John the apostle wrote how Jesus told a man who was crippled to “rise, take up your bed and walk”, and “immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for you to carry your bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up your bed, and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto you, Take up your bed, and walk? And he that was healed did not know who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father works hitherto, and I work”, and in chapter five and verse eighteen of his book, John shared, “the Jews sought the more to kill him” where we read:
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath,
but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
The verse reads, “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, ...”. John began with the words, “Therefore the Jews” or “then, wherefore, consequently and on this account the people from the Jewish nation by birth, origin and religion” “sought the more to kill him” which means “desired, craved and strove to a greater degree to slay, extinguish, abolish and inflict mortal death upon Jesus”, “because he not only had broken the sabbath” or “since and on account that Jesus subverted, did away with and deprived of authority the seventh day of each week which was a sacred festival on which the Israelites were required to abstain from all work”. John shared how there was an even more intense desire to “kill” Jesus not just singularly for “subverting” the “sabbath day”, but also for the following.
The verse continues, “... but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” John added the words, “but said also” which means “moreover uttered, declared and proclaimed even so and indeed” “that God was his Father” or “that God in Heaven was His One in the closest bond of love and intimacy who was acquainted with His purposes and appointed to explain and carry out among men the plan of salvation and made to share also in his own divine nature”, “making himself equal” which means “constructing and rendering His own self like and similar in amount and kind” “with God” or “alongside the Godhead and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”. John shared how the Jews were persecuting Jesus and wanted Him dead because He told them “God” was His “Father” which made Jesus “equivalent” to God Himself.
When we think through John's words in this verse, we learn the reasons the Jews were so opposed to Jesus that they wanted Him dead. Jesus told them God was “His Father”, and when He instructed the man with the infirmity to “carry his bed” on the “sabbath day”, He violated their law. Jesus told the truth, and He carried out the message of His Heavenly Father God. Jesus came to save people from their sins and bring them into a relationship with God. No one would stop Him until His mission was complete, and when a person submits themselves to Jesus, He will forgive their sins and grant them everlasting life with His Father God. Let all who read these words discover Jesus' purpose to be on earth and yield their lives to Him.
Next time see John shares how Jesus says, “the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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