Chanukah: How to respond in a world of Christian dominance
The conversation comes up way too often. Someone says, “Merry Christmas.” I reply, “Happy Chanukah.”
They say, “I thought you were a Christian. Christians don’t celebrate Chanukah.” I reply, “Jesus celebrated the Jewish festival of Chanukah! Often when I celebrate the Festival of Lights I think of how Jesus honored the festival.” They reply, “Jesus did not celebrate the festival. It was not even around then.” [Although I think they would rather say, “Why would Jesus do that, He wasn’t even Jewish.” But most know better or have enough doubt that they don’t want my answer on that one.]
The fact is, Jesus did celebrate Chanukah. The New Testament tells us in John 10:22: “Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter.” This Jewish celebration honors the cleansing and restoration of Temple sacrifices on what is now the first day of Chanukah. Every year the Jewish people light the Menorah to remember the miracle that occurred after Judah Maccabeus rekindled the lamp in the Holy Place without a proper quantity of purified oil. A twenty-four hour supply of dedicated olive oil kept the flames of the temple’s candelabra burning for eight days.
The Feast of Chanukah
The Festival of Dedication was a time Jewish people stopped to thank God for restoring the Temple from the desecration of Antiochus Epiphanes. This Seleucid ruler ruined the purity of Israel’s altar of sacrifice by slaughtering a pig and smearing its blood throughout the Temple. These events are recorded in the New Testament where Jesus warns his disciples. “When you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel (9:27; 12:11) —let the reader understand…’” (Mt 24:15; Mk 13:14) The Abomination took place on the 25th day of Kislev (Jewish month), and Judas Maccabeus restored worship and dedicated the Temple with its altar on Kislev 25 three years later, creating the festival of Chanukah. (The story is in our book Advent Journeys)
Forgetting What Matters
The problem which allowed the desecration of the Temple was not a mighty army entering Israel, but rather a people who blended with society. At first the people sought to dress and decorate their homes like Greeks (vases and colonnades, then the little figurines or idols). Then they blended more, with music and cultural habits. This extended to the family of the High Priest. The High Priest’s brother took a Greek name and then he took his brother’s office by deceit and bribery. The cultural shift opened the door for a tyrant to enter and take over.
How Chanukah Started
Matthias (father of the Maccabees) was sickened by the cultural shift. He saw the things happening in Jerusalem and moved from the city to the country. Then, when he and his village were forced to bow down to an idol, he took his stand and refused to submit himself to the humiliation, to the soldiers or to the culture. A battle erupted, which the Jews won. Then worship was restored and the Jews were able to dedicate the Temple.
To remember the dedication, the Jewish people light a candelabrum called a menorah each night for eight nights (beginning tonight … Christmas Eve coincides with the first day of Chanukah this year). Jesus would encourage us, “let your light shine!” Take time to learn more about the Feast of Dedication this year in order to understand the real life that Jesus lived.