This event takes place in the Autumn, six
months before Christ would suffer the atonement, die and be resurrected. Christ leaves Galilee and ministers again in
Judea.
At the Feast of Tabernacles
READ John 7:1-2, 10-13
What
is the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)?
A weeklong religious festival held in
Autumn of each year to commemorate the Exodus and renew the Jew’s covenants
with Jehovah.
They would eat and sleep in
booths/tabernacles made of tree branches – to remind the people of when the
children of Israel dwelt in tents in the wilderness for 40 years.
The waving of palm branches signified
their acceptance of Jehovah as their King.
Eating of goodly fruit (the citron) as a
kind of thanksgiving feast.
Rituals in the temple represented the
pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon Israel and the light of God that resulted.
It was the most joyous of the seven
Hebrew holy days/festivals.
Also symbolizes the Millennial enthronement
of the King and Queen.
It is the celebration of the marriage of
the bride to the bridegroom – it is the marriage feast or wedding party.
Christ is the groom and the Church is the
bride; really each of us individually is the bride – this speaks to our
personal relationship with Christ; God’s work and glory is saving people –
those He saves become His family, and that family or House of God or “Church of
the Firstborn” is as close to an institution or organization or “church” as you
will get in heaven.
READ John 7:14-18
What
will a true messenger always have?
A message or doctrine given to him/her
directly from God – they have a quote from God to give to you (“thus sayeth the
Lord”).
S/he does not come on their own errand to
“free-lance”.
Even Christ did not share His own
doctrine.
That is not to say that other beings
(even of relative light) don’t come with their own messages – but they cannot
be defined as “true messengers” if they have not come from God’s presence with
a message to you because only Elohim is a God of Truth and Light (but remember
that is a plural title).
How
can you know if the message or doctrine is true and from God?
You can only know it is true if you do it
– follow the commandment or message; walk in the path; and it increases the
light and knowledge you have.
If it is from God, the “fruits” of the
Spirit will follow; walking in God’s path increases light and knowledge.
The true messenger seeks no glory but
deflects all praise back to Him who sent Him – he refuses to be idolized,
praised or worshipped.
The false messenger seeks his own glory –
to be a light to be looked to and fawned over.
What
can be deduced from a situation where a person is truly living what is
purported to be the gospel but does not enjoy the same “fruits” as the ancients
did who wrote the scriptures?
Either, the gospel is not true and there
is no God in heaven (and the ancients were lying) or the version of the gospel
the modern “saint” is living has been corrupted beyond efficacy.
READ John 7:19-24
Why
were the Jews so angry about Christ healing on the Sabbath?
It was against their law.
But the problem was that they had changed
and augmented the Law of Moses and healing was against these additional
traditions.
But it was not against the law of God.
How
can one judge correctly?
Use the light of God – that is righteous
judgement.
Do not use your false traditions to
decide if something is good; it may appear to be evil, but it only appears that
way because you are looking at it through a false paradigm or lens of what is
true and good.
READ John 7:27-36
Where
did the Jews believe the Messiah would come from?
Directly from heaven – no man would know
Him from earth.
They are expecting the last days’
scenario when Christ comes from the sky in glory.
Why
did the Jews not recognize Christ as the Messiah, regardless of where He had
come from?
The Jews did not know God.
The heavens had been silent for hundreds
of years, by this point, their “ground” was “dry” (see Isaiah 53:2) – no Spirit
or revelation.
While Christ was born in Bethlehem and
raised in Egypt and Nazareth, He was sent to earth by God.
Although born as a mortal on earth, Jesus
knew God and was “from Him”.
But seemingly, the only people who could
recognize that he was “from God” were either those who also knew God (i.e. John
the Baptist, Mary, the Wise Men, etc) or those who were seeking to know Him
(i.e. Peter, John, those who were healed, those who saw His miracles as “good
works” that only one sent from God could do, etc).
What
does it mean that after Christ had returned to God, the Jews would seek Him but
not be able to find Him?
At this time the Jewish leaders’ attitude
is that if Christ left them they would never try to be with Him because they
think He is a heretic; they do not want to be with Him – now or ever.
Even though they would have loved for
Christ to have left Jerusalem and gone out among the Gentiles to teach them,
after His death some must have had a change of heart regarding Jesus of
Nazareth being the Messiah – either in this life (with the Roman destruction of
Jerusalem in 70 AD) or in the spirit world after their deaths.
The Jews as a people would continue to
seek after the Messiah for centuries after Christ but would continue to be
disappointed until many now no longer believe – they are secular or ethnic
Jews, no longer believing or practicing the religion; the holocaust is sited as
a contributing reason for this over the last century.
Christ will rise up to where those who
have rejected Him can never come, even if they have a change of heart after
death and want to be with Him (see D&C 76:109-112).
Last Day of the Feast: The Pouring Out
On the last day of the feast, after the
evening sacrifice, the Priests walked around the Altar of Sacrifice in the
Court of Israel seven times. There was a
vast crowd which filled the various courts of the temple and each person had a
palm frond to wave. The High Priest
(Caiaphas) went to the top of the altar, and everyone would hold their palm
branches still and vertical in the air.
The High Priest raised the pitcher of water, drawn from the Pool of
Siloam, and poured out the water onto the altar. The priests began to chant “hallelujah” or
“praise ye Jehovah”. The crowd answer
back “hallelujah” and wave their branches.
The Priest chants, “Praise, O ye servants of Jehovah. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this
time forth and for ever more!”
“Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” replies
the crowd. The Priest says, “Who is like
unto Jehovah who dwelleth on high?
Tremble thou earth, at the presence of the Lord. Hallelujah all ye nations. Praise him, all ye people!” “Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” shout
the people. “O work then now thy
salvation, Jehovah. Save us now, we
beseech thee, O Lord!” cries the Priest.
“Hosanna” (or “save now”) cry the people. The Priest finishes with: “Blessed is He who
cometh in the name of the Lord!”
“Hallelujah! Hosanna!” shout the
people. And then at this moment…
READ John 7:37-39
What
did the pouring out of the water onto the altar symbolize?
The pouring out of God’s Spirit onto or
into the people of Israel.
Where
does that spirit or “water” come from?
From God alone – it is His Spirit and is
not controlled by men or a church.
What
must we/the people do to receive it?
Sacrifice on the altar – our whole
souls/broken hearts and contrite spirits.
The water is poured out onto the altar in
symbol of our sacrifice.
So,
what is Christ saying when He proclaims “let him come unto me and drink”?
I am the Messiah.
I am your God.
I am the one from whom the Holy Spirit
comes or emanates.
What
does it mean “out of (your) belly shall flow… living water”?
You will have the Spirit to be with you –
not just occasionally or consistently but continually; it will change your
nature and bring you back into constant communion with God; you will have the
mind of God within you and it will be a source of constant revelation and
sanctification – you will be connected to God at all times.
Ultimately, with this connection, you can
become like Christ, with life in yourself, having attained the resurrection and
become as God.
READ John 7:40-43
What
was the reaction of the people when Christ stood up and declared that HE had/was
the living water?
Many thought He was the Messiah – they
believed Him.
Who
would have been likely to have sown doubt by reminding the people that Christ
was to come from Bethlehem not Galilee?
The Priests and Pharisees.
Those who had the most to lose – those
with authority in the church which stood between the people and Christ.
Why
did people not know that Christ was actually born in Bethlehem?
Because His birth there was unheralded by
men – only Heaven knew and the few shepherds they told.
Because Christ was an obscure, itinerate
preacher from Galilee, very few people knew “from whence He came”.
Last Day of the Feast: Lighting the
Great Menorahs
In the Court of the Women, there were
four massive “menorahs”, fifty feet tall, at each corner of the Court. They were taller than the surrounding walls
so that when lit, they would light the whole Temple complex. Each menorah had four large golden bowls that
were filled with olive oil and wicks.
After the Pouring Out ceremony, when the city was fully dark, priests
with silver trumpets blasted three notes to announce the lighting of the great
menorahs. Four Priests climbed the
ladders carrying torches lit from the fires of the Altar of Sacrifice and
simultaneously lit the four great menorahs.
The light was so bright in the dark night that you could pick out
details on the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley. The light symbolized that Jehovah had come to
the Temple – His presence and glory was there!
The people waved their palm branches and cried, “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise be to the Lord. Praise ye Jehovah!” At that moment, Jesus again stands up and
says unto them…
READ John 8:12
In
the context of the Lighting Ceremony, what does it mean that Christ is the
light of the world?
He is the source of the physical light
they see, including the fire that is burning in the Menorahs, the light from
the stars above, and the sun that has just gone down (see D&C 88:7, 11).
He is the source of spiritual and mental
enlightenment (see D&C 88:11).
He is the source of the glory of God –
the light that proceeds from God and fills the immensity of space (D&C
88:12-13).
He gives life to all things – both
creating it from energy or element that is a part of Him and then redeeming it
when those elements and intelligences in His creation have fallen.
He is their God (see 3 Nephi 11:14).
READ D&C 88:6-13
How
did He attain to this light?
He ascended up on high and descended
below all things, so that He could comprehend all things (remember that
knowledge saves a man and knowledge is gained by experience).
In other words, Christ has ascended up
Jacob’s Ladder to become a God Himself.
READ John 8:13-24
How
does the Father bear record of the Son?
Through His own voice; whether we have
the capability to even hear it, much less understand it, is a function of how
well our spirits are tuned to His frequency (see 3 Nephi 11:3-8) – but His
voice bears record of the Son for those with ears to hear.
Through the Holy Spirit.
The Words the Father gave the Son to say
are true, and they will all be borne out as being true, in time.
Why
can’t they hear the Father’s testimony?
They are from “beneath” – from a lower
estate; they are stuck in this world and cannot accompany Christ on His path to
heaven (because they’ve not done His works and don’t have His level of glory or
light).
They are fallen, their hearts are hard,
and their ears are closed to Christ’s words; they will die under the burden of
their sins.
They are spiritually dead – separated
from God.
They do not “know” Christ; they do not
believe that He brings light and life with Him to them – in the form of God’s
Word and Christ’s Atonement.
They do not “know” the Father, whom they
say they worship.
Where
is Christ going?
He will continue onward, following the
path of His Father (see TPJS 390-393).
Christ is not of this world but is from
the heavens; He has condescended to come here but will return to His home in
heaven.
READ John 8:25-29
Did
Christ hide His identity from the Jews?
No – He was always clear and honest about
who He was but they didn’t believe Him.
When
will they KNOW that Christ is the Son of God?
When He has attained to the resurrection,
after they have killed Him.
Why
has the Father not left the Son?
Christ does ALWAYS those things that
please God.
Despite Christ’s mortal tabernacle
(body), He has reconnected with God and they are one again, as they were in
heaven; this despite Christ’s “alienation” which came because of His
condescending to lay His glory aside and be born into a mortal body.
READ John 8:30-36
How
do we become Christ’s disciples?
Continue in His word – do those things
that Christ taught; like Christ did with the Father’s word.
What
is knowledge?
The personal record of experience (the memory
of that which has been experienced).
How
do we gain experience?
By doing – by living in a world of
choice.
What
is the testimony of another person who says he knows something?
It is their personal experience with God.
It is a report.
We can choose to believe or disbelieve
the report.
What
is the Truth?
Knowledge of things as they really are,
were and are to come (D&C 93:24).
Christ is the Truth (see John 14:6).
How
do we KNOW the truth?
We must experience Christ – from baptism
by fire to second comforter and beyond… (see 2 Nephi 32:6).
We do this by following His word – He
tells us how to come unto Him.
How
will the Truth set us free?
His resurrection will free us from death.
His atonement can save us from hell.
READ John 8:37-59
What
does it mean when Christ says “ye have not known Him (God); but I know Him”?
Christ has experienced the Father – He
“knows” Him.
Christ is teaching what the Father has
shown Him while He was in God’s presence; while in His mortal life God the
Father appeared to Him; likely He transcended the flesh and visited the Father,
in Heaven, too.
There is an
implication here that we (fallen, mortals) have not known God either here or in
heaven; that if we had known God there, that we would recognize Him or His word
here and would follow the “clues” we find hidden in plain sight, back into His
presence in the flesh; if that is true, all is not lost as we can still use our
agency to awake and arise from the dust and seek Him out from here – and
whatever success we have (light we gain) will go with us in the life to
come.
How
can you tell who your Father is?
Who or what do you think about?
Who do you seek out?
Who do you love?
Who do you listen to or obey?
Who do you truly know?
Whose traits do you demonstrate?
Whose work are you doing?
How
can Christ promise that if anyone keeps His sayings, he shall never see death?
The TSJ
translation says: “if anyone stands watch awaiting direction from me, he shall
not be overtaken even by death, throughout eons”; “Stands watch awaiting direction” means to watch for
His words like a sentinel, always on guard, awaiting His direction as if you
are on the highest alert for it.
Although Enoch, Moses, Elijah, John and
others were translated, that does not mean that people who died like Adam,
Noah, Abraham and Joseph Smith did not keep Christ’s sayings.
Not being overtaken by death throughout
eons means inheriting eternal lives rather than going down the broad road that
leads to the “deaths”; it means being redeemed by being brought back into God’s
presence (see Ether 3:13) and being one with Him again – no longer separated
physically (having a habitation with God) or spiritually (being one with God –
having God in you and you in God) via the Holy Spirit.
“Seeing death” (or living “the deaths”)
refers to living mortal lives or probations that do not end in one gaining or
retaining eternal life; they are an endless cycle of probations where nothing
is learned – no light and knowledge was gained; endless probations of spiritual
death or separation from God; they do not end with the individual dwelling with
God or Christ (see D&C 132:21-25; D&C 76:112).
Christ says that no adversary can remove
them out of His hand (see John 10:28).
What
does “before Abraham was, I am” mean?
Before Abraham was, I (Jesus) was.
I am from all eternity – I have existed
in all ages (even before Abraham).
I am = I exist = Yahweh.
He is saying, “I am the I AM – I am
Jehovah”.
Why
did they try to pick up stones to kill Jesus?
In their eyes, He had committed sacrilege
– saying that HE was God.
Woman Taken in Adultery
READ John 8:2-11
What
is the trap that the Pharisees are laying for Christ with this woman?
If He says “let her go”, He is
contradicting the Law of Moses, which was very clear with regards to adultery –
this would turn the people against Him.
If He says “stone her”, He will be in
direct violation of the Roman law which stated that the Jewish council had no
right to pronounce a death sentence – He would have been arrested by the Romans.
The
KJV is a poor translation of verse 7, it should say “let him who is without
THIS sin be the one to cast the first stone” – why did these words condemn the
Jewish leaders?
They may have committed adultery or
fornication themselves at some point.
They had entrapped this woman to condemn
Jesus.
They were complicit in this very sin –
having arranged it.
How
did they catch this woman in the very act of adultery?
It is a set up – the Pharisees
orchestrated it – the woman was entrapped by a Pharisee or someone in their
employ to commit adultery and then they burst in on the couple in the act and
took the woman (not the man…) to be stoned; really to trap Jesus.
Otherwise, how did they find her
committing adultery?
And where was the man??
In Jewish law, the eyewitness whose
testimony was responsible for bringing about a conviction in a capital crime
was required to cast the first stone during the execution – as a way of
discouraging false witness. Jesus is
saying “if you wish to execute the Law, then let the eyewitness who is not
implicated in this sin, or has not also committed this sin, cast the first
stone at her.” They stood condemned so
no one threw that first stone.
