Thurs.’s Devo - The Feast of Tabernacles

Read: John 7:1-8:20; Luke 9:51-56; Matthew 8:18-22
Finally, we hear from John. It was the feast of Tabernacles and Jesus observed each one of the feasts. The Jewish men were required by Moses’ law to go to Jerusalem three times a year for the festivals. Jesus waited until his family had gone and went alone to hide from the Jewish leaders who were seeking to kill him. He was the talk of the festival but he waited till the Oblation of the Pouring of the Water before he showed himself. It was the day that the priests would walk to the Pool of Siloam which was known as the pool of living water and bring pots of the water back to the festival and pour them on the altar at the temple simultaneously with wine. They would quote the verse in Isaiah 12:3 that says 'With joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation’. Jesus, this salvation they were demonstrating, stood up and taught. He told them that if they were thirsty they could come to him and he would give them living water. The religious leaders were outraged but some of them were in awe of Jesus’ teaching. They had never heard anyone teach like Jesus did.
The Pharisees and religious leaders were always trying to trap Jesus with the law which was exactly what Jesus was. He was the Law that became flesh - the very fulfillment of it. The Jews had gotten so tripped up over the letter of the law they had left the spirit behind. Jesus came with the spirit of the law. Those that had hearts to hear it were refreshed by him. Those that didn’t were repulsed.
There was another ceremony where they erected 4 candelabrum 75 feet high. Each candelabra had four golden bowls reached by 4 ladders. Each bowl held gallons of oil. The wicks were made of rags form used priestly garments. When these candelabras were lit they gave off such intense light that it lit the whole city of Jerusalem. It was during the lighting of these lights that Jesus stood up and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you will never walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
This made the Pharisees so mad. They asked him how he could make such claims about himself and Jesus told them it was because he knew where he came from and who he was. We should be that bold because we know where we came from and we know who we are. We are sent from God as was Jesus and He is in us.
Lord, help us to remember that we are your workmanship made to do great exploits on the earth because You live in us. FYI: the Feast of Tabernacles is the 17th of this month.