The Time Has Come
A reading for Wednesday, August 27, 2014: John 7:1-13.
The festival of booths is also known as the festival of tabernacles. It is a harvest festival held in the seventh month of they year, also the "ingathering." For messianic people, it is also the festival that represents the end of times when all people will ascend the mountain at Jerusalem and worship God and the blessings God provides to all in the last days. It is perhaps the most joyous of all the festivals...
In today's lesson, the disciples are attending the festival. Jesus is apprehensive about celebrating with the disciples. "I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come." As we watch the gospel of John unfold, we realize that something profound is happening in Jesus. Jesus is the messiah, whose work is to gather all the nations on the holy mountain for worship and the praise of God. But not yet. It's not yet time. There is still much that has to happen.
As we look back at the story now, however, we see this as a foreshadowing of what is to come. Saying, "my time has not yet fully come," means that there will be another time. There will be a time when the time of Jesus Christ has fully come. This is the era in which we live. Now is the time when all nations are being gathered to the mountain in celebration of a God who has provided blessings out of mercy and love for all of creation. Our job is to tell others that the victory is already won. Sin and death have been defeated. Come and enjoy the blessings of Almighty God.
We don't know the time when all will be completed, and when Jesus will return having accomplished the mission. We aren't sure when the festival will end? Just as in the story today, there are still mysteries that are yet unrevealed. Jesus is yet to be fully and completely known, but we are already invited to celebrate now the festival of the "ingathering."
Let's celebrate today the blessings of Almighty God. So that others might see and know. The time of Jesus Christ of Nazareth has come. Thanks be to God!
The festival of booths is also known as the festival of tabernacles. It is a harvest festival held in the seventh month of they year, also the "ingathering." For messianic people, it is also the festival that represents the end of times when all people will ascend the mountain at Jerusalem and worship God and the blessings God provides to all in the last days. It is perhaps the most joyous of all the festivals...
In today's lesson, the disciples are attending the festival. Jesus is apprehensive about celebrating with the disciples. "I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come." As we watch the gospel of John unfold, we realize that something profound is happening in Jesus. Jesus is the messiah, whose work is to gather all the nations on the holy mountain for worship and the praise of God. But not yet. It's not yet time. There is still much that has to happen.
As we look back at the story now, however, we see this as a foreshadowing of what is to come. Saying, "my time has not yet fully come," means that there will be another time. There will be a time when the time of Jesus Christ has fully come. This is the era in which we live. Now is the time when all nations are being gathered to the mountain in celebration of a God who has provided blessings out of mercy and love for all of creation. Our job is to tell others that the victory is already won. Sin and death have been defeated. Come and enjoy the blessings of Almighty God.
We don't know the time when all will be completed, and when Jesus will return having accomplished the mission. We aren't sure when the festival will end? Just as in the story today, there are still mysteries that are yet unrevealed. Jesus is yet to be fully and completely known, but we are already invited to celebrate now the festival of the "ingathering."
Let's celebrate today the blessings of Almighty God. So that others might see and know. The time of Jesus Christ of Nazareth has come. Thanks be to God!
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