Challenging Religion Series

Challenging Religion

Vital to read the entire book at one sitting from time to time. Chapters 5-7 at minimum

Jesus' teaching are set in the backdrop of the Feast of Tabernacles - Season of our Gladness!

Called Succoth - Booths. Booths = we want rain. Fall harvest festival - reminder of tent living for 40 years, celebrating the harvest and celebrating Exodus stories of Moses getting water from rock and pillar of fire. Held during our Sept. - Oct. almost exactly 6 months after Passover

Water ceremonies each day of the festival - praying for winter rains - living in tents or bowers constructed with enough roof open to see the stars but covered enough to show that they believe their request for rain is spoken in faith

Party week! Thanksgiving for 8 DAYS!

But while this is party week - with tons of great memories, Jesus is uneasy

Jesus had just poured His heart out, bared His soul and spoken the most intimate truths about himself, and He got booed. Lambasted - rejected - even some of His disciples abandoned Him.

This comes right on the heels of "Let's make Him King!"

Ever have a bad day? Share a bad day with your neighbor.

Shelley crying in bed. Blizzard kept us from being with our kids, Kenny at Rainbow, Come home without the baby - our 1 yr. old got hit by a car and we had to decide whether to put Ben to sleep or pay hundreds of dollars to put a pin in his leg. We opted for a pin. Ben's a dog by the way.

Think of the bad day for Jesus. Read John 7:1-9

JN 7:1 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. 2 But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world." 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

6 Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. 8 You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come." 9 Having said this, he stayed in Galilee.

The religious leaders rejected Jesus and now his family. Jesus is hiding out - keeping clear of Jerusalem What's the stink about?

Remember John 5 Jesus healed a man at the pool Bethesda - ON THE SABBATH! No less. So they naturally want to Kill Jesus

John 5:18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus hits the road and crosses Jerusalem off His list of friendly cities to hang out and teach in

Jesus fed thousands and mysteriously crossed the Sea of Galilee and was back at home in Capernaum, He preaches a whopper of a sermon, loses lots of disciples and gets the left foot of fellowship - cross Capernaum off the list of friendly cities to hang out and teach in.

Jesus' brothers taunt him, temptations of Satan - if you're God's Son... Put up or shut up Jesus Everybody's going to Jerusalem - every male within 20 mile radius required to go. For possibly the first time in his entire life - Jesus not going to Succoth with his family. How does that fly?

Not my Time

Karios = appointed time, Bow hunting analogy - release of the arrow

Why not release the arrow - Why wait - Jesus had no desire for triumphal entry on their terms

Jesus doesn't make a dramatic entrance, his time is not yet

Yet for those not concerned with God's time, any time will do.

For you, any day is as good as another.

Read John 7:10-15 10 However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, "Where is that man?"

12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, "He is a good man."

Others replied, "No, he deceives the people." 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews.

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?"