What is life like without Christ?
The people prepared for the great celebration. It came once a year and would last eight days. Everyone who could attend would. It would be a magnificent event.
The disciples were eager to begin their travel from Galilee to Judea for the upcoming Feast of the Tabernacles. It was a trip of over 70 miles and would take three days. They assumed that Jesus would join them on their long trip to Judea. But as they were leaving, Jesus told them:
“You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” (John 7:8)
His friends went to the Feast without him to take part in the week-long gala. They sang and danced, ate fresh fruits and unleavened bread from grains of the harvest, drank wine, and exchanged gifts. For many, this was the greatest season of all.
Then, a few days later, Jesus appeared. He had made the three-day trip alone as the Feast proceeded in grand merriment. He wanted to tell the people what they were forgetting in their celebration. He wanted to tell them about God.
After Jesus had finished with his teaching, the authorities schemed to have Jesus arrested. Some even attempted to kill him. They could not believe that a prophet could come from the woeful town of Nazareth and it was inconceivable that this man was the Messiah. He must be a deceiver and a fraud, they insisted. When they interrogated Jesus, he said:
“I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” (John 7:33-34)
His tormentors were puzzled. Certainly they had the resources to apprehend anyone under their regime. But their earthly dominion was not what Jesus was envisioning. When the time came, Jesus was going to the one who had sent him; he was going to God. And the unbelievers would not come.
In rejecting Jesus Christ, they rejected the one true way to God. They could have their expansive feasts and their grandiose festivals, their lavish parties and their extravagant gifts – for a time. But they would not have God. In living a life without Christ, they would not come to know the truth of eternal life that Jesus promises to his followers.
Because life without Christ is emptiness, existence devoid of meaning. And it always ends the same way: in death. No time left and no way out.