NOTES for Joh 7:19-20

When Jesus says that they want to kill Him, He means not only the concrete situation unfolding at that moment before the eyes of those listening to Him. Here the issue is His ministry as a whole and people's attitude toward it - not only those who heard Him at that specific moment, but also all who considered themselves zealots for orthodoxy. Of course, on that very day when He spoke these words, no one was actually planning to kill Him. But Jesus understands: what He is doing can either be accepted or rejected - there is no middle ground here. And if it is rejected, then it can only be rejected together with Him, which means that those who reject it will have to try to get rid of Him - to kill Him.

They have no other way out: rejection of His words and of Himself must be carried through to the end, just as acceptance of both must be. For this is not about a new teaching and not even about a new religion; here is a new reality that He has brought into the world. One can refuse to accept a religion and ignore its adherents; one can decline to share a teaching and pay no attention to its followers. But it is impossible to pay no attention to the reality of the Kingdom and ignore it completely. Or rather, it is possible only if one can somehow get rid of that reality. And the first thing that comes to mind is to get rid of the One who brought this new reality into the world, since a conflict arises that cannot otherwise be resolved.

Jesus describes the problem very precisely by comparing healing on the Sabbath with circumcision on the same day. The first is unacceptable, the second quite permissible, although circumcision is only a sign of the covenant made with God, a tradition that in itself does not carry the spiritual component but only points to it, like every sign.

But here religion, this sign and its acceptance, has become a ritual prescription. And the Sabbath prohibitions over time also became ritual prescriptions, losing their original meaning: to give a person the opportunity to spend the day in rest, so that inward stillness might be added to outward quiet. In this case two rituals collide, and the collision is entirely resolvable. But healing on the Sabbath is a return to the spiritual foundations, to the original meaning of the Sabbath, which is precisely to spend the day with God. And now a healing takes place, a manifestation of the power of God and His Kingdom; and this is what turns out to be, for the zealots of orthodoxy, a violation of the religious norm.

This conflict is truly irresolvable. Here one must choose: either religious ritual or the Kingdom. And if ritual is chosen, then the Kingdom must be gotten rid of - as must the One who brought it into the world. That is why they want to kill Him, sometimes without even realizing it themselves. And He knows this, but such is His earthly path.