God's actions, not only regarding their quality, but with reference to the manner of their being done. Jesus' words here are nearly the equivalent to the deduction of Nicodemus, "No man can do the signs which thou doest except God be with him" (John 3:2).