Earlier this year, in April, I posted a blog about Passover and what it means (or should mean) to us as Christians. This month I want to look at another holiday our Jewish ancestors in the faith would have celebrated. It is the holiday which begins on the evening of the 25th of Kislev. (This year that date is December 11th.) The holiday I am referring to is Hanukah.
Some of us may have a basic idea of what Hanukah is all about. I remember in third grade I had a Jewish kid in my class who shared with us a little bit about this “festival of lights” and the dreidel games his family played. However, it wasn’t until earlier this year when I was doing some research for my April Newsletter article that I was totally blown away by how significant Hanukah truly is.
In my research I was wondering what other Jewish holidays Jesus would’ve celebrated that we, as Christians, don’t celebrate today. Of course we know from Luke 2:41, Matthew 26:18, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:8, etc. that he celebrated Passover, but did you know that he celebrated Hanukah as well!? In John 10:22 it says, “22Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.” The word Hanukah is derived from the Hebrew verb “to dedicate”. Jesus was at the temple in Jerusalem probably to observe Hanukah as was (and is) the Jewish custom.
According to mainstream Jewish tradition, the story of Hanukah goes something like this. In 167 BC the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who persecuted and forcefully sought to Hellenize the people of Israel. The Syrian King, Antiochus Epiphanes, forbade circumcision and keeping of the Sabbath; he erected a statue of Zeus in the temple; and he sacrificed pigs on the altar and splashed the blood in the Holy of Holies. This was a defilement of both the temple and the people.
These outrages finally incited rebellion and in 165 BC, the Jews, led by Judas Maccabee, revolted and eventually succeeded in evicting the Syrian-Greeks from Israel. The temple in Jerusalem was liberated but needed to be rededicated for Jewish worship and sacrifices once again. The Jews had to have consecrated oil to fuel the menorah in the temple which was required to burn throughout the night every night, but they only had enough for one night. Miraculously it burned for eight days, which was the length of time it took to press, prepare, and consecrate fresh olive oil. An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle.
As a Jew, Jesus probably celebrated Hanukah every 25th of Kislev. Another cool little tidbit is that not only did Jesus celebrate Hanukah; he celebrated it in the exact same temple that had been cleansed and rededicated only a few generations earlier! It was here that many asked if he was the coming Messiah — referring back to the liberation of the earlier Maccabees. During the Hanukah season of remembering miracles, Jesus pointed out that the works that he did attested to his claim to be the long-awaited Messiah of the Jewish people (John 10:22-42).
For believers in Jesus, the festival of lights, or festival of dedication, reminds us that the deliverance we have is through “the Light of the world” (John 8:12). His works and character clearly displayed the true Light of who he was, and these works still shine to us today. Jesus was and forever shall be the greatest Jew who ever lived upon the earth.
Maybe take some time this year to observe Hanukah by remembering the miracles God has done by sending his “Light” into this darkened world, and celebrate Christmas by sharing the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” with someone you know.
Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukah!