Part 6 ~ Jesus at the *Feast of *Tabernacles (Tents) (7:1-8:59)

7:1-9 ~ Jesus moves from Galilee to Jerusalem

Chapters 7 to 10 are about the final year of Jesus work. His work starts from the second *Passover when he fed the crowd. His work ends at the third *Passover. That was a year later when they killed him. In this last year, there are two other *feasts, the *Feast of *Tabernacles (7:2) and the *Feast of Lights (10:22). Jesus now goes to the villages in Galilee. It is the time of the *Feast of *Tabernacles (Tents). Jesus does not want to go to Jerusalem. He knew from the beginning that people would kill him (1). It is not that Jesus is afraid to die. We know that he will die later in Jerusalem. But the time is not right for him to go there now. The *Feast of *Tabernacles was at the end of September and the beginning of October. It was the *Feast of Harvest. God had given the *Jews food when they were in the desert (Exodus chapter 16). Then they had travelled from place to place. Then God had showed himself to them in the tent of meeting. The purpose of this *Feast was to remember these events. So they lived each year for eight days in tents made of leaves and branches. The *Feast lasted for eight days. There was a law about people attending the *Feast. Every male adult *Jew who lived less than 15 *miles (24 kilometres) from Jerusalem had to attend. But good *Jews from a greater distance would want to be there. The brothers of Jesus want him to go to Jerusalem for the *Feast. But Jesus does not agree with them. He will go only when he thinks it right to go. Why do his brothers want Jesus to go to Jerusalem? Jesus had done *miracles in Galilee. He changed water into wine. He healed the *Romans son. He fed the five thousand. In Jerusalem, he had healed the sick man by the pool. But the *Jews did not regard this as a *miracle. To them, it was against the *Sabbath law. His brothers think that it would be a good idea for Jesus to do a few *miracles in Jerusalem. They think that then perhaps the people will notice him and follow him. Jerusalem was the most important place. So why should Jesus stay in Galilee? It seems to the *disciples that Jerusalem is the right place for Jesus to be. But the greatness and *glory of Jesus comes not in wonderful *miracles. He will show his *glory a year later in his death on the *cross. This is not the time for him to show his *glory. Jesus does not do the things that people think he should do. Neither does he do things when people think that he ought to do them. Even his own brothers do not really believe that he is the *Messiah (5). So Jesus tells them that his time has not yet come. This is not the right time for him to do what he plans to do. This explains why Jesus seems to say he will not go to Jerusalem but then later he goes. He will not go when the *disciples think he should. He will go only at the time he chooses. He chooses his time with care. He sees that a better time would be in the middle of the *Feast. So that is when he goes. Jesus tells his brothers that any time is right for them. They can go to Jerusalem. But no one will notice them there. It would not matter whether they were there or not. They think the same as other people in the world. Their way is the way of the world. They belong to the world, so the world will not hate them. The world does not hate its own people. People do *evil things. But the brothers being in Jerusalem will not trouble them. That they are there will make no difference. People will still not want to change their ways.

It is different with Jesus. When people do *evil, he will trouble them. He will tell them to give up their *evil ways. They will not like that. So Jesus must choose his time. Then when he does go to Jerusalem, people will notice him. Something will happen. So he stays in Galilee (9). When Jesus did go to Jerusalem, he did not follow his brothers advice and do *miracles.

7:10-52 The teaching of Jesus at the *Feast

The *Jewish leaders were the Pharisees and the chief priests. They hated Jesus and hated each other. The Pharisees hated Jesus because he spoke against their silly rules. They loved their system of rules more than they loved God. If Jesus is right then they are wrong. Most of the priests were *Sadducees. The *Sadducees did not agree with the rules of the Pharisees. They were friends of the *Roman rulers. They were comfortable and they were rich. They did not want a *Messiah who would change things and upset their comfortable lives. Jesus does not tell anyone he is going to the *Feast. When he goes he goes in secret (10). The *Jews notice that Jesus is not there. They look for him and want to know where he is (11). The people whisper about him and wonder what kind of man he is. Some people say that he is a good man. Other people say that he is telling lies to everyone (12). But the people are afraid of their leaders. So they only whisper these things (13). They do not want the leaders to hear them. But Jesus is not afraid of the *Jews. At the right time, he goes to the *Temple. It is about half way through the *Feast. He starts to teach (14). This surprises the leaders. They cannot understand why Jesus knows so much. No one has taught him these things. He has never been to a college for teachers (15). Jesus tells them that his teaching is not his own, neither has he taught himself. His teaching is from God (16). He is one with the Father and shares the Fathers knowledge. The test for the *Jews is whether they want to obey God. If they do, they will know whether the teaching of Jesus is from God. He is not speaking his own thoughts. Only those who want to obey God will understand whether the teaching is from God. Only they will know if it is true (17). Jesus does not want to bring honour to himself. If he did, he would speak his own words. He wants to bring honour to his Father, the one who sent him. Therefore he speaks the truth and does not lie. He is a man of truth. There is nothing *false about him (18). He asks them to look to Moses who gave them the law. The *Jews kept the law with great care. They spent a lot of time reading it and writing about it. Yet, Jesus says that not one of them obeys it. They did in fact keep the law in every detail. But they did not understand the reason God gave the law. If they did understand, they would not be trying to kill Jesus (19). It was against the law of Moses to kill (Exodus 20:13). That was one of the most important laws. It was a law that would never change. The crowd says that no one is trying to kill Jesus. He must have a *demon if he thinks that. He must be mad (20). Jesus reply is that he has done one *miracle, and that surprised them. The law said that no one must work on the *Sabbath day. So when Jesus heals a man on the *Sabbath they say it is work. It is therefore against the law. Long ago, even before Moses, God gave their *ancestors the law of *circumcision. *Circumcision was a medical act, done with a knife on the male part of a child. They did it when the child was eight days old (Leviticus 12:3). It was a sign of Gods choice of the *Israelites as his special people. They said that this act made a child perfect.

A child might be eight days old on the *Sabbath day. But they *circumcised him, although that was against the *Sabbath law. They did this to obey the law of Moses about *circumcision. (In fact, *circumcision was not Moses law. It came before Moses time). Although this act was work, they said it was not against the *Sabbath law. It was therefore right to do it on the *Sabbath day. When Jesus heals the man, he makes his whole body well on the *Sabbath. They do the same to a child by *circumcising him on the *Sabbath day. What is the difference between the two? So Jesus asks this question. Is it better to cut a small part of a childs body on the *Sabbath day or to make a man whole on the *Sabbath day? So they hate Jesus and want to kill him. It is always wrong to kill people. The laws on *circumcision and the *Sabbath are not the same as the law on killing. God gave laws on *circumcision and the *Sabbath to prepare *Israel for something better. The law on killing is for all time. The law required physical *circumcision. But there is a greater *circumcision than this. It is a *circumcision of the heart (Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4). It is a *circumcision on the inside. It brings a *spiritual change in your life. It describes the cutting of *evil from your heart. You are then clean inside and free from *sin. This would come as a gift of Christ after his death. The *Sabbath law was a weekly rest from work. That too described something greater than the law itself. It was a sign of a greater *Sabbath rest, the *Sabbath rest of God (Hebrews 4:9-11). God is doing good things all the time. His work never stops. In *healing a man and making him whole, Jesus is doing the work of God. The leaders are making wrong *judgements. Good *judgement, Jesus tells them, is not to *judge by what seems right on the outside. Their ways of making *judgements are wrong. They should *judge by what is right, not by working things out by their laws (21-24). Jesus does not hide from the *Jews. He speaks freely for everyone to hear. Some of the people ask a question. Is this the man that the leaders are trying to kill? But why do the leaders not stop his *preaching? Perhaps the rulers really believe that he is the Christ (*Messiah) (26). But there is a difficulty here. The belief was that when the *Messiah came, he would come in secret. No one would know where he came from. He would make a sudden appearance. But they know where he comes from. They know that his home is in Nazareth. They know his parents, brothers and sisters. Jesus cries out in the *Temple. He does not try to hide (27). No one really understands where he comes from. But he knows. As he teaches in the *Temple, he shouts. Do you really think that you know me and where I come from? Jesus tells them that he comes from God. Jesus knows the one who sent him because he came from him. They still do not understand that God has sent him. The one who sent him is true, Jesus says. But they do not know him. They ought to know that Jesus has come from God (28-29). They do not know because they do not know God. Some of the people want to take hold of Jesus straight away. But no one even touches him. It is impossible for anyone to do anything to him at that moment in time. The reason is that God is working out his plan. Only God will decide when the time is right for them to take him (30). Many in the crowd put their *faith in Jesus. They ought to believe that Jesus is the *Messiah. He has done many *miracles. That should be enough for them (31). How could anyone do greater *miracles?

The Pharisees hear the people whispering these things about Jesus. So they speak with the chief priests and send the *Temple police to seize him (32). This does not worry Jesus. He tells them that he will be with them a little while. That will be Gods right time. Only in Gods time can they do anything. Then Jesus will return to the one who sent him. They will look for him, but they will not find him. He tells them that they cannot go where he is going (33-34). Jesus knows why he is here. He is here to do Gods work. He knows that will finish on the *cross. They cannot follow him there. As usual, the *Jews do not understand. His words must have completely surprised them. They could not see their *spiritual meaning. There would be no place for him to go where they could not find him? Through the centuries, God had sent the *Jews to many other countries. They call this the *Diaspora (sending out). They still use this word today for *Jews who live in a country outside *Israel. Perhaps Jesus would go to some Greek country where the *Jews are now living. Maybe he would teach the Greeks there (35-36). On the last day of the *Feast (of *Tabernacles), the people remembered their time in the desert. It was there, through Moses, that God gave them water out of the rock (Exodus 17:6). At the *Feast, they thanked God for his gift of water and asked him for rain for the following year. Jesus would be thinking of this when he shouts, If you are *thirsty, come to me and drink! Have *faith in me and you will have rivers of living water that will give you life. It will flow from deep inside you just as it says in the *Scriptures (Written Words). He is talking about the *Holy *Spirit. God would give the *Holy *Spirit to everyone who has *faith in Jesus. So far, God had given his *Spirit only to certain people at different times. But the time would come when God would give a full amount of his *Spirit. This would be for all who would receive him. God had not yet given his *Spirit in this way. That was because God had not yet given Jesus his full *glory. This would happen only after Jesus died, rose from the dead and went up into *heaven. God gave the *Holy *Spirit in this way at *Pentecost (Acts chapter 2). Before that, the *Spirit had been a power. Now he will be a person. The same thought is in Zechariah 13:1 and 14:8. After the death and *resurrection of Jesus, God would pour out the *Holy *Spirit upon his people. Jesus would send the gift of the *baptism of the *Holy *Spirit. The power of the *Holy *Spirit would come in full to all those who accepted Jesus as *Saviour. They would then go out into the world and *preach the good news. People thought that Jesus would go to other countries to *preach, but he did not do that. Instead, he sent his *Holy *Spirit and gave his people the power to go in his place. Only the *Holy *Spirit could help people understand Jesus words (37-39). Because of his words, the people talk among themselves about who Jesus might be. Some think he is the *Prophet. That could be Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15). A *prophet is one who speaks out Gods word. He may also tell what will happen in the future. Some think that Jesus is the *Messiah. Some think that he is not the *Messiah. Other people think the same. But for them the reason is that he comes from Galilee. The *Scriptures (Written Words) said that the *Messiah would come from the family of David. Davids town was Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; see also Matthew 2:6). They do not seem to know that was where he was born. So the people cannot agree about who Jesus is. For the third time, some want to seize him. But again, no one touches him (40-44). The *Temple police return to the chief priests and Pharisees. They ask the *Temple police why they have not brought Jesus to them (45). The police were *Levites (priests) who understood the law. They would have understood the strength and truth of Jesus words. Their opinion was that no one had ever spoken like Jesus (46).

This surprises the Pharisees. How is it possible for the police to believe in Jesus? Not one of the leaders believes him. Only the crowd has *faith in him. But they are just ordinary people, so they do not know the law. The crowd did not keep the many rules of the Pharisees. The Pharisees called them the People of the Land. What the Pharisees are saying is that clever and good people (like them) need not believe in Jesus. Anyone who did not keep all the words of the law was under a *curse (Deuteronomy 27:26). So the Pharisees believe that these people are under Gods *curse (47-49). The Pharisees want to kill Jesus. They do not realise that they too are under the same *curse! Nicodemus, one of the leaders, does not agree with the other people. John reminds his readers that Nicodemus was the one who came to Jesus by night (3:1-2). Nicodemus tells them that they are not using the law in the right way. The law first hears what a person has to say. Then it decides whether he has done wrong. The law does not *judge a person without knowing what he has done (Deuteronomy 1:16-17). Nicodemus is a man who has met with Jesus. He is now a friend of Jesus and wants to help him. But he still has some fear and does not say anything further (50-51). The leaders think that no one from Galilee is important. Their *Scriptures tell them that no *prophet comes from Galilee (52). So they tell Nicodemus that he is foolish. He too must come from Galilee. He is the same as the crowds who do not know any better and believe in Jesus.