The Jews took up stones again to kill Him because they understood His claim to be one with the Father as a claim to be God, the Son of God, which they called blasphemy and madness. That oneness meant sharing one substance with the Father and the same attributes. They were enraged because His words of truth and rebuke exposed their sins, hypocrisy and moral deformity, tore aside the cloak of rites under which they hid, and condemned their hollow profession by the pure religion He taught. Their hatred thirsted for revenge and seized on His Sabbath works of mercy as a pretext to condemn Him, refusing to acknowledge God's power in His miracles, and behind their rejection Satan and his angels were urging them to kill Him to separate the Father and the Son. Yet He quietly withdrew from their midst, His divine presence and majesty convicting them so the stones fell from their hands while heavenly angels guarded and led Him to safety, for His life was preserved until His work was finished and His appointed time came, His works from the Father bearing witness that His claim was no deception.
Why They Took Stones
The Jews took up stones because they understood His claim to be one with the Father as a claim to be God, the Son of God. They called that claim blasphemy and madness. The oneness they so understood meant sharing one substance and the same attributes.
They were enraged because His words of truth and rebukes exposed their sins and hypocrisy. His teaching in parables brought truth home to their hearts with striking illustrations until they pronounced judgment against themselves. They hated Him for exposing their hypocritical pretensions and condemning their hollow claims to piety. He tore aside the cloak of rigorous rites under which their moral deformity was hidden, and condemned their hollow professions of piety by the pure religion He taught.
They had hated Him from the first and thirsted to be revenged upon Him for His pointed rebukes. They tried to provoke Him to say or do something that would give them occasion to condemn Him. They used His Sabbath works of mercy as a pretext to condemn Him as a Sabbath-breaker. They refused to acknowledge the Son or to recognize God's power in His miracles, claiming His works came through Satan. Satan and his angels urged them to kill Him, and their rejection of Christ was Satan's effort to separate the Father and the Son.
Escape and Vindication
The word again marks this as one of many repeated attempts to stone Him, one of several times the stones were taken up against Him. This attack had been made not long before the raising of Lazarus. When they took up stones He quietly withdrew and they lost sight of Him, escaping being stoned. Again and again He escaped being stoned and escaped many other snares.
Though they were armed and hostile, they did not strike, for His divine presence and majesty convicted them so that the stones fell from their hands. Heavenly angels guarded Him, protected Him, carried Him away from the angry crowd, and led Him away to safety. His life was preserved by heaven until God's appointed time and until His work was finished. Their opposition did not stop His work.
He answered that His works from the Father bore witness to Him and challenged them to believe those works. Yet at the tomb of Lazarus He with perfect confidence again called God His Father and declared Himself the Son of God, working not independently but in cooperation with His Father by faith and prayer, so that those standing by received convincing evidence that His claim was not a deception. Judas counted on that repeated escape and expected He would not allow Himself to be taken when betrayed.
The Jews took up stones again to kill Him because they understood His claim to be one with the Father as a claim to be God, the Son of God, which they called blasphemy and madness. That oneness meant sharing one substance with the Father and the same attributes. They were enraged because His words of truth and rebuke exposed their sins, hypocrisy and moral deformity, tore aside the cloak of rites under which they hid, and condemned their hollow profession by the pure religion He taught. Their hatred thirsted for revenge and seized on His Sabbath works of mercy as a pretext to condemn Him, refusing to acknowledge God's power in His miracles, and behind their rejection Satan and his angels were urging them to kill Him to separate the Father and the Son. Yet He quietly withdrew from their midst, His divine presence and majesty convicting them so the stones fell from their hands while heavenly angels guarded and led Him to safety, for His life was preserved until His work was finished and His appointed time came, His works from the Father bearing witness that His claim was no deception.
Why They Took Stones
The Jews took up stones because they understood His claim to be one with the Father as a claim to be God, the Son of God. They called that claim blasphemy and madness. The oneness they so understood meant sharing one substance and the same attributes.
They were enraged because His words of truth and rebukes exposed their sins and hypocrisy. His teaching in parables brought truth home to their hearts with striking illustrations until they pronounced judgment against themselves. They hated Him for exposing their hypocritical pretensions and condemning their hollow claims to piety. He tore aside the cloak of rigorous rites under which their moral deformity was hidden, and condemned their hollow professions of piety by the pure religion He taught.
They had hated Him from the first and thirsted to be revenged upon Him for His pointed rebukes. They tried to provoke Him to say or do something that would give them occasion to condemn Him. They used His Sabbath works of mercy as a pretext to condemn Him as a Sabbath-breaker. They refused to acknowledge the Son or to recognize God's power in His miracles, claiming His works came through Satan. Satan and his angels urged them to kill Him, and their rejection of Christ was Satan's effort to separate the Father and the Son.
Escape and Vindication
The word again marks this as one of many repeated attempts to stone Him, one of several times the stones were taken up against Him. This attack had been made not long before the raising of Lazarus. When they took up stones He quietly withdrew and they lost sight of Him, escaping being stoned. Again and again He escaped being stoned and escaped many other snares.
Though they were armed and hostile, they did not strike, for His divine presence and majesty convicted them so that the stones fell from their hands. Heavenly angels guarded Him, protected Him, carried Him away from the angry crowd, and led Him away to safety. His life was preserved by heaven until God's appointed time and until His work was finished. Their opposition did not stop His work.
He answered that His works from the Father bore witness to Him and challenged them to believe those works. Yet at the tomb of Lazarus He with perfect confidence again called God His Father and declared Himself the Son of God, working not independently but in cooperation with His Father by faith and prayer, so that those standing by received convincing evidence that His claim was not a deception. Judas counted on that repeated escape and expected He would not allow Himself to be taken when betrayed.