Here's a question for everyone , I'm stumped by this ! Compare John chapter 5 verse 18 to John chapter 8 verse 41 . What's going on here ? Any help please ?
Hi Fuji. That's a good question & worthy comparison of the two Scriptures you gave.
My understanding is this: From those passages, I see how the Jews & Jesus viewed who their Father was; and secondly, what were the works that resulted from that relationship to God their Father.
1. The Jews sought to kill Jesus because He both broke the Sabbath & called God His Father, making Himself equal with God. The Jews considered both Abraham and God as their Father, one in a biological sense, & the other (God) Whom they worshiped, obeyed & historically with them. However, Jesus showed that His relationship with God, as Father, was different: Jesus did what God required of Him & what God would have done Himself. The Jews believed that any type of work (i.e. what they established as work) was in contravention to God's Sabbath requirements. Jesus basically intimated that God did cease from His creation Work on the seventh day, but to do good for another, to render assistance to the injured, or even heal (as Jesus did) did not contravene the 4th Commandment. So the claim by Jesus that 'as His Father would have worked on the Sabbath to heal, so He had the authority to do likewise', spoke to the Jews that this was not just a claim to God's Fatherhood as they believed, but Jesus' claim that of equality (as Jesus claimed that He does all of God's Works (vv 19,20), He can raise the dead (v 21), in Judgement & in Honor (vv 22,23), etc.)
2. In the second passage, the question again arises of the genuineness of their relationship with God their Father. This matter came up when they asked Jesus, "Where is thy Father?" ( John 8:19). Their claim to be of Abraham's seed (v 33), but their works to kill Jesus proved that their father was the devil (v 44), since this was neither the works of Abraham nor God. So the Jews claim here that God was their Father was erroneous, as the relationship was not rooted in accepting Jesus' Works & Words from God, but rather doing the works of the Devil.
My understanding is this: From those passages, I see how the Jews & Jesus viewed who their Father was; and secondly, what were the works that resulted from that relationship to God their Father.
1. The Jews sought to kill Jesus because He both broke the Sabbath & called God His Father, making Himself equal with God. The Jews considered both Abraham and God as their Father, one in a biological sense, & the other (God) Whom they worshiped, obeyed & historically with them. However, Jesus showed that His relationship with God, as Father, was different: Jesus did what God required of Him & what God would have done Himself. The Jews believed that any type of work (i.e. what they established as work) was in contravention to God's Sabbath requirements. Jesus basically intimated that God did cease from His creation Work on the seventh day, but to do good for another, to render assistance to the injured, or even heal (as Jesus did) did not contravene the 4th Commandment. So the claim by Jesus that 'as His Father would have worked on the Sabbath to heal, so He had the authority to do likewise', spoke to the Jews that this was not just a claim to God's Fatherhood as they believed, but Jesus' claim that of equality (as Jesus claimed that He does all of God's Works (vv 19,20), He can raise the dead (v 21), in Judgement & in Honor (vv 22,23), etc.)
2. In the second passage, the question again arises of the genuineness of their relationship with God their Father. This matter came up when they asked Jesus, "Where is thy Father?" ( John 8:19). Their claim to be of Abraham's seed (v 33), but their works to kill Jesus proved that their father was the devil (v 44), since this was neither the works of Abraham nor God. So the Jews claim here that God was their Father was erroneous, as the relationship was not rooted in accepting Jesus' Works & Words from God, but rather doing the works of the Devil.
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