John 5:9-18 ▼

9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk. Now that day was the Sabbath,

10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”

11 He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

12 “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’? ” they asked.

13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

14 After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.”

15 The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

16 Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

17 Jesus responded to them, “My Father is still working, and I am working also.”

18 This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him: Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.