Genesis 2:2
God Rests on the Sabbath
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
John 5:1-30
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man at the Pool
1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.[4] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Authority of the Son
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
John 14:12
The Works of Jesus
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 6:29
The Work of God is to Believe in Jesus
29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
The word work is mentioned in the above verses...And it is interesting in how the word work is used in all these verses...Jesus speaks of work in the Gospel of John and seems to use the word a little differently at times, yet very similar...On the seventh day after God had finished the work of creation that He had been doing...So on the seventh day He rested from all his work...Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on this seventh day He rested from all the work of creating that He had done...
Was the creating of the universe by God work?...And just what is work for God and Jesus?...
Jesus did a healing on the Sabbath...And on this particular day, He uses the word work...And He defends Himself and says, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”...Jesus is definitely making a comparison to Himself and God and saying He is very much like God and has a unique and special relationship with Him...And we see that Jesus does not try and say He was not working...
But to me, He was actually healing a paralyzed man...The Jewish leaders pretty much ignore both the fact that Jesus had just done a miracle, and that He had healed a paralyzed man in their very presence...Jesus has done good on the Sabbath...And He tries to explain to others it is alright to good things on the Sabbath...And for Jesus to tell someone like this lame man to pick up his mat was a form of work, in the way these leaders interpreted the law of Moses...
Also, it maybe that the Jewish Leaders would allow God to work on the Sabbath and to heal people, but for Jesus to do it He was comparing Himself to God...So these leaders may have wanted Him to do His healings on another day, but why they would not want someone healed is a very good question on any day...Isn't is good to heal someone one the Sabbath?...And is it any difference to compare yourself to God on a Sabbath or a Monday?...And it is possible the Jewish leaders may have believed that God did not work on the Sabbath after His creation work and that He rested on the seventh day...But God never ceases to forgive and show mercy, no matter what day of the week it is...How can He?...He is God...
Would you consider this work, what Jesus has done with the paralyzed one?...What is the problem of healing a man on the Sabbath or any day?...Jesus is doing God's work, each and every day...So in a way, Jesus is telling us that His miracles are His work, His healings are work, and that He is at work when He is healing people and doing miracles...So Jesus calls this work, and He says His Father is always at work, be it Sunday or Monday or any day...Our God is a working God...God is the Sustainer of the Universe...His Energy and Attributes sustain life and the universe...God controls the universe and keeps it sustainable for us to live...Jesus and God are working everyday of the week...
And Jesus tells us that the work of God is this: to believe in Him, the One that He sent...Work is believing in God and His Son...And so we learn that mercy, forgiveness, kindness, helping others, and love are to be done each and everyday of our lives...