Skip to main content

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"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

142. White Washed Tombstones!

Isaiah 29:9-16 , Matthew 15:1-20 , Mark 7:1-23 , Key Verse: "Nothing outside a man can make him "unclean," by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him "unclean." Mark 7:15 Approximately six hundred years before Jesus, the people of Judah had sinned so badly by ignoring the word of the Lord that God allowed them to be punished by being destroyed by the Babylonians. Jerusalem was completely ruined. Many of the citizens were killed and only a relatively few, referred to as "the remnant," were carried off to live in Babylon for 70 years before being allowed to return and begin again. This event proved to be a real wake up call for the people. The priests and Levites developed an extensive list of rules and regulations by which the people were to live that would outline very clearly how not to break the Ten Commandments again, or any of the whole Law, or "Torah," from Moses in the first five books of the
Post a Comment
Read more

Spiritual Warfare

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18 Listen Link:  http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw There’s a war on! And it’s not overseas. I am not talking about the war on terrorism. I am talking about the war in which your heart is the battle ground. It is a war between spiritual forces of good and evil. The victory is ours in Christ. The battle belongs to the Lord. But we are called to play our part. That is why Paul instructs believers like you and me to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”  The life of discipleship gives us no time to relax and live our lives ignoring the spiritual battle. We are ordered to fight. It’s not a pleasant metaphor these days. But Paul had no qualms about telling Christians to be good soldiers, prepared for battle. Even when we do take a Sabbath and rest in the Lord, it is only so that we made ready for the next battle. But this kind of battle won’t wear us out if we are strong in the lord. In fact, we will rejoice! This is not a gr
Post a Comment
Read more

Advent Devotionals day 3 The Problem of Evil

Post a Comment
Read more