What is the meaning of John 5:18? Because of this John has just recorded Jesus healing the lame man at Bethesda on the Sabbath and then declaring, “My Father is still working, and I also am working” (John 5:17). That statement links Jesus’ action directly to the ongoing work of God the Father. “Because of this” signals the chain reaction: • The miracle and the claim together form a single witness to Jesus’ identity (cf. John 10:37–38). • The phrase shows cause and effect—Jesus’ revelation of Himself provokes a decisive response (John 3:19–20). the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him Opposition to Jesus had already begun (John 5:16), but it now intensifies to the point of plotting murder. • Similar resolve appears in Mark 3:6 and Matthew 12:14 after other Sabbath healings. • John later notes the same murderous intent in John 7:1; 8:59; 11:53. • The hostility fulfills prophetic expectation (Psalm 2:1–3; Isaiah 53:3). Not only was He breaking the Sabbath From the perspective of the religious leaders, Jesus violated their Sabbath regulations by telling the healed man to carry his mat (John 5:10–12). • Jesus elsewhere teaches that “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27–28), affirming His authority over the day He created (Genesis 2:2–3; Colossians 1:16). • He never breaks God’s Law (Matthew 5:17) but confronts human additions to it (Isaiah 29:13). but He was even calling God His own Father Jesus’ words go beyond the typical Jewish confession of God as Father of the nation; He speaks of a unique, personal relationship. • “The Word became flesh… the One and Only Son from the Father” (John 1:14). • “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son” (Matthew 11:27). • Believers are later invited into this intimacy (Romans 8:15), but Jesus possesses it inherently. making Himself equal with God The leaders rightly understand the implication: Jesus claims deity. • Later they react the same way: “You, a mere man, make Yourself God” (John 10:33). • Paul affirms that Christ, “existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself” (Philippians 2:6–7). • Colossians 2:9 declares, “In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily.” • The charge of blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16) shows why they seek His death; yet the Gospel presents His claim as absolute truth (John 20:28). summary John 5:18 captures the turning point where Jesus’ miracle and proclamation reveal His divine identity, triggering lethal opposition. His authority over the Sabbath, His unique Sonship, and His equality with the Father stand at the heart of the Gospel’s testimony: the eternal God has come in the flesh, and human hearts must choose either rejection or worship. |
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