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

258. "Remember, Always Remember!"

Exodus 12:1-30 Key Verse: "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord a lasting ordinance." Exodus 12:14 "Celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come." (Exodus 12:17) "And when your children ask you, "What does this ceremony mean to you?" then tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians." (Exodus 12:27) The original act was an act of worship as the first true act of freedom for the people of Israel. They had been brought to Egypt by Joseph during a time of famine so that through Joseph God could preserve their lives. ( Genesis 37 , & 39-50 ) After Joseph died, however, instead of heading back to C...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Little Light of Mine

Scripture: Psalm 130 Listen Link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. It’s the first Sunday of Advent. Today we lit one candle and heard the passage, in Isaiah 9, about the great light! We have heard that the great light is the child born to us on Christmas day. It is Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Christmas is a day we will truly celebrate as we have for years and years, and our ancestors before us for centuries. Christmas is coming! Advent means coming! It is good to spend the next few weeks reflecting on all that it means for us. We begin from the depths of darkness. The world is still suffering the effects of sin. We are still suffering the effects of a world broken by sin. And not just the consequences of our own sins. According to Romans 8:22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” The fires in California, the floods and storms on the East coast, and all the other natural disasters we hear ab...
Post a Comment
Read more

August 13 What Is Fitting

It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—how much less for a slave to rule over princes! ~Proverbs 19:10   On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man!” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. ~Acts 12:21-23  Wow! Well, what in the world can there be to benefit us here? First of all, perhaps we should review the first Biblical definition of a fool, penned by no other than Solomon’s Father, David himself. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1) It is not fitting for the fool to live the blessed life. Why should they when they deny from whom all blessings flow?  King Herod was a fool. Now, just to be clear, this is not the Herod who ruled at Jesus’ birth and ordered the slaughter of the male children in Bethlehem. He ...
Post a Comment
Read more