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.
Parallel translations
- WEB For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
- BSB Because of this, 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.
- NKJV Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
- NASB For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
- NLT So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.
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
The leaders sought all the more to kill Jesus, for he called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. They rightly grasped his claim to deity.
Overview
John clarifies that the leaders understood Jesus to be claiming equality with God, and they judged this blasphemy. Their reaction confirms that Jesus' words were a genuine assertion of his divine identity. The Gospel presents this claim as true: Jesus is the Son, equal with the Father, worthy of the worship his opponents refused.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- John 10:30I and my Father are one.
- John 10:33The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
- John 19:7The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
- John 8:58Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
- John 14:23Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
- John 5:23That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
- John 7:1After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.
- Rev 22:1And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
- Phil 2:6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
- John 8:54Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
- John 7:19Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?
- John 14:9Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
- John 5:16And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
- Zech 13:7Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
- Rev 22:3And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
- John 7:22–23Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.
- Matt 12:5Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
- Rev 21:22–23And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
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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 5:18 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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