The Christian Jewish RootsSýnishorn

For a brief momemt, I want you to picture yourself in a different time period. It is the Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus is in the Temple celebrating Sukkot. “Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand…On the last day that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the  Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” [John 7:2, 37-38]

Now, unless you are familiar with the Jewish roots of your faith, how can you know what this passage really means? This was the final day of the feast  the day on which all the people got to come into the temple. On the seventh day, the priest would pour water on the altar seven times, and they would all walk around the altar seven time, each time shouting, “Save us!” They were calling for their Messiah.

Jesus stood up at the Sukkot celebration and said, “I'm here! I've come to give you living water. When you taste Me, you will never thirst again.” What an amazing event. Jesus was right there with them. He watched them walk around the altar. He watched them pour “living water” on the altar. They started calling for the Messiah to come and bring His kingdom on earth and He said, “Here I am!”

Sukkot is also called the Feast of Ingathering. Today Jews all over the world keep Sukkot by building small booths outside in their yards and the doors are never closed. At all other times, God's people live behind closed doors and invite people for dinner and fellowship. Others are welcome, but they must be invited because the doors are closed. On Sukkot, The Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Ingathering, the doors remain open. All Jews know that if you see a tabernacle, you can get in there as a stranger, but you will walk out as a family member.

What does this mean to us? If we have loved ones who are not yet born-again, you need to claim this festival as a time for their salvation.  Jesus said, “I am the door. IF anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” [John 10: 9]. Jesus is the door, and it is open to everybody!