Deuteronomy 16:13-15 [my translation]
“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days once you have completed collections from your threshing floor and your winepress. And you shall celebrate this feast with everyone within your community: your family, your servants, your pastor, as well as the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. The Lord your God will bless the production of your fields and all the work of your hands so that you will want to rejoice and continue this sacred feast to the Lord your God for seven days in the place which the Lord has chosen.”
John 7:1-24
After this, Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. 2 Now, the Jewish Festival of Booths was near. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing, 4 for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his brothers believed in him.) 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. 8 Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
10 But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but, as it were, in secret. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, “He is a good man,” others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.” 13 Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.
14 About the middle of the festival, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. 15 The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning when he has never been taught?” 16 Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. 17 Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. 18 Those who speak on their own seek their own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing unjust in him.
19 “Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. 22 Because of this, Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
The Feast of Tabernacles is the closest thing in Jewish culture to Thanksgiving. In Hebrew, it is called Sukkot, and it has been celebrated for about 3000 years to commemorate the time that the Hebrews spent living in tents wandering the desert for 40 years. The custom is to build a Sukkah (a temporary Dwelling) that resembles a small wooden hut and spend the week inside it praying, studying, and giving thanks to God with friends and neighbors within your community. (Falcon, Ph.D. & Blanter, 2001)
Thanksgiving, as commonly understood in the United States, was not solely invented by Americans. Various cultures and religions around the world observe prayers of thanks and host special Thanksgiving ceremonies at different times throughout the year. Many societies, including those in Greece, the British Isles, and the Korean peninsula, have their own versions of Thanksgiving feasts (Hodgson, 2006). We stand among every other person around the world when we come together around the table to give thanks for the blessings God has given us. The notion of giving thanks is so ubiquitous that every human in creation understands what Thanksgiving means.
I found at least three references to this festival in the Old Testament: Leviticus 23:33-44, Numbers 29:12-38, and Deuteronomy 16:13-15 (translated above). Leviticus and Numbers both give much detail as to what customs and ceremonies will be done during Sukkot, but I will not go into those details. (It would be a good Bible study to research the customs and find out how they were designed to bring the Hebrew people closer to God.) So, when Jesus was told by his brothers to go to Judah to celebrate Sukkot, he understood that giving thanks was not what they had in mind for him.
John makes it clear that Jesus’ brothers had no faith in him. In fact, they completely misunderstood how Jesus operated in his ministry. They encouraged Jesus to go to Jerusalem and publicly announce himself when this is not how Jesus performed any of his signs (as John refers to them). The essential factor in Jesus’ self-revelation is not the context—whether it takes place in public or private—but rather the capacity of those who encounter Jesus to understand and embrace what he offers. (O'Day, 2015)
What started this controversy is the healing that took place in John 5. This passage describes a healing miracle performed by Jesus at the Pool of Bethsaida in Jerusalem. The scene opens with a multitude of sick individuals gathered by the pool, where it is believed that the first to enter the water after it is stirred would be healed. Among them is a man who has been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus notices him, He asks if he wants to be made well. The man replies that he cannot reach the water in time due to others stepping in before him. Jesus then commands him to stand, take his mat, and walk, miraculously healing him instantly.
However, the healing occurs on the Sabbath, breaching Jewish law regarding work on that day. When questioned by Jewish authorities for carrying his mat, the healed man explains that it was Jesus who told him to do so. Unaware of Jesus’ identity at that moment, he later encounters Jesus in the temple, who admonishes him to avoid sin, warning that worse consequences could follow.
The passage culminates with the Jews becoming hostile towards Jesus, accusing him of breaking the Sabbath and claiming equality with God by referring to Him as His Father. This intensifies their desire to persecute and ultimately kill Jesus.
In summary, John begins Chapter 5 by emphasizing three themes: healing, the clash between divine authority and religious law, and growing hostility toward Jesus. These themes serve as the backdrop as Jesus asserts his identity and mission. The beginning of Chapter 7 builds on these themes, adding the element of the lack of faith in Jesus, not only in the community but even in his family. Add to all this Sukkot, and there does not seem to be anything to give thanks for, does there?
Jesus declines his brothers’ invitation to self-destruction because, as he says, his time has not yet come. But he encourages them to go without him, and then he travels there in secret. Sometime in the middle of the week, Jesus enters the temple, and he begins to teach. The Bible says, “The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning when he has never been taught?” (v.11) Astonished is a great word. Meriam Webster defines the word as – to strike with a sudden sense of surprise or wonder, especially through something unexpected or difficult to accept as true or reasonable. My best translation of the Greek word, Ethaumazon (what the NRSV translates as astonished), was dumbfounded. Still, in researching this word, I also found that in addition to the wonderment felt by the crowd, there is also a sense of admiration. Yes, the crowd had questions about where Jesus was trained, but they were also very impressed by his ability to teach and his command of theology. It would be like me getting up on Sunday morning and, in front of my congregation, painting a masterpiece like the Mona Lisa. I am sure that my congregation would have some questions. Especially when I went into detail about paint manufacturing, brush strokes, and stretching canvas over frames, they may very well be astonished. Let me be clear: I cannot do any of that. J
Even with all that was building up against Jesus, he felt it essential to attend Sukkot. He knew that giving thanks to God was important not only for the individual but also for the community. We each have a lot that weighs on us. Bills, family, work, and promises made to others pull at us every day, and we all must take time for self-care; we must slow down and count our blessings. God knows this, and if we are discerning enough, we begin to understand it too. God also knows that communities must slow down, reflect on what makes them a community, and count our collective blessings. From the first reported celebrations in 1619 in Virginia to the more popular Pilgrims and Indians in 1621 to it being formalized into a federal holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 (during the middle of the Civil War), Thanksgiving has reminded us to slow down, take account, and give thanks for all that we have in this life.
While I wish to take nothing away from the festive activities of this holiday, I want to add something to it as well. Christians should also remember to give thanks to God for the salvation that Jesus paid for in blood. Beyond the material blessings we have received and that we give thanks for each year, remember that without Christ in your life, without the Holy Spirit to guide you, and without God in heaven… none of those things have any value. As the writer of Ecclesiastes writes, “Vanities of vanities! All in vanity. What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun?” (Eccl. 1:2b-3) (How appropriate is it that Ecclesiastes is traditionally read allowed during Sukkot?) In lay terms, without our salvation, this gift from God, everything we do, we do in vain.
So, in the coming week, as you attend community gatherings, prepare for family arrivals, and reflect on what you are thankful for, give thanks, with a grateful heart, for all that Christ has done and continues to do in and through you.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Works Cited
Falcon, Ph.D., R., & Blanter, D. (2001). Judaism for Dummies. New York, NY: Hungry Minds.
Hodgson, G. (2006). A Great and Godly Adventure, The Pilgramsn & the Myth of the First Thanksgiving. (p. 156-157, Producer, & Public Affairs, New York) Retrieved November 2024, from Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/greatgodlyadvent00hodg/mode/2up
Merriam-Webster.com. (2024). Retrieved from Merriam-Webster's unabridged dictionary: https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com
NRSVue. (2022). NRSVue Holy Bible with Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
O'Day, G. R. (2015). The Gospel of John, Introduction, Commentary, and Reflection. In The News Interpreter's Bible Commentary (Vol. VIII). Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
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