The only mention in the Bible of Hanukkah is in John 10:22-23. Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the Temple in Solomon’s porch.” It doesn’t say Hanukkah but that was the real name of this festival. Jews celebrate this great festival today with gifts and gathering with friends.
This seemingly unimportant event had great meaning in the days of the Messiah. But why does it impact Christians today? What is this festival all about?
Without searching the net I will make it easy for you. During the inter-Testamental period…that is the time between the Old and New Testaments, the Greeks had taken over Jerusalem as part of their conquered territories. They viewed the Temple as a place to worship their deities and the infamous general, Antiochus Epiphanies had even sacrificed a pig on the altar. Of course this was a supreme offense to the Jews. There was an uprising among the Jews and they waged a successful war against these pagans. The Jews had to purify the Temple menorahs (candlesticks that used oil). The menorahs used in the Temple had eight branches……the middle branch called the “servant” light which was used to light the others one day at a time. The miracle of the story is how the oil in the lamps didn’t run out. Can you see the symbolism of Jesus as being the “servant” branch that would light the world?
At the opening of Matthew we find that Romans now had come as conquerors. However, they allowed the Jews to continue to maintain their religious festivals in the temple as long as they didn’t provoke uprisings against the authorities. The Jewish people wanted Jesus to be the Messiah that would raise an army and defeat the hated Romans just as the Jews had done before to the Greeks. Jesus didn’t come for that purpose.
During the festival of Hanukkah that year, Jesus was teaching in Jerusalem in the outskirts of the Temple proper. He always attended every feast and this was no exception. He took every opportunity to teach how the commandments of God impacted their lives. He told the crowds about the teachings of the prophets and how the story of Hanukkah related to himself.
While reading the Gospels we miss so much of the Messiah’s teachings because we simply don’t know the stories behind His words. But it was during the festival of Hanukkah that He spoke some of his most memorable teachings.
During this festival the great Temple was lit with four huge giant menorahs….the blazing light could be seen throughout all Jerusalem. How appropriate that Jesus chose this time to tell his followers…”I am the light of the world. He that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Although the sayings of Jesus don’t seem to follow in the order we expect, these words are true. We moderns, expect everything to be written in the context of the passage given but early writers often wrote his teachings as they remembered them. Therefore the teaching of John 8…..comes before the mention of the Feast in John 10. Be assured that Jesus used every opportunity to teach a lesson about His authority.
Jesus, our Messiah, like the great lights of the menorah, sends His Spirit to ignite us so that we can shine His light in a dark world. The Hanukkah’s story of a lasting light is predicted in Isaiah 49:6…..it is from the Jews that the light will come. “I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus becomes that light that shines through our dark world. His light does indeed bring the light of life into the darkness of men’s souls.
AbideLines 