Day 282 – Jesus’ Ministry at the Feast of Tabernacles

• John 7 shows confusion and division amongst the people when they considered Jesus. Not much has changed, has it?!
• The Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles) is mentioned today. Based on the name, what do you think the feast signified or remembered? Your study bible might have some guidance, if you have one.
• Flick through the chapter and see if you can count how many questions are asked. What sort of questions are being asked of Jesus?
• In this passage, Jesus was falsely charged with being possessed by a demon. Can you find the verse? What was Jesus’ response?
• Jesus was falsely charged with many things – breaking the Sabbath, blaspheming, deceiving the people, being a criminal, being mad… and being a Samaritan! What false things is Jesus charged with nowadays?
• The big question that’s being asked in John 7 is “is Jesus the Christ?”. What conflicting responses are there? Can you, with your hand on your heart, proclaim this to be true too?
• Isaiah 55 is a wonderful chapter of encouragement and joy for those who trust in God. It promises blessings beyond that which we can imagine. What response do we need to receive these blessings?
• Does 55:12 ring any bells? When I was younger we sang a song based on these verses. I’ll put the video below. It’s a little old-school, but I bet you’ll have the tune in your head for the next hour!

We can be challenged on how we come to Jesus. Do we do it out of a desire to understand more (head knowledge), a love for Him (heart knowledge) or tradition or public reaction (because you’ve always done so, perhaps). The disciples, the temple-going public and the Pharisees all came to Jesus with different considerations, and there were issues with all of them, as we saw in the way Jesus responded to the confused disciples, the confused people and the confused Jewish teachers throughout John 7. The passage is a remarkably honest account of the difficulties people had with Jesus.

It’s a great moment to read Isaiah 55, when grappling with how we approach Jesus, because here God is simply inviting us to Himself. “Come and be satisfied”, the words say; “come and thirst no more”. Whether you are needing spiritual replenishment, or a deeper sense of love, or an intellectual trust – come to Jesus and you’ll find it.

In which ever way you come to Jesus, don’t leave without being full of joy and set forth with peace!