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Begin wherever your curiosity leads. The studies will be here when you’re ready. When I shared my first Matthew study on Facebook today, I mentioned that I planned to post daily, though I might not share every post on Facebook. As I continue setting up this blog, I’ve realized that what matters most to me is making my past studies available for anyone who wants to explore them. For now, I’ll be adding posts to my heart’s content as I work through those studies. Some days that may mean one post; other days it may mean several. I’ll continue reading through and preparing each one before sharing it. There is no need to keep up with everything as it appears. This blog is becoming a place you can browse at your own pace—begin with a book, a question, or a study that interests you, and follow from there. The Bible Books page gathers studies by book, while Study Threads helps connect topics that travel through more than one book. The labels on individual posts also bring related material to...
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7. Sabbath Study: Doing Good and the Father’s Work

God’s Image Study • Genesis • Sabbath Study

Our study has followed rest alongside provision, release, and restoration. We now examine how Jesus explains the work he does on the Sabbath.

Is it lawful to do good?

In Matthew 12, a man with a withered hand becomes the occasion for a question about Sabbath healing. The passage identifies the questioners’ intention: they want grounds to accuse Jesus.

Jesus asks whether they would rescue a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath. He then draws attention to the greater value of a person and concludes:

“So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

— Matthew 12:12, LSB

The man stretches out his hand, and it is restored. Yet the Pharisees respond by planning Jesus’ destruction.

Notice the actions beside one another: Jesus restores a person while his opponents plan to destroy him. Their concern about Sabbath observance must be examined alongside what they themselves intend to do. Read Matthew 12:9–14.

This invites personal reflection: Can I become so committed to defending my understanding that I resist the good a passage is showing me?

The Father is working

John 5 records another Sabbath healing. A man who has been ill for thirty-eight years becomes well at Jesus’ command.

When Jesus faces persecution over his Sabbath activity, he answers:

“My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”

— John 5:17, LSB

Follow his explanation. In verses 19–20, Jesus says his actions depend upon what he sees the Father doing. The Father loves him and shows him His works.

The discussion then moves from healing to giving life. Verse 26 preserves the order: the Father has life in Himself and grants the Son to have life in himself. Later, Jesus identifies his works as those the Father gave him to complete. Read John 5:19–26, 36.

Work, purpose, and completion

For our Sabbath study, Jesus’ explanation raises an important question: What work is being done, whose work is it, and what does it accomplish?

We must hold the Father’s continuing work alongside the completed work and rest already examined in Genesis. Each passage contributes to the question; we need to follow its setting and sequence carefully.

As we continue, let us consider whether our understanding of rest makes room for the restoration these accounts describe.

Threads to Follow

  • Completion and Glory: Examine Jesus’ words about finishing the Father’s work in John 17:1–5.

  • Rest that remains: Keep Hebrews 4:9–11 alongside the question of completion.

  • Delighting in God: Follow the relationship between Sabbath, conduct, and restoration in Isaiah 58.

The books were opened…

🌿 By Maria Emilia

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