Jesus has accomplished a lot during his great ministry in Galilee. However, in saying, “I must also declare the good news of the Kingdom of God to other cities,” Jesus has in mind more than just Galilee. Thus, he goes “preaching in the synagogues of Judea.” (Luke 4:43, 44) This is logical because it is now spring and a festival in Jerusalem is approaching.

Compared with what we read of Jesus’ Galilean ministry, we find little in the Gospels about his activity in Judea. Even if the general reaction in Judea is apathetic, it does not stop Jesus from preaching actively and doing good works wherever he is.

Soon Jesus is heading to Judea’s principal city, Jerusalem, for the Passover of 31 C.E. In the busy area near the Sheep Gate, there is a large colonnaded pool called Bethzatha. Many sick, blind, and lame come to this pool. Why? Because it is commonly believed that people can be healed by getting into the pool when the water is agitated.

It is now the Sabbath, and Jesus sees a man at this pool who has been sick for 38 years. Jesus asks: “Do you want to get well?” The man answers: “Sir, I do not have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am on my way, another steps down ahead of me.”​—John 5:6, 7.

Jesus says something that must surprise the man and anyone else who hears it: “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” (John 5:8) And that is exactly what he does. Immediately healed, the man picks up his mat and begins to walk!

Rather than rejoice over the wonderful thing that has happened, the Jews see the man and say judgmentally: “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry the mat.” The man answers them: “The same one who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” (John 5:10, 11) Those Jews are critical of someone who is healing on the Sabbath.

“Who is the man who told you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?” they want to know. Why do they ask the man that? Because Jesus has “slipped away into the crowd,” and the healed man does not know Jesus’ name. (John 5:12, 13) But this man is to have another encounter with Jesus. Later, in the temple, the man meets Jesus and learns the identity of the one who healed him at the pool.

The man who was healed finds the Jews who had asked him about his being made well. He tells them that it was Jesus. On learning this, the Jews go to Jesus. Do they go to learn by what means Jesus is able to do such wonderful things? No. It is, rather, to find fault with Jesus for doing good things on the Sabbath. And they even begin persecuting him!

When some Jews accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath by healing a man, Jesus replies: “My Father has kept working until now, and I keep working.”​—John 5:17.

No, what Jesus is doing is not forbidden by God’s law regarding the Sabbath. His work of preaching and healing is in imitation of God’s good works. So Jesus keeps on doing good every day. His reply to his accusers, however, makes them even angrier than they were before, and they seek to kill Jesus. Why this reaction?

In addition to their having the mistaken view that Jesus is breaking the Sabbath by healing people, they take great offense at his saying that he is God’s Son. They consider it blasphemy for him to view God as his Father, as if Jesus’ saying that Jehovah is his Father amounts to making himself equal to God. However, Jesus is unafraid and answers them further regarding his special relationship with God. “The Father has affection for the Son,” he says, “and shows him all the things he himself does.”​—John 5:20.

The Father is the Life-Giver, and he has shown this in the past by empowering men to resurrect individuals. Jesus continues: “Just as the Father raises the dead up and makes them alive, so the Son also makes alive whomever he wants to.” (John 5:21) What a meaningful statement, giving hope for the future! Even now, the Son is raising the dead in a spiritual sense. Hence, Jesus says: “Whoever hears my word and believes the One who sent me has everlasting life, and he does not come into judgment but has passed over from death to life.”​—John 5:24.

There is no record that Jesus has as yet raised anyone who was actually dead back to life, but he tells his accusers that such literal resurrections will occur. “The hour is coming,” he says, “in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out.”​—John 5:28, 29.

As extraordinary as Jesus’ role is, he makes it clear that he is subordinate to God, stating: “I cannot do a single thing of my own initiative. . . . I seek, not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.” (John 5:30) However, Jesus describes his own vital role in God’s purpose, which he has not up to this time done in such a public way. But those accusing Jesus have more than his witness about these things. “You have sent men to John [the Baptist],” Jesus reminds them, “and he has borne witness to the truth.”​—John 5:33.

Jesus’ accusers might well have heard that about two years earlier, John had told Jewish religious leaders about the One coming after him​—who was termed “the Prophet” and “the Christ.” (John 1:20-25) Reminding his accusers of their once high regard for the now imprisoned John, Jesus says: “For a short time you were willing to rejoice greatly in his light.” (John 5:35) Yet he provides an even greater witness than John the Baptist.

“These works that I am doing [including the healing that he had just performed] bear witness that the Father sent me.” Besides that, Jesus continues: “The Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me.” (John 5:36, 37) For example, God bore witness about Jesus at his baptism.​—Matthew 3:17.

Really, those accusing Jesus have no excuse for rejecting him. The Scriptures that they claim to be searching testify about him. “If you believed Moses, you would believe me,” Jesus concludes, “for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe what I say?”​—John 5:46, 47.

Jesus and his disciples now travel northward toward Galilee. It is springtime, and in the fields there is grain on the stalks. Being hungry, the disciples pluck some heads of grain and eat. But the day is a Sabbath, and the Pharisees observe what they are doing.

Recall that recently certain Jews in Jerusalem wanted to kill Jesus, accusing him of violating the Sabbath. Now the Pharisees bring an accusation based on the disciples’ actions. “Look! Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”​—Matthew 12:2.

The Pharisees claim that picking grain and rubbing it in the hands to eat is harvesting and threshing. (Exodus 34:21) Their strict interpretation of what constitutes work makes the Sabbath burdensome, whereas it was originally meant to be a joyous, spiritually upbuilding day. Jesus counters their wrong view with examples to show that Jehovah God never meant for His Sabbath law to be applied that way.

One example Jesus gives is that of David and his men. When they were hungry, they stopped at the tabernacle and ate the loaves of presentation. Those loaves, which had already been removed from before Jehovah and replaced by fresh ones, were ordinarily reserved for the priests to eat. Yet, under the circumstances, David and his men were not condemned for eating them.​—Leviticus 24:5-9; 1 Samuel 21:1-6.

As a second example, Jesus says: “Have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbaths the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and continue guiltless?” What he means is that even on the Sabbath, the priests slaughter animals for sacrifice and do other work at the temple. “But I tell you,” Jesus says, “that something greater than the temple is here.”​—Matthew 12:5, 6; Numbers 28:9.

Jesus again draws on the Scriptures to make his point: “If you had understood what this means, ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless ones.” He concludes: “For the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Jesus is referring to his coming peaceful Kingdom rule of a thousand years.​—Matthew 12:7, 8; Hosea 6:6.

Humankind has long been suffering laborious enslavement by Satan, with violence and war abounding. What a contrast it will be under the great Sabbath rule of Christ, who will provide the time of rest we long for and need!

On another Sabbath, Jesus visits a synagogue, likely in Galilee. There he finds a man whose right hand is withered. (Luke 6:6) The scribes and the Pharisees are watching Jesus closely. Why? They reveal what their real intent is when they ask: “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?”​—Matthew 12:10.

The Jewish religious leaders believe that healing is lawful on the Sabbath only if life is in danger. Thus, for example, on the Sabbath it is unlawful to set a bone or bandage a sprain, conditions that are not life threatening. Clearly the scribes and the Pharisees are not questioning Jesus because they feel genuine concern for this poor man’s suffering. They are trying to find a pretext for condemning Jesus.

Jesus, however, knows their twisted reasoning. He realizes that they have adopted an extreme, unscriptural view of what constitutes a violation of the prohibition against doing work on the Sabbath. (Exodus 20:8-10) He has already faced such misplaced criticism of his good works. Now Jesus sets the stage for a dramatic confrontation by telling the man with the withered hand: “Get up and come to the center.”​—Mark 3:3.

Turning to the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus says: “If you have one sheep and that sheep falls into a pit on the Sabbath, is there a man among you who will not grab hold of it and lift it out?” (Matthew 12:11) A sheep represents a financial investment, so they would not leave it in the pit until the next day; it might die in the meantime and thus cause them loss. Besides, the Scriptures say: “The righteous one takes care of his domestic animals.”​—Proverbs 12:10.

Drawing a reasonable parallel, Jesus continues: “How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do a fine thing on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:12) Accordingly, Jesus would not be violating the Sabbath by healing the man. The religious leaders are unable to refute such logical, compassionate reasoning. They just remain silent.

With indignation, as well as grief at their misguided thinking, Jesus looks around. Then he says to the man: “Stretch out your hand.” (Matthew 12:13) As the man stretches out his withered hand, it is restored. That is a cause for joy for the man, but how does it affect those trying to trap Jesus?

Instead of being happy that the man’s hand is restored, the Pharisees go out and immediately conspire “with the party followers of Herod against [Jesus], in order to kill him.” (Mark 3:6) This political party evidently includes members of the religious group called the Sadducees. Ordinarily, the Sadducees and the Pharisees are opposed to each other, but now they are solidly united in their opposition to Jesus.