Are We Wandering Aimlessly? Do We Need A Festival of Tabernacles?

“Lost and Found” by Greg Olsen. Used with Permission. http://www.GregOlsen.com

November 20, 2022

Gospel – March 27, 2020 – John 7:1.2, 10, 25-30

Jesus moved about within Galilee;
he did not wish to travel in Judea,
because the Jews were trying to kill him.
But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near.

But when his brothers had gone up to the feast,
he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret.

Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said,
“Is he not the one they are trying to kill?
And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him.
Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ?
But we know where he is from.
When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”
So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said,
“You know me and also know where I am from.
Yet I did not come on my own,
but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true.
I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
So they tried to arrest him,
but no one laid a hand upon him,
because his hour had not yet come.

John 1:46: “Can any good thing come from Nazareth?”

Jesus is struggling with being accepted and bringing the message while being hunted by those who want to kill him. But even those who want him to succeed can’t understand who he is. They know he’s from Nazareth and as Nathanial asks, “Can any good thing come from Nazareth?”

We make our judgments so often on limited knowledge.

Jesus is trying to open eyes – open hearts – even though he’s in danger of death. How can he reveal himself to people who think they know him – he’s from Nazareth.

Maybe we need a feast of tabernacles now. We are wandering aimlessly in the desert just like the Jews in Exodus. We need to hear his message.

At least that’s what I heard Him say…