They tried all the more to kill him for calling God his own Father. Today’s Gospel reading picks up from where we left yesterday. Jesus’ healing of the man by the pool had not gone down well since it took place on a Sabbath. As an answer to the Jews he had made upset, Jesus situates the healing of the sick man in the continuing work of creation. If the healing was a violation of the Sabbath because it was considered a “work,” then Jesus did not have any regrets. He was glad that he was able to “work” on a Sabbath because God his Father is still at work. It was a claim that did upset the Jews even more. How could Jesus claim God to be his father? How dare he?
Why would Jesus calling God his father upset the Jews? By calling God his father, Jesus is not only making himself equal to God (a blasphemy in itself), but he is also dethroning Israel. Up until now, the nation of Israel has been regarded as God’s first born son and as God’s favorite. God had elected Israel from among the nations of the earth and put her on a pedestal. For Jesus to come from nowhere and claim sonship, it seems there are two things at play here: either God has sired another “beloved” son, which will then bring with it competition and doing away with Israel’s monopoly, or God has rejected Israel as God’s son. Either way, the Jews are not happy for it reminds them of the story of Saul. Israel has failed, and Jesus has assumed the responsibility that was given to Israel: of making God known to the other nations.
It is in Jesus that the promises made to humanity through Israel are getting to be fulfilled. It is through Jesus that those who have not heard about God (those in the tombs) will hear God’s voice and be given life, for in the Son, the Father continues to create. Jesus is right to call God his Father because God was dwelling in him. As a matter of fact, anything that Jesus was doing was not his own. It was the Father who was at work in him.