Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” So they were divided.
“signs” = Men of God were often tested by the signs they could produce.
Exodus 4:8 Then the LORD said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second.
Exodus 8:18-19 But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals. The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said.
1 Kings 18:38-39 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”
Jesus brings division among the Pharisees. On the one side are those who see the breaking of the Sabbath as proof that he is not from God and on the other are those who see the signs He has done as being indications that He really is from God. The latter group probably includes Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea; the former may include Saul of Tarsus.
But Jesus brings division among all men. (Mat 10:34-36) Faith involves commitment and will divide those who have it from those who don’t. (Psalms 27:10, 2 Sam 18:33)
Matthew 10:34-36 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
Psalms 27:10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.
2 Samuel 18:33 The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”
The accusation against Jesus is false, anyway. Though He did not keep the Sabbath according to the traditions of the elders and rules of the Pharisees, He did keep it according to the command of God.