Jesus Christ - a most Holy Heretic

*Of course, not all of Jesus' calls to religious reform were so blatant. Indeed, there were a few
more subtle references to the mandates of the Sukkot celebration that he offered during his ministry as
well. Where the Law demanded homage to the then-respected traditions of the Temple's priests & elders
to fulfill Sukkot's primary purpose (that being: gratefulness to God for the guidance he had given the Jews
during their Exodus from Egypt, and the freedom he had ultimately granted them thereby), Jesus spoke up at the
conclusion of that very festival and said otherwise – unquestionably claiming that his teachings, if
emulated, would provide the same liberation that Sukkot was intended to celebrate (see “If you continue in
my word, you will truly be my disciples. And you will thereby know the Truth, and that Truth will set you free” via John
8:31-32) … In addition, where the Law demanded that celebrants live in self-made booths for the duration
of the Sukkot week (see Leviticus 23:42-43 & Mishnah Sukkah 1:1-11), Jesus had made it quite clear that the
true follower of his Way was essentially a homeless servant of his or her community; that “the Son of
Man 150 has nowhere to lay his head” (see Matthew 8:20 & Luke 9:58) … Finally, perhaps the most subtle
reference of all unites the foundation of Jesus' ministry (which was essentially spiritual rebirth via willing
self-sacrifice – see John 3:3-9, John 13:15-17, & Matthew 24:12-14 et al) with the foundation of the Sukkot
celebration (which was essentially the rebirth of Judaism via the Jews' God-guided Exodus from Egypt)
alongside the intriguing fact that Jesus was in all probability born during Sukkot itself. 151
150 NOTE that it would be most hypocritical of the humility-adoring Jesus (see Matthew 18:3-4 & Matthew 23:12) to
repeatedly refer to himself in the 3 rd person as “the Son of Man.” And indeed, with but a few exceptions, he more often
than not refuses to do so (see Matthew 12:8, Matthew 13:37-43, Matthew 18:11, Matthew 20:28, & Matthew 24:30 et al) –
using the phrase instead as it was primarily used in the Old Testament: as a reference to humanity in general (or at least
the internal, enlivening essence thereof – see Numbers 23:19, Psalm 8:4, Psalm 53:2, Micah 5:7, Ezekiel 2:3 et al).
Indeed, in most telling fashion, the only place in the Hebrew Bible where “the Son of Man” does refer to the lone Davidian
Messiah (see Daniel 7:13-14), that messianic figure is shown willingly receiving exactly the same gifts of power &
reverence that Jesus himself rejects after being offered them by Satan (see Matthew 4:1-10 & Luke 4:1-11).
151 The evidence for this postulation is multiple & varied – First: simply counting back 33.5 years (see Numbers 4:3 +
Matthew 3:15, along with Luke 3:23, John 2, John 6, & John 13 et al) from the conclusion of Jesus' ministry (which
ended on his Passover crucifixion) has his birth occurring during Sukkot … Second: John the Baptist was conceived
shortly after Abia (see Luke 1:5 + 1 Chronicles 24:10 + Luke 1:23-24 & Matthew 17:10-13) and therefore born around
Passover. Jesus was conceived 6 months after John (see Luke 1:24-36) and was therefore also born 6 months after John's
birth – or 6 months after Passover; during Sukkot … Interestingly, if Jesus was indeed circumcised on the “eighth day”
after his birth and if he happened to have been born on the first day of Sukkot, then his circumcision would have fallen
on the Shemini Atzeret – the day of sacred assembly when the Jews completed and restarted their annual full reading of
the Torah (see Leviticus 23:39). As such, the 8 th day of Sukkot – the possible day of Jesus' circumcision (and therefore
also his officially cultural “birthday” as a Jew) – was essentially the annual fulfillment of the Torah; something Jesus
announced as essentially being the primary purpose of his ministry in Matthew 5:17-18.
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