Jesus at the Festival of Sukkot

(Gospel of John 7:01 - 7:52)
After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, but did not wish to do so in Judea, where the religious establishment was desirous of having him put to death.  However, when the Hebrew Festival of Sukkot drew near, Jesus' brothers urged him, "Why don't you leave Galilee and go to Judea so that your disciples there may witness your miracles.  No one who wishes to build a public reputation can act privately.  If you are able to perform these wonders, you must show yourself to the world!"  (You see, even his brothers did not believe in him.)

Jesus answered them, "No, it's not the right time for me to go.  But you can go anytime.  The world can't hate you.  It hates me, because I am testimony that the ways of the world are evil.  You go to the festival.  But I'm not going, for my time has not quite come yet."  After this pronouncement, Jesus remained in Galilee.

However, after his brothers had departed for the festival, Jesus went, too, but secretly, not publicly.  The religious authorities were on the lookout for him at the festival and kept inquiring whether anyone had seen him.  There was a great deal of buzz about Jesus among the public there.  Some declared that he was a good man, while others believed he was duping the masses.  But no one talked about him openly for fear of offending the Judean authorities.

Not until the festival was half over did Jesus go to the Temple courtyard and begin teaching there.  When they heard him, the Judeans were amazed that a man who had never been properly trained had so much knowledge of Scripture.

“What I teach does not come from me, but from God who sent me," Jesus told them. "Anyone dedicated to the will of God will know if the teaching comes from God or if I am merely speaking on my own behalf.  He who speaks on his own seeks glory for himself, while he who seeks glory for the one who sent him is a man of true teachings; there is nothing false about him.  Did not Moses give you the law?  And yet, none of you obeys it.  Why are you seeking to kill me?"

"You're possessed by a demon!  Who's seeking to kill you?"  questioned the crowd.

Jesus responded, "I perform one miracle on the Sabbath and all of you are dumbfounded.  Don’t you perform circumcisions on male children on the eighth day, in accordance with the law given to you by Moses?  (Actually our ancestors practiced circumcision long before Moses.) And so that the law be not broken, will you not perform the circumcision on a Sabbath and thus do work on that day?  So why then are you so upset with me for healing a man's whole body on the Sabbath?  Don't judge merely by appearances, judge fairly."

Many of the people of Jerusalem posed the question, "Isn't this the man the authorities want to put to death?  Well,  here he is, speaking publicly -- and they don't have a word to say to him!  Have they concluded that he is the Messiah?  We know, though, where this man is from.  When the Messiah arrives, nobody'll know where he's from."

Jesus, who was still teaching in the Temple courtyard, replied to them, "Yes, you do know me and where I'm from, but I'm not here on my own authority.  He who sent me is the true God -- but you don't know him.  I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.'

The authorities then tried to arrest him, but they did not succeed in laying a hand on him -- for his time had not yet come.   Many, though, in the crowd believed him and declared, "If the Messiah does appear, could he perform more miracles than this man has?"

The Pharisees heard such opinions voiced by the crowd.  Therefore, they had the chief priests order the Temple guards to seize Jesus. 

Jesus told them, "I will be among you for a only little while longer, then I will be returning to him who sent me.  You will then search for me, but you won't find me.  Where I will be, you cannot come."

The religious authorities asked each other, "Where does this man intend to go where we can't find him?  Will he go to the scattered communities of Hebrew expatriates who live among the Greeks and teach them?  What does he mean when he says, 'You will then search for me, but you won't find me,' and 'Where I will be, you cannot come'?"

On the final day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted to the crowd, "Anyone who is thirsty, come to me!  Anyone who believes in me may come and drink.  For the scriptures says, 'From the hearts of those who believe in me rivers of life-giving water will flow.' (When Jesus said "life-giving water" he was referring to the Spirit Divine that would be received by all who believe.  But that spirit had not been given, for Jesus had not yet achieved his glory.)

When the crowd heard him say this, some of them declared, "This man must surely be the Prophet," while others declared, "He is the Messiah."  But there were those who questioned, "How can the Messiah come from Galilee?  Don't the Scriptures say the Messiah will come from among the descendants of David and from Bethlehem, a town of David?"  Thus there was a divided opinion about Jesus among the people.  Some wanted him to be arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.

When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the chief priests and the Pharisees demanded of them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"

"No one has ever spoke the way he does, " the guards explained.

"You mean he's taken you in, too?"  the Pharisees rejoined.  "Do any of the leaders, any of the Pharisees believe in him?  No!  A curse has fallen upon this mob because it's ignorant of the law."

Nicodemus, a member of the Pharisees who had earlier visited with Jesus, spoke up in protest, "Our law doesn't convict a man without a hearing to determine what he's done -- does it?"

The other Pharisees put him down, "Surely you're not from Galilee, too?  Do some research and you'll find that the Prophet does not come from Galilee."

Notes
1. Sukkot, or the Festival of Tabernacles, or the Festival of Booths, or is one of three important holidays during which Hebrews were supposed to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.  Mentioned in Leviticus, it grew out of the Exodus-mandated Harvest Feast.  It is seven days in length and is celebrated during the month of Tishri (from late September to late October), beginning the fifth day after Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.  It is a joyous celebration that commemorates the 40 years during which the Israelites lived in the deserts of Sinai after the Exodus and before their settlement in Canaan.  Palm-draped booths are erected to simulate the life-style of the wandering Israelites.  Celebrants eat and even sleep inside them during the holiday. 

2.  Jesus' brothers are not only doubters, they want to goad him into going to Judea, where there is a reasonable expectation he will be killed.  Interesting that those who presumably knew Jesus best did not believe in him and were apparently so contemptuous  of his claim to divinity they didn't mind seeing him executed for it.  Of course, it often happens that one's family is hard to impress;  a family member who manifests greatness is usually viewed by others in the family with jealousy or resentment.

2. Jesus bears false witness and practices deception when he flat out tells his brothers he is not going to the Festival of Sukkot and then secretly does so.  Then, he claims that he, the one sent by God, has nothing false about him.  A contradiction here?  One might justify the deception and lie he told his brothers, but one does not find in Jesus' message the desirability of convenient falsehoods.

3.  Halfway through the festival Jesus starts to teach and preach at the Temple.  Did anyone invite him to do so?  Surely those administering the Temple were antagonistic to him at the very least.  But he did draw a crowd and, at first, the religious establishment did nothing to stop him.  Perhaps they wanted to give him enough rope to hang himself, that is,  to discredit himself with his preposterous claim that he was the Son of God.  The Pharisees probably thought the crowd would reject him totally and when it didn't, they blame its ignorance, and, although they don't say so here, its stupidity and gullibility.

4.  Jesus was being discredited as the Prophet or the Messiah because he was from Galilee. for prophecy dictated that Bethlehem be the provenance of the Messiah.  So we see the rationale behind the nativity story placing Jesus' birth in Bethlehem.  Whether Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem or if the nativity story was concocted to fulfill the prophecy cannot be known.  The reader awaits Jesus' profession that he was born in Bethlehem and is a descendant of King David.