Feast of Tabernacles (Ezra, John)

In the New Testament, the Feast of Tabernacles is primarily described in the Gospel of John, where Jesus attended the festival in Jerusalem and taught in the temple courts. On the final day, He made two key declarations: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink" and that "streams of living water will flow from within him" for those who believe in Him. These statements linked the Old Testament ritual of water drawing to His identity as the source of spiritual and eternal life.

Jesus's teachings and actions

• Secret attendance: Jesus initially went to the feast in Jerusalem secretly, as some Jewish leaders wanted to kill Him.
• Teaching in the temple: He began teaching around the middle of the festival, and later on the "great day" at the end of the feast.
• Declaration of "living water": On the last day, Jesus cried out, offering spiritual life to anyone who believes in Him, just as the Jewish people were drawing water from the Pool of Siloam.
• Healing the blind man: After the feast, Jesus healed a man born blind, using the same water from the Pool of Siloam, which had been used in the feast's water-drawing ceremony.

Symbolic meaning

• Living water: Jesus's proclamation of "living water" was a symbolic claim that He is the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament rituals.
• Light of the world: The feast also involved the lighting of great candelabras in the temple, and Jesus later made a similar claim in that same area, "I am the light of the world".
• Anticipation of the Holy Spirit: John's Gospel notes that the Holy Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified, connecting His promises to the future outpouring of the Spirit.
• A joyous feast: As one of the major Jewish festivals, it was a time of joyous celebration and remembrance of God's provision, and Jesus's participation highlighted His role in providing spiritual sustenance and in ultimately fulfilling the festival's meaning.