Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles
I was recently asked a question about this text: “I had always interpreted that when Jesus went to Jerusalem, in secret, for the Feast of the Tabernacles, he went in his spirit only, not with his disciples or in his bodily form. Am I wrong? Could that be?” This isn’t the first time I’ve come across this idea.
Let’s look at verses 14-17 and see what Scripture says.
14 Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” 16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17 If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. (NIV)
The idea that Jesus did not go bodily to the feast might come from the King James’ translation of verse 10, which says, “Then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.” The issue partly has to do with “as it were,” a rare use of the Greek particle hos (ὡς), “as, like.” When I commented on this verse, I pointed out that Jesus went to Jerusalem “as if” it were a secret, because he went after everybody else had gone, so that the roads were deserted. Nobody saw him going, because they were already there themselves. Verse 14 uses simple, clear language to show us that Jesus “did…go up.” People heard him preaching and teaching, and although people were unable to lay a hand on him (7:30, 8:20), Jesus in this same context does spit on the ground to make mud when he heals the man in chapter 9. We’ll talk more about why Jesus used mud to heal that man when we get to that scene. But all of these things together point to Jesus walking, talking, eating, drinking, sleeping, spitting, etc., as a human being in his human body.
The Jews (remember, John seems to mean the Jewish leadership) are amazed that this bumpkin Rabbi could know the things he knows without having studied, and by this we understand that they mean he didn’t study with them. Their great Rabbinic schools of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) and Shimei were famous, but Jesus wasn’t known by any of them. If they imply that Jesus is all on his own, then they are countered right away with Jesus’ words: “My teaching is not my own.” Jesus simply says as he has all along that his teaching is from God the Father. His Father, and ours.
Everything Jesus has done has conformed to the will of God the Father. The easiest way to find out is to trust in him, because he is proved right again and again and again. He has promised to be with us to the very end of the world, and he is with us. He has promised to speak the truth, and he has spoken nothing but the truth. He has promised to give us eternal life, and it’s ours because of his blood, shed for us.
It’s pretty easy to choose Christ when he’s already chosen us. That’s the choice of the child handed a birthday present. Whether he unwraps it or not, the gift is his. And Jesus is yours.
Enjoy your gift.
Something Extra:
Philemon 11
11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
The name of the runaway slave was Onesimus (᾽Ονήσιμον), from the Greek word oninemi (ὀνίνημι), “to be useful.” Paul makes a kind of play on words with his name here, although it isn’t really a pun on “useful,” since Paul doesn’t use a form of that word to say “useless,” but instead uses archeston (ἄχρηστον) “useless.” But I still see wordplay of a sort between the word oninemi “useful” (the man’s name) and nyni (νυνὶ) “now.” Either way, Paul’s playful juggling of sounds and word meanings lightens the mood. You can almost hear Philemon sighing with relief. His slave is found—and Paul, of all people, had him.
A runaway slave could be killed. And in a sense, Paul had killed Onesimus. His former status of “unbeliever” was dead, and “now” (nyni) he was reborn through faith in Christ. His debt and slavery to sin were gone and paid for by Christ.
But that didn’t mean that Paul was commanding Philemon to release Onesimus from his physical slavery. On the contrary, Paul was commanding nothing at all. Paul was letting Philemon show his faith.
We can never change a single heart by force. We can never make a true difference in anyone’s eternal status before God with laws or rules or government regulations. Only the gospel does that. Only the gospel produces truly good deeds. What would Philemon do with Onesimus’ status and slavery? We are left not knowing, and truly, we need to turn away from our opinion about this man and his slave who have been dead for 1900 years and we need to focus on what our own freedom in Christ is spurring us on to do. Will I hold someone’s debt over their head, or forgive it? Will I lash out at someone who misspeaks to me, or will I forgive? Will I hold a grudge because of a mistake someone made, or will I forgive it?
God forgave me. Lord, teach us to forgive those who trespass against us.
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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