CORNERSTONE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
  • 'LIVELY STONES' MEDITATIONS
  • 'WRITE THE VISION' MEDITATIONS
  • A-Z ARCHIVE
  • BIBLE VERSE ARCHIVE
  • LINKS
    • AUDIO
    • VIDEO
  • ABOUT CORNERSTONE

LIVELY STONES MEDITATIONS

The Feast Of Dedication

7/6/2021

 
Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.
And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.
Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.
But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
[John 10:22-27 NKJV]

The Feast of Dedication is what we know as Hanukkah, celebrated annually by Jews for eight days to commemorate the cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem after it had been desecrated by the Syrians about 170BC. Solomon’s Porch was a colonnade for walking protected from the sun and used for gathering together and debating important questions.

Jesus may well have been there to talk to those who wished to discuss what He had to say, so the significance of the mention of the Feast of Dedication here is that Jesus was placing Himself dedicated to the restoration of the worship of God, at the time when this was being celebrated by every Jew.

This feast was also known as ‘The Feast of Lights’, or ‘The Feast of Illumination’ and was a time for joy and celebration.

‘If You are the Christ, tell us plainly’. If I have any thing to say to Jesus I will find him in the temple. Jesus wants me to believe, while I doubt instead. He has told me plainly and now He reminds me of the benefits of being in His flock. He always gives us that choice when we meet Him in the Holy place where He is.
Jesus responsed to the questioners that He had already told them who He is. The unbelievers’ response is to throw stones at Him and condemn Him, ‘Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand’ [verse 39].
We are based on the platform of reality in prayer by the Atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not our earnestness that brings us into touch with God, not our devotedness, nor our times of prayer, but our Lord Jesus Christ’s vitalising death; and our times of prayer are evidences of reaction on the reality of redemption, so we have the right of approach to God in confidence, that the place of the Ark is our place, ‘therefore, brethren, having boldness.’ What an awe and what a wonder of privilege, ‘to enter the Holiest,’ in the perfectness of the atonement ‘by the blood of Jesus.’
[from ‘Christian Discipline Vol 2’ by Oswald Chambers]

    RSS Feed


    MEDITATE ON THESE THINGS…

    Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
    Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
    Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.
    Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.
    Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
    1 TIMOTHY 4:12-16

    Archives

    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    November 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018


    Archive by Title

    A-Z List of Meditation posts

    Archive by Bible Verse

    Meditation posts in book and verse order

    Authors

    GEORGE and GILL STEWART
    for Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, Kilmartin
    (unless post shows otherwise)

Home

About

Picture
Logo copyright © 2019

Weblog

Contact

  • 'LIVELY STONES' MEDITATIONS
  • 'WRITE THE VISION' MEDITATIONS
  • A-Z ARCHIVE
  • BIBLE VERSE ARCHIVE
  • LINKS
    • AUDIO
    • VIDEO
  • ABOUT CORNERSTONE