The rulers of the people could not answer these elevated truths that were brought home to their consciences. They had no arguments with which to meet them; they could only cite their customs and traditions, and these seemed weak and vapid compared with the strong arguments that Jesus had drawn from the work of God and the unceasing round of nature. Had they felt any desire to receive light, their hearts would have been convinced that Jesus spoke the truth. But they evaded the points he made concerning the Sabbath, and sought to stir up anger against him because he had made himself equal with God. The fury of the rulers knew no bounds, and it was with difficulty that they were prevented from seizing upon Jesus to put him to death. {2SP 165.2}

Folkets øvester kunne ikke modsige disse ophøjede sandheder; thi de trængte ind i deres samvittighed. De havde ingen beviser at fremføre mod ham. De kunne blot henvise til sine skikke og sagn, og de syntes at være svage og betydningsløse sammenlignede med de stærke beviser, som Jesus fremførte af Guds gernings og naturens evige love. Dersom de havde ønsket at få oplysning, så ville de have troet, at Jesus talte sandhed, Men de ville ikke lytte til de beviser, han fremførte angående sabbaten, og søgte at vække forbitrelse angående sabbaten, og søgte at vække forbitrelse mod ham, fordi han gjorde sig selv lige med Gud. Disse øvesters raseri var grænseløst, og det (166) eksalteres efter egen højde, - dersom de stoler på sin egen visdom og kraft, selv søger at styre og løsriver sig fra ham, som de bekender sig til at tjene, så vil Gud kræve dem til regnskab for en sådan ulovlig fremgangsmåde. Da handler ikke i harmoni med deres herre.