The Feast of the Tabernacles Last week, we ended our message with the chilling words of prophecy that point to a reality in the near future for Jesus. Remember the words found in John 7:1? After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. (John 7:1 NASB) Under the Mosaic Law, all able-bodied men were required to go to Jerusalem three times a year to observe a time of feasting and remembrance. In the spring time, March or April, the feast and remembrance marked the Passover. This aligns with our Easter celebrations. Seven weeks later, the celebration of the early harvest known as the feast of weeks. This was a time to be thankful for the harvest that God supplied. It also became a time that was associated with God giving the Law to the children of Israel. For Christians, the seven weeks match up with Pentecost. The third trip was to celebrate the fall harvest and was during late September or mid-october. During this time of feasting and remembrance, the men lived in tents, or booths to remind them of the tabernacle which housed the Ark of the Covenant before the building of the temple. This was known as the Feast of the Tabernacle or Feast of the Booths (depending on the translation you use). There is no modern-day Christian celebration associated with this feast. Maybe that s why so many churches have harvest festivals and bazaars. With this little bit of information, we return to John s gospel and see that Jesus goes to the Feast of the Tabernacle (or Booths). This is approximately six months before His final trip to Jerusalem. The Feast of the Tabernacle was approaching in the early fall before the crucifixion of Jesus. Many of the Jewish leaders had turned against Jesus and were losing patience with the crowd that still followed Him. Jesus had several brothers (half-brothers) and they we not believers. In the 7 th chapter of John s gospel, we find a conversation between Jesus and His brothers. We also see that Jesus knew the more frequently He was seen in Jerusalem, the more likely He would be killed. Yes, 1
His mission was to be killed. However, He needed to finish His time with the disciples so they would be ready and capable of taking the message of salvation to the world. After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths (or the Feast of the Tabernacle), was near. Therefore, His brothers said to Him, Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world. For not even His brothers were believing in Him. So, Jesus said to them, My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come. Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. (John 7:1-9 NASB) Perhaps one of the best proofs that His disciples were not ready comes in Luke s account of Jesus going to the Feast of Tabernacles. John, in verse 10, simply tells us that after His brothers went, He went privately. Luke gives us more detail. Let s read from Luke the 9 th chapter beginning in verse 51. When the days were approaching for His ascension Let s pause right here. Luke is writing this narrative in retrospect. The events have already happened and, for Luke, most of the readers were aware of Jesus return to heaven. Luke is sharing a point of reference. The time of Jesus on earth, at this point in the narrative, is close. When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them? But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, You do not know what kind 2
of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men s lives, but to save them. ] And they went on to another village. (Luke 9:51-56 NASB) The bitterness between the Jews and the Samaritans is noted. Just a short time later, Jesus will tell of a Samaritan caring for a wounded traveler. If we look in context, that story is truly aimed, not only at the lawyer asking about his neighbor but at His disciples who wanted Jesus to use heavenly power to punish the Samaritan village. Jesus goes into Jerusalem for the feast. There was a lot of mummering. The twitter accounts were buzzing. So, the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, Where is He? There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, He is a good man ; others were saying, No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray. Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews. (John 7:11-13 NASB) Rumors, misinformation, slanderous remarks are always shared in whispers. The unidentified they are always saying He is a good man or No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray. Human nature is much the same today as it was then. Jesus is different. Some like Him others don t. But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. The Jews then were astonished, saying, How has this man become learned, having never been educated? (John 7:14-15 NASB) Here we have an uneducated Jesus, the son of a carpenter, speaking with authority on matters that pertain to God s law. Jesus had been criticized for healing on the Sabbath. So, Jesus uses the same law, which they quote to show them the folly of their argument. 3
Jesus answered them, I did one deed, and you all marvel. For this reason, Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. (John 7:21-24 NASB) Here, at the Feast of the Tabernacle, just six months before His crucifixion, Jesus has drawn a line in the sand. This line is not one to dare someone to cross but rather, it is a line where we choose to stand on one side or the other. For Jesus, there is no more time to straddle the fence and continue to weigh the options. In a previous lifetime, we used an expression to describe failure to decide. It is: Paralysis through analysis. Jesus had reached a point in His career and His life where people had to decide. There is no more time to debate. So, some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from. Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me. So, they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He? (John 7:25-31 NASB) As we can see, some are beginning to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One. When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He? The religious leaders were nor happy. They are ready to arrest Jesus in an effort to silence His teachings. 4
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, This certainly is the Prophet. Others were saying, This is the Christ. Still others were saying, Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was? So, a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him. (John 7:37-43 NASB) People are listening and deciding on which side of that line they will stand. For some, their reasoning had convinced them that the miracles and the teachings called for Jesus to either be a prophet or the Christ. Others could not fit the pieces together. Jesus was from Galilee and no prophet comes from Galilee. Jesus was a carpenter s son, uneducated, thus He could not be the Christ. Choices! Everyday people make choices. Here on the last day of the Feast of the Tabernacle, people were making choices that had eternal consequences. One of the verses that we skipped in this chapter, tells us that the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Jesus. The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. (John 7:32 NASB) Well, they came back empty handed. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, Why did you not bring Him? The officers answered, Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks. (John 7:45-46 NASB) 5
The rendezvous between Jesus and the cross is rapidly approaching. The officers sent to arrest Jesus at this time came back and said: Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks. Given the facts, as we know them, we have a choice to make. Is Jesus the Christ or do we stand on the side of the unbelieving? It really is just that simple. 6