The Feast of Our Lord
2026-05-24
A Sermon on John 7:37 for Pentecost Day (A)
TRANSCRIBED BY TURBOSCRIBE.AI: The Feast of the LORD Rev. Jonah Laws Faith Lutheran Church Date: 5/24/2026 Hear again the Word of the Lord: “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.’” (John 7:37 ESV) In the name of Jesus. Amen. A holiday is more than just an excuse to take a long weekend trip, have a barbecue, or buy a recliner on sale. A holiday is a day off, or a day of increased pay, for the purpose of remembering. Holidays are established to commemorate, to remember, a person, an event, or a concept. Tomorrow, for Memorial Day, we Americans will commemorate and remember the fallen warriors of our nation, those who gave their lives in the line of duty. Since our nation’s Civil War, localities and states established days of commemoration to remember fallen soldiers, and in the twentieth century our government brought all of those holidays together under the umbrella of Memorial Day. We celebrate it the last Monday in May every year. Now, in Old Testament times, God likewise established holy days for Israel. These days were days to rest from labor and to commemorate His great works. These days were set aside to guarantee that the great works of God were taught to each successive generation and were not forgotten. The Sabbath Day nicely demonstrates this. Each week, from twilight on Friday to twilight on Saturday, the people of Israel retired to their homes to share a meal and remember God’s great works of creation and redemption. Throughout the year, however, there were other holy days set, not only to tell people what had happened, but also what would take place. Like all of the Old Testament, these feast days of the Lord prepared the way of the Lord. They proclaimed His mighty works and pointed forward to Jesus and what He would do for us. Our readings this morning focus on two of these feasts. The obvious one is the Feast of Pentecost. We heard that in our reading from Acts. That is the day we celebrate today, the fiftieth day. But our Gospel lesson today proclaims to us Jesus as the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles as well. So today, dear Christians, let us celebrate the Lord’s holy day, rejoicing and thanking God for: THE FEAST OF OUR LORD. We begin with the Feast of Passover. To understand any of the Old Testament feasts, we have to start with Passover, because it is the first feast in the Israelite calendar. On the fourteenth of Nisan, which was the first month of the Israelite calendar, Israel killed and ate the Lord’s Passover lamb (see Exodus 12). The LORD went through Egypt, killing the firstborn sons of the Egyptians who did not believe. This is the beginning of Israel. This is when God calls them out of darkness and into His marvelous light. This is where He redeems them. This day was set apart as a feast celebrating God’s work of redemption. The mighty Warrior-King had stepped forth to vanquish the hardhearted enemies of His people, and He saved them from their captivity in Egypt. Fifty days later in the calendar is the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost. This is the Feast of Weeks. Fifty days after Passover, Israel celebrated a harvest festival. You might say, “That is kind of an odd connection. Why would you have a harvest festival right after a festival of redemption?” Well, it is because it follows the history of Israel. After the Lord had saved Israel out of Egypt, He brought them through the Red Sea and He brought them to Mount Sinai. There at His holy mountain, He gave them the Law. Do you want to know what day that was? Fifty days after the fourteenth of Nisan.
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