Lesson Five: John Part 2
“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Yeshua knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
John 13:1
On the last day, that great day of the feast [Sukkot], Yeshua stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." … Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Messiah."
John 7:37-41
Introduction
- Last week we saw how the book of John presents Yeshua as “One Like Moses” – and in so doing, uses seven signs as the Mosaic focus.
- The “Jews” mentioned throughout John are usually best understood as “Judean” – which makes the Temple and the Temple feasts a focal point
Bookends
- Throughout the book of John, we are presented with the image of Yeshua in Jerusalem in the Temple, or on the way there.
- Two major feasts are used as “bookends” for His ministry. They are the first and the last feast from Leviticus 23: Passover (first month) and Sukkot (7th month).
- John 2:23: The stage for the famous “born again” discussion in John 3 is the Passover that Yeshua was in Jerusalem for.
- 3 Feasts were Chag Regalim, the pilgrim feasts that required all males to travel to Jerusalem 3 times a year at Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot (Deut 16:16).
- John 5:1: Likely Sukkot. 6:4: Passover.
- John 7:1-41: Sukkot, Hoshana Rabbah – water ceremony.
- John 10:22: Hanukkah – not a required pilgrimage feast, and yet Yeshua, the Galilean was there. Why?
- John 12:12; 13:1; 18:39; 19:14: Focus upon His last Passover during His ministry.
- John 12:12: Imagery from Sukkot, at Passover. Palms etc.? Lulavs? Xref John 7:40-41: The Prophet, the Messiah.
Summary
- John’s use of Temple imagery and the connection to Moses and the Tabernacle are not by accident. We are drawn to the thought that the Tabernacle/Temple are the Place where HaShem placed His Name, so that He could dwell among His people. We see Yeshua, revealed as “G-d with Us” – dwelling among us and make the connection.
- Yeshua loved the Temple. He loved the Feasts. Do you?
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14