Jesus at the Feast of Booths Part 1: Outward Celebration, Inward Misery - John 7-9

1:30In many ways, it's important for us to reflect upon the Feast of Booths because it is the culmination or the purpose or the conclusion of what begins in Passover. Passover, death of Christ. The Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles, sometimes referred to, is a picture of that rest and reunion with Christ. So Passover had a goal, and that is fellowship, union of God's people with God. In many ways, it is this Feast of Booths that I look forward to celebrating the most.

2:17And so the next couple of chapters are going to be in this context of the Feast of Booths. And so my goal today is to do a little more than just introduce to you the setting for the next few chapters. So look at verse 1. After these things, that is, after the events of chapter 6, which was the feeding of the 5,000 and the bread of life discourse, after these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee, for he was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

2:53So his time is now spent in Galilee, and actually he will go outside of Galilee and focus more on. On his disciples, if you're following the narrative of the life of Christ. Yet, what John does, even though he's not walking in Judea anymore and not spending much time there, he goes up for the feasts. And what John is going to do from this point forward is he's going to focus on those feasts up at Jerusalem. So in John chapter 7, we turn a corner, and pretty much the rest of the book is set in Jerusalem. John is going to take us up to the Feast of Dedication, that is Hanukkah, in chapter 10. He's going to take us up to the final Passover beginning in John chapter 12. But before we go to these, John takes us up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths. And we spend several chapters there. Look at verse 2. Now the Feast of the Booths was near. The Feast of the Jews, the Feast of the Booths was near. So this is about six months after the events of John chapter 6. If you'll remember where we have been in John, you remember, just by way of quick review, the geographical movement, we started in Bethany beyond the Jordan, with the ministry of John the Baptist. John chapter 2, we go to... A wedding in Cana. And if you'll remember, that is where he turned the water into wine. And then he goes up to Capernaum for a few days, which was going to become the hub of his Galilean ministry. And then in John chapter 3, or towards the end of John chapter 2, and then all of John chapter 3, we're at a Passover in Jerusalem, and it is there he speaks to Nicodemus. You remember that discourse there, conversation with Nicodemus. Then at the end of chapter 3, you remember he leaves there and he goes up to Anon near Selim, where John the Baptist was baptizing, and spent some time there. And then you remember in John chapter 4, he goes to a well, Jacob's well. They're in between in Samaria, right between the Mount of Curses and the Mount of Blessing, right there at the heart, middle of that, Jacob's well, and he meets a Samaritan woman. Have that wonderful living water discourse, right?

5:42And then he goes back to Cana, does a miracle for a nobleman's son there. Then he goes back up to Jerusalem. Remember in chapter five, he goes up to a feast. We don't know exactly which feast it was. But he goes up to a feast there. He heals an impotent man, gets accused of violating the Sabbath. And remember that, right? And then after that, he goes up in John chapter 6 and he feeds the 5,000 or the 20,000, feeds the multitude. And then he goes over and speaks in the synagogue at Capernaum, declaring himself to be the bread of life.

6:32And then in chapter 7, he goes back up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths. And really, for the rest of the book, we're going to be in and around Jerusalem. But to appreciate what happens in John 7, 8, and 9, it's important to understand some of the major elements of the Feast of Booths. Two major objectives of this Feast of Booths was: number one, to celebrate the harvest. To celebrate the harvest. The feast was a harvest festival. And it took place after all of the harvest had been gathered. It was also called the Feast of the In-Gathering. Very significant. Once you brought in all your olives and your grapes and citrus, you had this feast of the ingathered harvest. Well, very much. Much, it's appropriate at the end of the age. You know, God's not so much concerned about the grapes and the olives as much as He is people. In fact, it is declared in Scripture that the nations will go up and celebrate this feast. That's why I think it's probably good for us to learn how to celebrate it even now. But it was a feast to celebrate the harvest. Second major objective of the Feast of Booths was to remember the time when Israel walked with God in the wilderness. It was a time to commemorate God's deliverance and protection and provision during the wilderness wanderings after the Exodus.

8:17In fact, Solomon brought the ark into the temple during the Feast of Booths in 1 King 8. So, those are the objectives. It was a Thanksgiving, it was a remembrance. There are several elements of the feast that you need to get in your mind. The feast was a joyful celebration. In fact, Deuteronomy 16:14 commanded that this feast be celebrated with great joy. And so, everything in the feast, everything in the holiday was set up to promote. And to enhance and to encourage and to display joy.

9:06It was a very well-attended feast. Number one, it was just a joy to be there. It was a great feast. It was because of the activities, very festive. Second reason is because everyone was required to be there. There were three great feasts: the unleavened bread, Pentecost, and the Feast of Booths, where every male had to go up. But there are several elements that you have to understand, three particular that I want to bring to your attention about celebrating this feast. First of all, was building a booth. You had to build a booth to live in. Okay? So these little booths would spring up all over Jerusalem, and they do today as well. But they will show up on flat rooftops, they'll show up in alleyways, they'll show up in open areas, they'll show up in fields, they'll show up in the courts of the temple, even. Some of them are very colorful, some of them, they're very different, some of the booths, but they all follow the rabbinical building code, and there is one. The walls are extra thin so that light can come through. The roof has to show enough sky so that the stars could be seen to remember the time. Of the Jewish wanderings in the wilderness and walking with God in the wilderness. People dressed in their best clothes, so you can get a sense of what. Here's a booth, modern booth that was built. You can imagine the kids really getting into this, right? Let's go build a booth, Dad. Let's go build a tabernacle. Let's go build one. Here's one. Probably had a pretty stout aesthetics committee. The guy was probably my wife's on the aesthetics committee, so I can say that. But here's one that's very nice. You can see it's set up to celebrate, to have fellowship together. Here's one. You can see the palm trees. It's decorated very well.

11:14And you can see the people in there eating, they're fellowshipping. By the way, have you ever thought of an event that would draw people in where people would put up little tents and little pavilions and maybe have a cookout right next to and celebrate fellowship and go from tent to tent? And have you guys ever heard of such? Talk to me. Texas AM football game, right? One great big tailgate party, right? That's a lot of what this is about.

11:57We don't, because of course they're not coming to watch the action. But they're coming to celebrate Yahweh. They're covenant God. They're coming to give thanks to Him. But it's the same disposition. I mean, you can imagine how much fun, how much joy that would bring, the fellowship. And it was a great societal equalizer. Everybody had these little booths, didn't matter, rich or poor or whatever. You built your booth, and you just went from booth to booth. You fellowship together in the light of Yahweh. So there was the building of a booth and living in it. In fact, Zechariah speaks that all the nations are going to go up. And Zechariah 14:16, and I believe he's speaking of the millennium, that nations will go up in the millennium and will celebrate this feast. Those who are of a non-millennial persuasion will interpret Zechariah as a picture of heaven or a picture of great joy, the highest expression. So, however, you go with that, this feast of booths is the very picture of fellowship of man with God.

13:21In fact, Josephus called it the holiest and the greatest of the Jewish feasts. So that's one element, the building of the booths and living in them. Second was the daily procession of drawing water called the water libation. If you will remember, we had Mark Robinson from what's the name of his group? Jewish Awareness Ministries come and speak. I specifically asked him to speak on the Feast of Booths because I think it's one that we do not pay much attention to as much as some of the others.

14:08But it was so he spoke about this, but it was the time where, and just to give you an idea of what took place, if you went to Jerusalem today, here's a picture today. You can see the old walls, you can see the Temple Mount, and you can see to the south the Pool of Siloam. And there would be a procession that would come down to the Pool of Siloam. The priests would gather up the water in a pitcher, and they would bring it back. And as they came through the water gate up here, the trumpets would blow, and it was a great time of celebration, and the water was taken up to the altar there. And so you can see, here's a picture.

15:00Of a model. You could see the route that this procession would take. It would come down, come down to the pool of Siloam. There would be singing, there'd be dancing, the priests would come, they would pick, and they would be quoting Isaiah 12: With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And the crowd would march back to the temple, entering through the water gate, and the trumpets would blast, and they would pour the water out. And this was a daily event. This would go on all, every day of this seven-day feast. So you had this water procession, water libation. And then there was this other element of the feast, and it was the illumination of the temple ceremony, this illumination of the temple.

15:56And what would happen is you had these, it was in the court of the women, four golden oil-fed lamps, huge lamps, these big menorahs, big candelabras, huge, 75 feet high. They were lighted in the temple to remind the people of the pillar of fire that had guided Israel in their wilderness wanderings. In fact, the Mishnah, and if you go to the temple institution, Webpage today, the Temple Institute is dedicated to re-establishing temple worship. And they're Jewish and they're good students of how the Jews used to practice temple worship. And they're trying to get everything in order for another temple and to reinstitute temple worship. And so they've studied much, the Mishnah, and they've talked and they've studied what that will look like. And they speak about this event, quoting and paraphrasing the Mishnah. And this is what they say about this illumination of the lamps. And I'll read, Whoever has not seen the celebration of the water libation has never experienced the feeling of true joy. Great lamps of gold were hoisted with four golden bowls at the top of each lamp. Four young priests in training would climb to the top, carrying immense oil jugs with which they would fill the bowls. Once lighted, there was not a courtyard in all of Jerusalem that did not glow with the light that emanated from the celebration of the temple courtyard. And that's based upon the Mishnah. So picture the scene. Okay, you've got tents all around Jerusalem. You've got The temple lit up like a pillar of fire.

18:08Okay, you've heard of Civil War reenactments, right? You want to re-duplicate the word? Well, what is this a reenactment of? It's a reenactment of the time of the wilderness. Light coming out of the tents all around, a time to remember. And this feast, it reaches a high point in verse 37. Now, on the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. You see, all in the context, this water. He's like, I am what that water is pointing to. Come to me and drink. You need living water. You need my very spirit to be put in you. That's what you need to live. Come to me.

19:07And then you go over in chapter 8 and verse 12. Jesus spoke again, saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light. He's saying, think about this: as all of Jerusalem is lit up, every courtyard is in the light. Cannot escape the light of the presence of these huge candle obers. He's saying, I am the light of the world. I am the clarity of God. I am the presence of God. Wow, and they get it, by the way. They get it because at the end of chapter 8, they pick up stones and they're ready to kill him. They know exactly what he's saying. You go on into chapter 9, he finds the blind man, and what does he say? Puts clay, right? Go down into the pool of Siloam, get that water and wash.

20:07All of this is in this context of this Feast of Booths. An amazing, amazing feast. In fact, some scholars have made a pretty good case that Jesus was born during the Feast of Booths. In fact, the language of John 1:14, and the Word became flesh and pitched his tent, pulled up his RV among us, dwelt among us, tabernacled among us. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we saw his glory. We saw it. We saw the blazing glory of God Himself.

20:58But regardless, When Jesus was born, the Feast of Booths was a high point of celebration for the Jews. And that's a point I want you to take home. It was a time for reflection, the great things that God had done. It was a time for thanksgiving, what God had provided in the present, it was a time for optimism of what God was going to do in the future. Everything was geared to promote and enhance the joy of this celebration. And it's no wonder that the Jews often referred to it as the season of our gladness, the season of our gladness. And such was the celebration of the Feast of Booths that we come to in John 7.

21:49But all was not well with Jerusalem, was it? The celebration on the outside concealed something very dark on the inside. While the nation celebrated outwardly, inwardly their unbelief, their hatred of Christ, and their fear of man was driving them to ruin. Six months later, this nation would do the unthinkable. So unthinkable that they will not even own up to it. To this day, they would spit out the living water and snuff out the true light by crucifying their Messiah.

22:41While they danced on the outside, they were dead on the inside. Outwardly, there was life, but inwardly there was death. Such is the nation, any nation, that is on the road to its destruction. And such is the soul on the way to its destruction. And such may be some of you today, right? I mean, how would you feel if you saw a blindfolded person dancing for joy on the edge of a cliff? What thoughts would go through your mind? What emotions would you experience? I mean, no matter how jubilant their celebration would be, I think all of us would be horrified at their pitiful condition, right? It is pitiful to be so confident in yourselves and yet so completely blind to the dangers that are all around you. Such is the state of a miserable soul.

23:54Such was the state of the Jewish nation at this particular Feast of Booths. And such may be some of you this morning. Oftentimes, the outside is really not a true reflection of what's going on on the inside, is it? Sometimes joy can hide sorrow. Sometimes a smile can mask deep depression. And sometimes celebration can cover up deep misery, right? Well, this morning, I want you to see three dispositions of a soul that is truly in a miserable condition. And I want to do so so that we will not be such. I mean, who are you? What's going on in your life?

24:48And these truths, by the way, do not just apply to the soul of a nation. They also apply to the soul of an individual. They also apply to every organization in between. Three dispositions of a soul that is truly in a miserable condition. So, first of all, that's my introduction. It will go quick. First of all, a truly miserable soul lives in a state of unbelief towards Jesus Christ. Look back at verse 2. Let's just pick this up here.

25:30Now, the feast of the Jews, the feast of booths, was near. Therefore, his brothers said to him, Leave here and go into Judea, so that your disciples also may see your works which you are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. For not even his brothers were believing in him. By the way, some people take this as that Jesus actually lied.

26:11Some critics will point to this and say, well, he wasn't perfect because, look, he lied to them. He told them he wasn't going up, and he ends up going up. Well, I don't think that that's what's happening here at all. He speaks to his brothers, and I believe it's best to take these as literal brothers. This is not his cousins. These are not his fellow countrymen. These are not some children that Joseph brought into the marriage. These are his brothers. And the emphatic expression in verse 5, for not even his brothers, underscores the closeness of the relationship that these had to Jesus. But look at what he says.

26:53Look at what they say to him. Three imperatives. You leave here. Be going, that is, go up, leave here, and go up, be on your way, Jesus, to Jerusalem, and show yourself to the world. Show yourself. So, here's this: here are his brothers, people he had taken care of, people he'd been kind to all his life, and yet they were not believing in him. It's like they're saying, Okay, Jesus, okay, brother, get out of here, go up to the feast, and show yourself to the world.

27:40Several observations I want to make here. I want you to make sure you understand the challenge. What are they saying here? No one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. Verse 4, they're saying, Look, Jesus, we know what you're all about. You want popularity, that's what you're doing all this about. You want popularity, you're all about yourself. So, now go prove yourself to those guys in Jerusalem. Go prove yourself to all those up there, your followers up there, prove yourself to them and to us. Go up there because you're doing all these things. Go up there and put these things on display because we know deep down you want to be known, you want to be, you want to have the word. I would translate it public confidence. You seek to have public confidence. So go do these things. This is a real good way for you to get public confidence. Boy, this sure sounds a lot like the adversary, right? You remember in the garden, what does he say? Comes up to Eve, Look, let me tell you why God doesn't want you eating from that fruit because he's all about himself. He doesn't want you to be like him, so he doesn't want you to eat because he's all about himself. You ever heard that one? You ever come to those points in your life where you're like, God, what are you doing?

29:10God, what are you doing? God, you seem kind of egocentric, right? Have you ever thought along those lines? Let me tell you where that comes from. Straight out of the heart of the adversary. But then you also remember that adversary shows up again in the wilderness, right? Oh, Jesus, if you're the son, you know what? Throw yourself down off this pinnacle. Let us put it on display. Give us some marvelous feat, and you will get a following from us.

29:50Same temptation. He doesn't respond to us in those terms. Second observation: unbelief. They were saying this because of verse 5, they weren't believing in him. Unbelief challenges Jesus instead of simply trusting in him. That's what unbelief shows itself. That's how it shows itself. What is your prayer life like? Are you a believer? Or do your prayers, even your own prayers, betray your unbelief? Jesus, do this now. Do this, X, Y, Z, for me right now, right here.

30:36Show yourself. Come on, God, step into the picture and do something. You know, that comes more out of a heart of unbelief. God, show me that you love me. Have you ever heard that one? God, I want some tangible proof. God, just show me that you love me. Show me that you care. God, insert yourself and rearrange my circumstances, and then I'll know for sure that you love me, right? Or that you really care. No, he put his love on display. And if you will simply believe in what's already been revealed, there is nothing more that can be said.

31:19He loves you to the point of giving himself completely to take your sin, to give you his righteousness. So that you can enjoy what he enjoys the most, favor with God. If that doesn't, if you don't believe that, nothing else is really going to communicate love. It can't be communicated more deeply, more profoundly. The problem is we want something else. The problem is we simply don't believe. Unbelief challenges God instead of just trusting Him. Monitor your prayer life and just be believing, trusting.

32:06Third observation I want to make out of this is familiarity with Jesus does not make one a believer. It didn't then and it didn't now. If anybody was familiar with Jesus and had witnessed the good things that Jesus had done and the kindness in his heart, it would have been his brothers or his half-brothers according to the flesh. Look, going to church, even going to Christian concerts, does not make you a believer. Reading your Bible, going to seminary, voting for the right causes, all this doesn't make you a believer. There's only one way you can be a believer, and that is to believe the words of Jesus Christ. You can come to a point in your life as you approach the scripture and you just say, I believe. I will hear, I will listen, and I will simply just believe.

33:09That's a truly blessed soul. But the truly miserable soul is the one who has cut him off, cut off Christ, or cut himself or herself off by not believing the one to be believed in. I mean, Jesus profoundly demonstrated who he was and who he is and what he has to offer, and his guidance and his wisdom for life. So the truly miserable soul is the one who lives in a state of unbelief towards Jesus. They're cut off from him because they do not believe. Second, a truly miserable soul hates the one sent to save them.

33:56Look back at verse 6. So Jesus said to them, My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I testify of it that its deeds are evil. Go up to the feast yourselves. I do not go up to the feast because my time has not yet fully come. So again, there's this criticism that Jesus is being actually. Lied to his brothers. But that's not what's being said here at all.

34:36Verse 6, he says, my time is not yet here. I think a very good expression of this, the time for me is not at present. In other words, my time to go is not yet here. That's what he's saying. He's saying, but you, you can go at any time. Your time is always opportune. You can always go. And he goes on in verse 7, that's because no one hates you. The world does not hate you. It hates me.

35:10And the reason it hates me, why does the world hate Christ? Christ lays it all out there very plainly. It hates me because I testify of it that its deeds are evil. That is, I testify. The very life of Christ testifies to one profound truth. His life is like one sitting in the seat that testifies. His whole life is a display and a testimony that the deeds of the earth are evil. That is, they spring from a source of evil, that they are characteristically evil at the root.

35:58It's no wonder why. Christians, true Christians, would be hated. That's why Jesus would say, Look, they hated me. And if you follow me, you're going to become like me. And you will be a living monument, a living testimony that the deeds of this earth are evil and need a Savior. It says, but I go up. I think he's simply saying, my time's not here. I will go up. You can go up. You guys go ahead up. And I do not go up to this feast because my time is not yet fully come. I think there are several caravans that would have been going up. There is also a couple of feasts. You'd have the feast of trumpets. You'd have the feast of the day of atonement. And then several days later, you would have the required feast, which would be the feast of booths. So I think there's any number of, or I think what Jesus is communicating is here: you go on up.

37:05I'm going to come up when my time is ready. But here's the testimony. The world cannot hate you. They hate him. Why does the world hate the Savior? Because he doesn't save them from what they think they want to be saved from. Christ didn't come to save this. Generation from their perceived enemies or from the difficult circumstances, but he came to save them from their sin. And Jesus comes to us the same today. He doesn't necessarily come to us to save us from what we, our perception of what our enemies or our difficult circumstances are. He comes to save us from our sin, and he called out their sin. I mean, he, you remember in the temple, he called out their phony religion, he called out their greed for wealth, their greed for power, he called out their adultery. I mean, he called them out, he testified.

38:04And he was testifying to that generation: look, the problem really isn't the Romans, the problem is your sin. And he testifies to us today: the problem really isn't our circumstances, the problem is our sin. It's the problem with the world. Listen, it's good to welcome correction from a loving heart. It's good to confess sin, not excuse it. It's good to accept His definition of sin and His remedy for it, not fight against it. Those who reject the Savior because they don't like what He comes to save them from are truly left in a miserable state. If you reject the one who came to save you from your sins, guess where you stay? In your sins, in the pattern of your sins, in the penalty of your sins. In the separation caused by your sins, in the consequences of your sins, and in the growth and maturity in your sins.

39:11Yeah, the one who hates the Savior is in a miserable state. They go around and think the whole world smells bad, but they're like that little skunk that just went around and determined this whole world smells bad. Such are those who stay in their sin. So a truly miserable soul lives in a state of unbelief towards Jesus Christ, hates the one sent to save them, and number three, fears man more than God. Look at verse 9. Having said these things to them, he stayed in Galilee. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he himself also went up, not publicly, but as if in secret. So the Jews were seeking him at the feast and were saying, Where is he? There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning him. Some were saying he is a good man. Others were saying, No, on the contrary, he leads the people astray. Yet no one was speaking openly of him for fear of the Jews.

40:14So he goes on up. Great opportunity in verse 11 for the Jews to find him. They knew he'd be coming up there. It was mandated, right? So they knew he was a good Jew. They knew he would be up. So they're looking for him because they want to kill him. Much conversation. Is going on about him in verse 12. Some saying he is good, some saying, no, he's not good. But all this was grumbling, all this was secret, because verse 13, no one was speaking openly of him for fear of the Jews, because of the phobia they had for the Jews. Listen, the fear of man is a prison.

40:59Such people who are enslaved to the opinions of people are not free, but they are enslaved. What about you? Do you fear man's opinion more than God's opinion? That is a place of slavery. Are you going to let somebody else determine how you are to think about God? That is a prison. Listen, the crowds here are ultimately going to reject Jesus. And I'll submit to you that much of that rejection is not based upon their own assessment, but their fear of what others would think about them or do to them, namely the Jewish leaders.

41:47It was the Jewish leaders that took this crowd that was saying, Hosanna, Hosanna, upon his Palm Sunday entrance. And later would say, crucify, crucify. And a lot of it's based upon not their own assessment, but upon the assessment of the leaders. And because they were afraid of the opinions of man, they let other people decide how they are to think about God's Son. Do you follow God on your own assessment? Or do you let others tell you how you are to think about him? I encourage you to come to Christ. Come to the Christ of Scriptures. Let his word speak to you and make your own assessment based upon objective study. If that generation had just been honest, no one can do the things that Christ did unless he were God.

43:04Listen, the fear of man is a prison. Don't let somebody else determine how you are to think about God. And don't be afraid to speak about him openly. We will spend an eternity not just speaking about him, but singing about him because he is the glorious one. So let's not be afraid to share that now. Well, in summary, a truly miserable soul lives in a state of unbelief towards Jesus Christ, hates the one sent to save them, and fears man more than God.

43:41Such is a soul like the man dancing blindfolded on the edge of eternity, completely confident in himself and blind to the reality of the coming judgment. And no matter how happy he may appear, his happiness is only a sham. His condition is truly miserable. Don't let this be you. Don't approach eternity blind, dancing on the edge of a cliff. But turn. Believe Jesus Christ. Love the one that has sent to save you, and fear God more than man.

44:28Well, as we conclude, if I was speaking to our nation, I would say this: Learn from this generation of Jews. Stop living in your state of unbelief. Stop hating the one who was sent to save us. Stop fearing what people think more than what God thinks. But you know, America really isn't listening to me today. But you are. And so, my exhortation is really to all of us here: let us stop living in unbelief. Let us resolve to simply believe Jesus and follow Him and go and trust.

45:15Number two, let us not hate the One that was sent to save us, but let us love Him more. And even when we are convicted and confronted over our sin, by whatever means He chooses to do so, let us love Him. And number three, let us not fear man, let us not be ashamed to talk about Him openly. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do give you thanks. We thank you, Father. Help us to respond to you in belief, loving the One, the Savior. Some of us here may not know you today. May the first prayer be, Lord, I love you. Help my unbelief.

46:05Help us to be more concerned about what you think than what those around us think. In Jesus' name.