Jesus is the feast

John 7:8-10 Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come. Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret.” Jesus encouraged His brothers to attend the Feast of Booths, but told them He wasn’t going to the feast because His time wasn’t completed. We recall from yesterday that Jesus’ time that He referenced was His death. Jesus implied that He wasn’t going to go up publicly as His brothers suggested in verse 4 because the Jews were planning to kill Him. However, after waiting for a while, perhaps a couple of days or so, Jesus did go, but secretly, which I assume means that He didn’t travel with anyone. There’s no mention of the disciples, so we may also conclude He likewise had encouraged them to attend the feast. When something is unclear, one of the basic rules of interpretation is to let Scripture interpret Scripture. In other words, we bring in information given in other passages that we know to be true to bring clarity. In this case, since we know Jesus never did anything on His own initiative, and always did the will of His Father, we know Jesus wasn’t lying when He said He wasn’t going up to the feast. He is in tune with the Father, and the Father wasn’t going to the feast at the same time as His brothers. Jesus was living to love with His Father, so He constantly was abiding in the Father and trusting His will and timing in all things. It is also true that the Father abided in Jesus. Once the Son of God came into the world, Jesus’ body became God’s temple—the place where God dwelled and made His name known. He wasn’t in the temple in Jerusalem. With Jesus’ arrival, that temple and all of its ceremonies became obsolete and was about to disappear as it says in Hebrews 8:13, “When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” The people went to the temple for the feasts, but now Jesus is the feast of Booths, the Passover, the priest, and the sacrifices and everything else about the temple. He could fully celebrate the Feast of Booths, and the celebration of God’s deliverance, provision, and joy without going to Jerusalem. Think on that. Today, you are the temple of God. You have God dwelling in you if you believe in Jesus and have received His life. You don’t have to go somewhere to worship Him or to celebrate His deliverance, provision, and joy. You carry the celebration everywhere you go, and can eat and drink, feast on Christ constantly. That’s what living to love with Jesus is—it’s living in the joy of His presence and manifesting it. May we be filled with understanding and realize the miracle of miracles—Christ in us, the fullness of God, the hope of glory. Let His love and joy flow like a river today as you fix your eyes on Jesus. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.