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The life of Christ

At the Feast of Tabernacles: “I am the light of the world”

AD 32Ussher date

John 7:1–10:21

Jesus went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles and taught openly in the temple. On the last day he cried out that anyone thirsty should come to him and drink, and he declared himself the light of the world.

Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12 (World English Bible)
TEMPLESolomon's porchAntonia fortressPools of BethesdaPool of SiloamHerod's palace(likely the Praetorium)Golgothaand the tomb(traditional site)Garden Tomb (alternative site)Upper Room (traditional)Caiaphas's house?GethsemaneMOUNT OFOLIVESto Bethany, 2 milesKidron ValleyHinnom ValleyUPPER CITYCITY OFDAVID200 mWalls as in Jesus' day (the third, northern wall came later). Positions approximate; many sites debated.North ↑
Jerusalem in Jesus' day, with the places of Holy Week. Many sites are traditional or debated.

The feast was celebrated with water poured at the altar and great lamps lit in the temple courts, so his words fit the setting exactly. The crowds were divided and officers sent to arrest him came back saying no one had ever spoken like him (John 7:46). Soon afterward he gave sight to a man born blind, and called himself the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (John 9–10).

Places

JerusalemGalileeJudeaMount of OlivesSiloam

Dating notes

Ussher: the autumn of AD 32. The feast fell in the Jewish month of Tishri (September or October).

Open on the timelineRead John 7:1–10:21