Note 2 at Jn. 5:18: When Jesus was asked what was the first and great commandment of the law, He answered by saying, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Mt. 22:37-39). He added in Mark 12:31, "There is none other commandment greater than these." It is quite obvious in light of this, that Jesus did not break the law by healing on the Sabbath, but in actuality, He was fulfilling it by loving His neighbor as Himself. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath (Lk. 6:9).

Note 3 at Jn. 5:18: When the Jewish authorities heard Jesus call God "my (own) Father" (Gk.-"pateraidion"), they immediately understood that Jesus claimed for Himself deity in the highest possible sense of that term. That claim was either blasphemy, to be punished by death, or else Jesus was who He claimed to be.

Jesus never associated Himself with His disciples by using the plural pronoun "our" Father. Rather, He always used the singular "my" Father, since His relationship was unique and eternal, whereas theirs was by grace and regeneration. The purpose of the fourth gospel is clearly stated, "that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (Jn. 20:31). The object of John's gospel was to show that Jesus is "the true God" (1 Jn. 5:20) who was "made flesh" (Jn. 1:14).

We should ponder carefully our Lord's own conception of who He was. He said "I am from above" (Jn. 8:23); "Before Abraham was, I Am" (Jn. 8:58); "I and my Father are one" (Jn. 10:30); "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (Jn. 14:9); and "I am not of the world" (Jn. 17:16). He also declared His eternal pre-existence and that He shared the Father's glory (Jn. 6:62; 17:5).

The names and titles given to Jesus in John's gospel are profoundly impressive. He is called God (Jn. 1:1); the Son 17 times, 14 of them being spoken by Christ; the Son of God 9 times, 4 of them spoken by Christ; the only-begotten Son 4 times, 2 of them spoken by Christ (Jn. 1:14,18; 3:16,18); the Son of man 12 times, and all spoken by Christ; Jesus about 240 times, which shows that He whom the writer calls God is Jesus of Nazareth (Jn. 1:45; 18:5,7; 19:19); Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:17; 17:3); Christ or the Christ or Messiah 16 times; King 14 times; Lord, used by Himself 5 times and used of Him by others 43 times; Saviour (Jn. 4:42); Rabbi or Rabboni 8 times; teacher 7 times; Lamb of God (Jn. 1:29,36); shepherd 5 times; the light 19 times, 13 of them by Christ, Himself; the Word 4 times (Jn. 1:1,14); the way, the truth, the life (Jn. 14:6); prophet 5 times; the bread 10 times; the door (Jn. 10:7); the true vine (Jn. 15:1); I Am (Jn. 8:58); the resurrection (Jn. 11:25); and the bridegroom (Jn. 3:29).

Even if John had the intelligence to create these terms, it is simply inconceivable that any monotheistic Jew could ever bring himself to speak of any man in this way unless he was clearly presenting Jesus as being equal with God.