Jesus attended the festival of Tabernacles, after his brothers left. Because He knew He was in trouble with the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, He went up quietly. Mid-festival, He taught at the synagogue. His teaching at the Feast of Tabernacles included lessons on the source of His doctrine, how to test His validity, and a lesson on judgement.
Lesson One: Source of His Doctrine
The first lesson was about doctrine. Jesus was the topic of much conversation among the Jewish people. He had raised their curiosity, and some saw Him as good, while others, saw Him as a deceiver. They all had their ideas, but they kept quiet. They were afraid of taking a stand because of the Jews. This man’s doctrine was controversial, but where did He get it? They knew He wasn’t an educated man, but He was a conundrum. In this lesson, Jesus explained that the doctrine was not His, but rather the doctrine of the One who sent Him.
Lesson Two: How to Test His Validity
The second lesson was how to test His validity. If you want to do the will of God, you will know whether or not what I speak is true. The truth of God already in their hearts would continue to lead them.
In addition, some people speak to make themselves appear righteous. It is about them. If someone is out to make God known, to make it about Him, then you know they are righteous. If their focus is on the glory of God, there is then no unrighteousness in such a one. Jesus was all about the Father.
Lesson Three: A Lesson on Judgement
His third lesson was on Judgement. The Jewish leaders were upset with Jesus because he healed a man on the Sabbath. In this lesson, Jesus confronted their keeping of the law of Moses.
Moses was a superstar to these people. He was the law-giver. Yet Jesus told them they didn’t keep the law, so why did they want to kill him? This was news to some of them. They told Jesus He had a demon.
Therefore Jesus referenced circumcision. He clarified for them that it really wasn’t from Moses but rather the fathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). Circumcision was done on the eighth day. If the eighth day was the Sabbath, the boy was circumcised. This broke the law of the Sabbath in order to maintain the law of circumcision. However, when Jesus made a man completely whole on the Sabbath, it aroused their anger. Jesus told them to go deeper. Judge in righteousness, rather than concern for how things appear.
His teaching at the Feast of Tabernacles included lessons on the source of His doctrine, how to test His validity, and a lesson on judgement.