John Chapter 5, Verse 18
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18: δια τουτο ουν μαλλον εζητουν αυτον οι ιουδαιοι αποκτειναι οτι ου μονον ελυεν το σαββατον αλλα και πατερα ιδιον ελεγεν τον θεον ισον εαυτον ποιων τω θεω
18: 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.
18: Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because
he did not only break the sabbath but also said God was his Father,
making himself equal to God.
The more to kill him. The answer of Jesus was fitted greatly to irritate them. He did not deny what he had done, but he added to that what he well knew would highly, offend them. That he should claim the right of dispensing with the law, and affirm that, in regard to its observance, he was in the same condition with God, was eminently fitted to enrage them, and he doubtless knew that it might endanger his life.
Had broken the sabbath. They supposed he had broken it.
Making himself equal with God. This shows that, in the view of the Jews, the name Son of God, or that calling God his Father, implied equality with God. The Jews were the best interpreters of their own language, and as Jesus did not deny the correctness of their interpretations, it follows that he meant to be so understood. See Jn 10:29ff. The interpretation of the Jews was a very natural and just one. He not only said that God was his Father, but he said that he had the same right to work on the Sabbath that God had; that by the same authority, and in the same manner, he could dispense with the obligation of the day. They had now two pretences for seeking to kill him -- one for making himself equal with God, which they considered blasphemy, and the other for violating the Sabbath. For each of these the law denounced death, Num 15:35 Lev 24:11ff.
