10/20 – Leviticus 23:33–43 – The Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles)

Old Testament: Leviticus 23:33–43

The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: The fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Booths to the Lord. It will last seven days. On the first day there will be a holy assembly. Do not do any regular work. For seven consecutive days bring a food offering to the Lord. On the eighth day there will be a holy assembly. Bring the Lord a food offering. This is the last festival of the year. Do not do any regular work.

These are the Lord’s appointed festivals. Announce them as holy assemblies for bringing to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, other sacrifices, and wine offerings—each one on its special day. These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s holy days of rest, as well as your gifts, all your vows, and your freewill offerings to the Lord.

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered what the land produces, celebrate the Lord’s festival for seven days. The first and the eighth days will be worship festivals. On the first day take the best fruits, palm branches, the branches of leafy trees and poplars, and celebrate in the presence of the Lord your God for seven days. It is the Lord’s festival. Celebrate it for seven days each year. This is a permanent law for generations to come. Celebrate this festival in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven days. Every native-born in Israel must live in booths so that generations to come may learn how I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Epistle Reading: James 3:13–4:10

Do any of you have wisdom and insight? Show this by living the right way with the humility that comes from wisdom, but if you are bitterly jealous and filled with self-centered ambition, don’t brag. Don’t say that you are wise when it isn’t true. That kind of wisdom does not come from above. It belongs to this world. It is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. Wherever there is jealousy and rivalry, there is disorder and every kind of evil. However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure. Then it is peaceful, gentle, open to reason, filled with mercy and good deeds, impartial, and sincere. A harvest that has God’s approval comes from the peace planted by peacemakers.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Aren’t they caused by the selfish desires that fight to control you? You want what you do not have so you commit murder. You are determined to have things but you can’t get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You don’t have the things you want because you don’t pray for them. When you pray for things you don’t get them because you want them for the wrong reason; for your own pleasure.

You unfaithful people! Do you not know that love for this evil world is hatred toward God? Whoever wants to be a friend of this world make himself an enemy of God. Do you think this passage means nothing? It says, “The Spirit that lives in us wants us to be his own.” Yet God shows more kindness. Scripture says, “God opposes arrogant people, but he is kind to humble people.”

So place yourselves under God’s authority. Resist the devil and he will run away from you. Come close to God and he will come close to you. Clean up your lives you sinners, and clear your minds you doubters. Be miserable, mourn and cry. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into gloom. Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence. Then he will lift you up.

Gospel Reading: John 7:37–44

On the last, and most important, day of the festival Jesus was standing in the Temple courtyard. He said loudly, ““If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. As Scripture says, ‘Streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.’” Jesus said this about the Spirit, whom his believers would receive. The Spirit ad not been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

After some of the crowd heard Jesus say these words, they said, “This man is certainly the prophet.” Other people said, “This man is the Messiah.” However others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from the descendants of David, and from the village of Bethlehem where David lived?” So the people were divided over Jesus. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.