why do you guys always hang your hat on what the pharisees say and ignore what Jesus says of himself. Jesus says they were wanting to stone Him for being the Son of the Most High. and if this was what the pharisees really thought, why do they not once question Him on this at His trial, they ask Him about being the Christ and the Son of the Most High, not about being the Most High, thats a pretty big deal to ignore.
And this is why jaybird, your missing the whole point of what's going on because you are actually proving the point I'm making. Let me illustrate what I'm talking about and believe me I know exactly what your talking about.
What did Jesus Christ say that caused the Jews to want to kill/stone Him on several occasions before His trial? Let's start at John 5:17,18. Jesus said this at vs17, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." The Jews react to this statement at vs18, "For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD." Did you get that, "Making Himself equal with God."
John 8:58,59, Vs58 Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born I am." How do the Jews react? Vs59, "Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him." Why jaybird?
John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." Vs31, "The Jews took up stone AGAIN to stone Him." Why jaybird? John 19:7, "The Jews answered Him, We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because he make Himself OUT TO BE THE SON OF GOD." And this is the part you do not understand jaybird, the Son of God part.
To the Jews the Jewish idiom "the son of" has important significance (and they are right about this) because claiming to be the Son of God is equal to being God. Now, I fully realize that in our way of thinking this is not so, but it is true in Jewish thinking and that is why Jesus was accused of blasphemy.
So again, getting back to my original question? What did Jesus say that caused the Jews to want to kill Him? Well at John 5:18 He was calling God His own Father. At John 8:58, He said He existed even before Abraham was born because Jesus said "I am" which is what God said to Moses at Exodus 3:13,14, read it for yourself.
Then at John 10:30 Jesus said He and His Father are one. The Jews knew Jesus was saying that He is one in nature with God the Father. This is why at John 10:33 the Jews say, "You being a man, make Yourself God." Then at the trial of Jesus at Matthew 26:63 the high priest ask Jesus to swear as to His idenity by asking Jesus 2 things, (1) Are you the Christ/Messiah and (2) are you the Son of God? Jesus finally answers and says, "Yes, I am."
In short, claiming to be the Son of God to the Jews (and again I say rightfully so) is claiming to be God. And yes that is a big deal, and no I am not ignoring anything. So, if the Jews don't understand what Jesus was claiming we can't know. The interesting thing in all of this is that you and others don't believe what Jesus said and neither did the Jews and that's why they killed Him. He really was the one and only Son of God. John 3:16.
IN GOD THE SON,
bluto