Jesus and the symbolic fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles

¶ … Jesus fulfill symbolism underly

Jesus fulfills the symbolism apparent in the Feast of Tabernacles in many different ways, although most of these ways are related to one another. During this feast, Jesus was able to feed 500 people (who had gathered for the upcoming Passover feast) while only utilizing the substance of two fish and five relatively diminutive loaves of bread. There is important symbolism in this fact, which is related to nourishment. In a literal sense, Jesus was able to feed the bodies of this great number of people. In a figurative sense, however, he was providing spiritual nourishment, since he was the son of Christ (a fact which would soon become apparent after his ensuing crucifixion and resurrection) (Musser, 2013). Thus, this action symbolizes the fact that believing in and following Christ will lead to spiritual fulfillment.

Jesus was able to fulfill this symbolism by providing spiritual nourishment and the "Bread of Life" (chapter 7 p. 58) for the subsequent followers of Christianity by essentially dying on the cross to atone for the sins of the world. Jesus' physical death was followed by his resurrection, which implies that those who believe in Jesus can also overcome death and live eternally in the afterlife if they choose to follow Jesus and God. In such a way, then, Jesus provided spiritual nourishment for people by giving them an alternative to the other corrupt religions that were prevalent during the time in which he lived (some of which are still existent).

Additionally, it is worth noting that Jesus was able to provide spiritual nourishment to people by disseminating many of his teachings to his apostles. These twelve men who followed Jesus were also able to play a crucial role in propagation g his methodologies and his ways. Many of these men did so by writing books in the bible. Still others of them conducted Evangelism in the name of Jesus. Therefore, in such an indirect way Jesus was able to reach others, and provide spiritual nourishment for them. The evangelism of the apostles and their impact upon the creation of the religion of Christianity (Jamerson, 2005) is another way in which Jesus was able to fulfill the symbolism found in the Feast of Tabernacles.

There are other aspects of Jesus' fulfilling the symbolism in the aforementioned feast that are more directly related to his passion. When Jesus performed the feast discussed within this document, his following was still growing. As such, he was not commonly known as the son of God. However, in the time leading up to his crucifixion, he would increasingly perform miracles and do miraculous deeds which would give credence to the claim that he was God's son in a literal sense, whereas other people who believed in him and in God (thereby attaining spiritual nourishment from him), were God's sons figuratively speaking. This concept is elucidated by Leon Morris in the following quotation. "That Jesus Christ is God's monogenes means that he is "Son of God" in a unique way. Others may be called "sons of God" but they are not "sons" in the same sense" (p. 92).