Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath.
- KJV And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
- NKJV For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.
- NASB For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on a Sabbath.
- NLT So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because he did such things on the Sabbath, the leaders persecuted Jesus. The healing exposed their hardened opposition to him.
Overview
The leaders' hostility now becomes open persecution. Their zeal for Sabbath rules turns into enmity against the Lord of the Sabbath himself. John shows how rejection of Jesus hardens into the opposition that will lead to the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- John 10:39At this, they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp.
- Acts 9:4–5He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
- Mark 3:6At this, the Pharisees went out and began plotting with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
- Matt 12:13Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other.
- John 7:19–20Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps it. Why are you trying to kill Me?”
- John 15:20Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.
- John 7:25Then some of the people of Jerusalem began to say, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?
- John 5:13But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there.
- Luke 6:11But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 5:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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