John 5:16

And for this cause the Jew's persecuted Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath.

Those zealots who had made the word of God of none effect by their tradition were adamant in their refusal to allow the slightest possibility of any error on their own part. Their foolish and unscriptural sabbath regulations were so dear to them that they would crucify the Christ of glory rather than yield on the tiniest iota of their conceited interpretations. Note: John did not say here that Jesus broke the sabbath but that he "did these things," a far different thing from breaking the sabbath.