Scripture Reading
16So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.


Observations:

(1) God is always at work.

Given the apparent contradiction with Genesis (where the scripture indicates that God ‘rested’ on the seventh day), I have to admit that I find the statement of Jesus in verse 17 about god always being at work a little difficult to understand.

Nevertheless, what we can see from this passage is that god never stops. He is always active, every second of every hour, of every day of every year. He is always watching over his creation. He doesn’t stop.

Although this passage is primarily about demonstrating god’s character, it also has some practical implications for us – especially for those of us who observe the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is intended for rest and worship. In general, those who observe it should abstain from traditional forms of work in the worldly sense. But there are limits to this, and the requirements should be observed with common sense. If your neighbour is sick, you do whatever you need to in order to look after them. Or if someone you know needs help, you do whatever it takes to provide the help that he or she needs. The Sabbath law does not prohibit kindness and love, nor should any follower of the lord lay aside these virtues simply because it happens to be a certain day of the week.


(2) Jesus refers to god as his father.

Although this was not actually the first time that Jesus had referred to god as being his father (that first happened in John Chapter 2, when Jesus referred to the temple (the house of god) as ‘my father’s house’ when driving out money-changers) the significance of these claims cannot be understated.

Up until now, many who have come across Jesus may have thought of him as a good and wise man – perhaps even a magician or a prophet. Even those who wouldn’t have considered him to be divine might have thought that he was pretty damn impressive.

But thoughts along those lines just don’t cut it now. By declaring himself to be equal with god, Jesus has raised the stakes no end. Now, we are only left with three possible conclusions:

a) He was not the son of god, and never believed he was.

In such a case, he was nothing but a rotten liar;


b) He was not the son of god, but honestly believed he was.

If this is the case, then he is a complete lunatic (fancy believing you were the son of god unless you really were), albeit an honest one; or


c) His claims were completely true and he is indeed the son of god.

There is no middle ground. Claims about being the son of god eliminate the safe, comfortable option. Anyone making claims like this are either liars or lunatics, or they are the son of god (as I believe) as per their claim.


(3) The Jews persecute Jesus.

Before we go being too hard on the Jews, it is important to remember one important fact - they may simply have been doing what they thought was right.

Had he not have been speaking the truth, Jesus would have been blaspheming against god – a sin punishable by death under Old Testament law, and the Jews (who genuinely believed this to be the case), would have been doing right by god in trying to kill him.

But this does not excuse them, nor are their actions forgivable. Jesus was telling the truth and the man which the Jews were trying to kill was none less than god’s only son. Sure, they most likely blind (figuratively speaking) rather than ill-intentioned, but this does not change the fact that they persecuted the son of god.


Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,

Thank you lord, that we are able to know that you never sit down and forget about the world. Nowhere do you stop and say “I’ll just sit down and rest for awhile – who cares if things go wrong in their world.” No. You watch over us all the time. Day and Night. Twenty-four seven.

Lord, forgive us whenever we fail to appreciate who you are. When we fail to appreciate just what you accomplished whilst here on this earth. You – the trinity, father, son and Holy Spirit, are nothing short of being our perfect creator. Let us not get conceited and offended when you show or talk about your greatness. Rather, let us bow down to you in submission and awe.

Father, whilst we should not judge anyone too harshly (we ourselves are sinners and not in any position to go passing out judgment), let us remember that those who were supposedly from your family did try to kill you (and, in a worldly sense, succeeded in doing so).

But let us also remember, lord, that this was done according to your design to demonstrate your greatness, which can be so clearly and explicitly seen through your unbelievable triumph over our sin on the cross.

In these things I pray.

In the name of Jesus Christ our lord,

Amen.