JESUS IN JERUSALEM FOR SUKKOT

Way back in ye olden dayes when we read through Leviticus and Deuteronomy, we read about the fall festival of Sukkot (Booths, Tabernacles, Shelters).

When Jesus’ family went to Jerusalem, they would’ve built a sukkah; a little shelter. They would’ve decorated it with leafy branches and fruit. They would’ve camped in it during the 8 days of the festival.

Before the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah, this festival was rarely observed. Today it is a major holiday observed by Jews and Messianic Christians of many stripes. And the forms and styles of the sukkah range widely.

The Feast of Tabernacles usually lands in October. Jesus has less than 6 months until the cross. Tensions are high with the Pharisees, His own brothers do not believe in Him, and Jesus already knows that Judas will betray Him. Getting in and out of Jerusalem for the festival without prematurely triggering events will be tricky.

Jesus goes secretly. He and the disciples seem to have built their own shelters on the Mount of Olives (Jn. 8:1) And there they “laid low” until about 3-4 days into the festival when Jesus goes to the temple (probably on the Sabbath) and begins to teach. In verses 21-23 Jesus defends the act of healing a man on the Sabbath, though the healing itself is not recorded.

There is debate and discussion about whether or not Jesus is the promised Messiah. Many point to the miracles He has done and His revolutionary teaching and say, “If Jesus isn’t the Messiah, then what greater work will the actual Messiah do?” And some of them take the stance, “No, Jesus cannot be the Messiah.”

Why?

Because they’ve studied Bible prophecy and they have it all figured out, and according to them, “when the Messiah appears, no one will know where He comes from.”

🤔 But that’s not true, right? Didn’t one of the prophets foretell Jesus being born in Bethlehem?

☝️🤓 And that He would be called The Branch? The Nazarene?

Yes. And yes.

But when someone takes a firm position on Bible prophecy – like, “When this thing is fulfilled it will be this person or group, in this location, doing that thing, and it will look like this…” When you do that, something happens to your brain. You can’t see any other possible interpretation or fulfillment.

The Pharisees speaking in John 7:25-27 have the Messiah standing right smack-dab in front of them. Speaking. Telling them point blank who He is. And they still can’t see it.

Your belief influences what you see.

I’ll prove it.

Here is a picture of a rabbit:

😐 That looks like a duck to me.

🤓 No it’s not. It’s a rabbit.

🤨 Duck.

☝️🤓 Rabbit I say!

Ok. Here’s another one of an old woman with her big pointy chin tucked down into her fur coat. She’s wearing a white scarf over her head with some dark hair peeking out in front.

🤓 Looks like the kind of old granny who calls everyone “dearie.”

🤨 What old granny? You guys are crazy. I see a young woman in fur coat. She’s wearing a black hat with a veil and she’s looking away from us.

I’ll leave you to figure it out.

My point is, we can perceive things very differently based on what we think we know.

The Pharisees KNEW that the origin of Messiah would be a mystery. So when the Messiah stands before them, and everyone knows where He’s from, their reasoning is not:

👳🏽‍♂️ “Well fellas, maybe we should reconsider what we thought. Maybe we were wrong.”

No. It never occurs to them that their eschatology could be off.

👳🏽‍♂️ “No. Nope. We are right. Jesus does not fit every detail of exactly how we know the Messiah will be. The science is settled. We cannot possibly be mistaken.”

It’s best we not set our understanding of how Bible prophecy will be fulfilled in concrete. I don’t want to have Bible prophecy happening in front of my face and not perceive it. Watch. Weigh. Don’t believe every spirit. Test them to see if they’re sent by God (1 Jn. 4:1).

LIVING WATER

On the last day of Tabernacles, priests brought water from the Gihon Spring in a great procession with music and dancing. One of the scriptures tied to this ceremony was:

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭12‬:‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Jesus stands up and shouts out to the throng,

“…If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
‭‭John‬ ‭7‬:‭37‬-‭38‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This is very similar to what He had said to the Woman at the Well. We have actually already discussed this text in the blog in Jeremiah and Ezekiel and we noted that it’s more of a reference or paraphrase than a direct quote.

To drink is to believe. To believe is to drink.

The water is the Holy Spirit. Just like when you drink water it enters into you, they that believe on Jesus would receive the Holy Spirit into them.

I find this scene astonishing.

The Word of the Lord Who came to the prophet Jeremiah said this:

“for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

And now that Word stands before His people in human flesh pleading with them, IN PERSON, to come to Him for living water.

And all they can do is stand around and debate.