The Feast of Tabernacles

Today's Reflections

The Feast of Tabernacles

 

Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

¹Jesus moved about within Galilee; but he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. ²But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near.

¹⁰But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not openly but [as it were] in secret.

²⁵So some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, “Is he not the one they are trying to kill? ²⁶And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Messiah? ²⁷But we know where he is from. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” ²⁸So 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. ²⁹I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” ³⁰So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come.

 

Reflection:
 

THE JEWISH FEAST OF TABERNACLES. This feast commemorates the time when the Jews lived in tents. After they had been liberated from slavery in Egypt, the people of Israel journeyed from the desert to the Promised Land. Living in tents meant living in temporary dwellings, thus keeping alive in their spirits the yearning for the Promised Land as their true home.

Jesus goes up to the feast in spite of the threat on his life. Even with the evil and hostile intent of the Jews, Jesus speaks the truth and testifies to the Father. He knows what is ahead of him. Yet, with courage and determination, he is ready to follow and accomplish the will of the Father.

Let us pray for the courage to speak the truth, work for justice in the face of opposition, and stand for the Gospel and for God.

The present world is our tent;
heaven is our homeland.
We are pilgrims in this passing world.