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189. Overview: Jesus at The Feast


John 7:1-52 & 8:11-59
Key Verse: "Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."
John 7:24

There is a lot to read for today. I apologize for that. In the coming days, we will be looking at this passage more closely and breaking it down into bite size pieces, as we did the Sermon on the Mount and The Sermon on the Plain, to grasp better understanding. For today, just see this passage in its entirety as an overview.

On the day that we discussed Jesus' birth, I had said that one of the reasons that Jesus walked this earth was to earn the right to say, "I understand." If you have ever faced opposition for speaking the truth, if you have ever been frustrated by religious closed mindedness, this passage shows you that Jesus certainly understands. He constantly faced opposition, mostly from the religious leaders of the day who had taken what God the Father and Jesus the Son had originally given to guide the people and had twisted it into a means of gaining power and control over the poor and helpless. As with the Pharisee from Luke 18:9-14, these leaders were unteachable. They knew it all and were hard hearted toward Jesus. Note that Jesus did not back down, but continued to speak the truth anyway.

When this episode actually occurred during Jesus’ Ministry is hard to say. The Feast of Tabernacles does take place in the fall of the year, as we will see tomorrow. John, however, is not concerned with chronology as much as theology, so placing this event in time is a bit tricky. I continue to think that Jesus’ ministry probably took place over more than a year, I think closer to three. Jesus was somewhat known by this time, and He was being sought out, which leads me to think that this particular feast of Tabernacles dialogue took place during Jesus’ last year of ministry. Within six months, He would be hanging on a cross because of the opposition of these same religious folk. Yet, He was determined to continue for their sakes and for ours.

Hymn: "God of Grace and God of Glory"

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