Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand — the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), one of the three great pilgrimage festivals, commemorates Israel's wilderness wandering and God's protective presence in the tabernacle. John's deliberate mention of 'the Jews'' feast' marks the festival as belonging to the opposition; it will become the setting for Jesus to present himself as the true locus of God's presence and the true 'living water' of which the feast's rituals spoke. The feast's focus on water (daily water-drawing ceremonies) and light (temple illumination) will frame Jesus's self-revelation in chapters 7-8.

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