Teaching in Jerusalem

The reason for the conflict with the Judean leaders is given as being the fact that Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Most likely, they used that as an excuse to attack him since he was again growing in popularity. We’re not told, but surely there were many who remembered him from the previous year’s teaching.

There is a high probability that—humanly speaking—the popularity of Jesus was all that saved him from being stoned. In the confrontation following his healing of the lame man on the Sabbath, he makes some claims that are astounding. He claims to be equal to God, claims the authority to exercise divine judgment, and to give life to whom he pleases. Either he is God who has become a man or a blasphemer.

Many have struggled with how salvation came before the cross. Jesus seems to answer that in these verses. He says that those who trusted the Father, in his day and before, will not face judgment. Genesis tells us that “Abraham believed God and God counted it as his righteousness.” The human side of salvation has always been trust, before and after the cross.