Sermon Tone Analysis

Christmas In God’s House

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The Christmas Gift And God’s House

John 7:37-39

 

 

        In my study for the sermon series “The Houses of God,” it dawned on me, or The Holy Spirit revealed to me the following thought:  “Christmas actually began at The House of the Lord, i.e. in Herod’s Temple.”

Since we are suspending the series on “The Houses of God” to do four Christmas messages.

It seemed expedient to me to continue to talk about Christmas as it relates to the House of God.

In our first message, we talked about how the first Christmas was tied up with God’s House.

Zacharias received the revelation concerning John the Baptizer, the forerunner of Jesus Christ, while carrying out his priestly duties, in Herod’s Temple.

*John the Baptizer, being the forerunner of Jesus Christ, is actually the forerunner of the first Christmas.*

In the second message, we talked about the prophecies of Simeon and Anna and where they took place:  in God’s house.

Christmas is a season that is inextricably bound to prophecy, joy, goodwill, promise, and potential.

And two of the greatest prophecies with respect to Christmas occur in God’s House.

/(That brings us to what I want to talk about in this message.)/

*I want to talk about God’s Christmas gift to us.

*Of course God’s foremost Christmas gift was His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

But, there is another gift that is prophesied about and talked about for thousands of years.

Yet, unfortunately, it easily overlooked and missed.

What is this gift?

Well, what is Christmas all about?

In one manner of speaking, it is about the promise of the Father.

God gave us His Son and the Son gave His life, so that the Father might be able to give us the promise of the Father.

*What is the promise of the Father?

Well, Christ announces the promise of the Father, in the vicinity of Herod’s Temple, in John 7:37-39.*

Would you turn there with me please?

Once again, without understanding the culture, festivals, and rituals of the Jewish people, there is much that will be missed here.

I will read John 7:37-39 aloud for us, as you follow along.

The action of this narrative takes place on the last day, the great day of the feast.

The questions that immediately come to my mind are, “What feast?” and “What last great day of the feast?”

\\         There were seven feasts or festivals that were prescribed by God, in Leviticus 23.  “These one-day feasts all point to certain acts of Jehovah’s hand, certain definite transactions of God, perfect and complete in themselves.”[1]

*The particular feast that Jesus is referring to is The Feast of Tabernacles.*

We must understand this feast, if we are to understand the setting of the action that takes place here.

“This Feast (/of Tabernacles/) is primarily agricultural in its character.

*It is a joyous occasion.*

The harvest has been brought in from the fields, the groves, and the orchards.

Barns and sheds are full.

Hearts, too, are full of praise and thanksgiving for God’s bounties.”[2]

“This was the last of Jehovah’s feasts, a season of great joy and rejoicing, a kind of harvest-home, after the harvest had been gathered in.”[3]

        “The Feast of Tabernacles is the equivalent of the American or the Canadian ‘Thanksgiving Day’ when the harvest is brought in and the people rejoice at the goodness of the Lord.”[4]

“So the Jewish people could look back and be thankful for God’s provision, protection, and direction.”

*“The Feast of Tabernacles was a reminder to the Jewish people that everything they had came from God*.”[5]

It is for this reason that I love Thanksgiving and lead a concert of prayer on its eve.

*At least once a year, we need a reminder that everything that we have comes from God!!!*

 

/(But the Feast of Tabernacles entails even more than that.)/

“Apart from its agricultural character, the Feast of Tabernacles also commemorates God’s mighty deliverance of His people from Egypt and their 40 years of wilderness wandering, when they dwelt in tents and tabernacles.

Israel must never forget that for 40 years they were led by the hand of God; that they were pilgrims traveling to a better land where God dwelled.”[6]

·        “They once lived in booths--now they were living in houses.

·        They once had to wander in the wilderness--now they were settled down.

·        They once had to ask Him for water--now they had plenty of water.

·        They could rejoice over past and present mercies from the generous hand of God (1 Timothy 6:17).”[7]

*The ritual of this festival would remind them of their former dwelling places.*

For seven days all the residents of Israel left their homes in order to dwell in temporary booths.

The purpose of this was that the people should have constant reminder of the forty years when the nation dwelt in tents¾wandering in the wilderness with no home.

Oh, how the Lord had provided them with every good thing, dwelled in their midst and led them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

*There was a reminder of their past wandering in those temporary booths.*

*They were not to forget the difficult times, when God sustained them.*

*Let us not forget the difficult times when God sustained us!!!*

 

Thru many dangers, toils and snares I have already come;

‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home!!!

 

/(That is the background of the feast.

Now we can return to the statement concerning the last day of feast.)/

“The Feast’s seventh and *last *day was its *greatest *(cf.

Lev.

23:36).”[8]

It was a Sabbath, the last feast day of the year, and distinguished by very remarkable ceremonies and rituals.

“The generally joyous character of this feast broke out on this day into loud jubilation, particularly at the solemn moment when the priest, as was done on every day of this festival, brought forth, in golden vessels, water from the stream of Siloah, which flowed under the temple-mountain, and solemnly poured it upon the altar.

Then the words of Isaiah 12:3 were sung, /With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of Salvation,/ and thus the symbolical reference of this act, intimated in John 7:39, was expressed” [Olshausen].

So ecstatic was the joy with which this ceremony was performed—accompanied with sound of trumpets—that it used to be said, “Whoever had not witnessed it had never seen rejoicing at all” [Lightfoot].[9]

/(This gives us the backdrop of Christ’s actions.)/

First, Jesus stood up!  “On this high occasion, then, He who had already drawn all eyes upon Him by His supernatural power and unrivalled teaching—‘Jesus stood,’ probably in some elevated position.”[10]

“*Jesus stood, *in contrast with the Rabbis’ usual position of being seated while teaching.”[11]

The stage was now set for a dramatic announcement.

So, Jesus spoke in a loud voice, as “a way of introducing a solemn announcement.”[12]

He literally cried “as if making proclamation in the audience of all the people.”[13]

*What makes this backdrop even more exciting is where Jesus is standing to make this announcement.*

He is standing somewhere in the vicinity of the Temple and probably in the court of the Gentiles.

This is highly instructive.

He didn’t make the announcement in the inner courts of the Temple where only the proud and legalistic Jews would hear it and appropriate it strictly unto themselves, but in the court of the Gentiles, because it was for Gentiles, Jews, and all of the peoples of the world.

Remember that the Gentiles were *not* allowed beyond the Court of the Gentiles.

To go beyond this court would eventuate in their death.

/(Now the words of Christ’s announcement are about the promise of the Father, and the promise of the Father is what Christmas is all about.)/

“If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”

Jesus invites a certain class of people to come to him and drink.

That class of people is all those who are aware of their thirst.

·        To come to Jesus you must be aware of your thirst.

·        To come to Jesus you must deeply long for Him.

·        To come to Jesus you must feel the pain of disconnection.

·        To come to Jesus you must passionately pursue Him.

 

*Thirst is actually a pain, like hunger is a pain!!!*  We don’t like to think about it and we don’t want to experience it, but Christmas often highlights a thirst or pain.

·        It is Christmas that highlights our losses and brings our griefs to our attention.

·        It is Christmas that highlights deficient relationships and the emptiness of materialism.

·        It is Christmas that highlights the spirit of Herod that the enemy releases to kill the seed of life.

And

·        It is Christmas that sometimes underscores the truth that there is still a thirst that is not fulfilled through all the glitz and hype of the commercialization of Christmas.

\\         Now I’m going to say something very strange, “We should thank God for the pain of thirst.”

Why?

Because:

 

·        It is the pain of thirst that alerts us to our need.

·        It is the pain of thirst that drives us toward fulfilling that need.

·        It is the pain of thirst that provides an opportunity for the pleasure and joy of satisfaction.

*Oh, “Yes!”

It is true:  “No pain—no gain!!!”*  This is highlighted in