justified in ascribing to him any unworthy purpose, though by
his act he was instrumental in augmenting the persecution of his Lord.
So intense was the hatred of the priestly faction that the rulers sought
a means of putting Jesus to death, under the specious pretense of His
being a Sabbath-breaker. We may well ask of what act they could possibly
have hoped to convict Him, even under the strictest application of their
rules. There was no proscription against speaking on the Sabbath; and
Jesus had but spoken to heal. He had not carried the man's bed, nor had
He attempted even the lightest physical labor. By their own
interpretation of the law they had no case against Him.

OUR LORD'S REPLY TO THE ACCUSING JEWS.

Nevertheless, the Jewish officials confronted Jesus with accusations.
Whether the interview took place within the temple walls, on the open
street, at the market place, or in the judgment hall, matters not. His
reply to their charges is not confined to the question of Sabbath
observance; it stands as the most comprehensive sermon in scripture on
the vital subject of the relationship between the Eternal Father and His
Son, Jesus Christ.

His first sentence added to the already intense anger of the Jews.
Referring to the work He had done on the holy day, He said: "My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work." This remark they construed to be a
blasphemy.[445] "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." To their spoken or unuttered
protest, Jesus replied, that He, the Son, was not acting independently,
and in fact could do nothing except what was in accordance with the
Father's will, and what He had seen the Father do; that the Father so
loved the Son as to show unto Him the Father's works.

Be it observed that Jesus in no way attempted to explain away their
construction of His words; on the contrary He confirmed their deductions
as correct. He did associate Himself with the Father, even in a closer
and more exalted relationship than they had conceived. The authority
given to Him by the Father was not limited to the healing of bodily
infirmities; He had power even to raise the dead--"For as the Father
raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth
whom he will." Moreover, the judgment of men had been committed unto
Him; and no one could honor the Father except by honoring the