Originally Posted by Starman


which makes me think they may have been allowing many Sabbath blasphemers to skip appropriate punishment leading up to that incident.
[ie;] if stoning was the regular punishment for blasphemers, they would not need to consult the Lord, .. it would just be a par for the course
process to stone him....yet they were in two minds.

according to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 41a), it says that he was first warned by witnesses for his blasphemous actions , but he continued
collecting wood.....Thus had he stopped at the first warning , would they have shown leniency and not arrested him?



Perhaps they wanted to make an example of him as a 'serial offender' (expulsion may have been an option), yet however you look at it, the Creator of the Universe ordering his death by public stoning still contradicts the claim of that same Creator being the God of Love.

Does this describe a God who would have someone killed;

''Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.'' 1 John 4:7-8