“At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area, in the portico of Solomon.”
John 10:22-23 (NASB)
The Feast of Dedication, is also known as the Feast of Lights, most commonly known as Hanukkah.
This year the first day of Hanukkah began at sundown on Christmas Day. This winter holiday has been celebrated by Jewish people for centuries. Tonite the seventh candle will be lit on menorahs around the world.
Today’s scripture is rarely a part of any church sermons, but it gives us an unusual image of Jesus walking by Himself in the Jewish temple during the festival of Hanukkah.
After reading this, I wondered what Jesus was thinking about, as He walked in solitude, through the temple that day. Maybe He remembered the many Hanukkah festivals that He used to celebrate with family and friends, growing up in Nazareth.
Hanukkah began in 167 B.C. in the ancient city of Modi-in, Israel, with a Jewish priest, named Mattathias.
He was the first one to spark the resistance to an oppressive tyrant ruler, who prohibited Jewish worship and desecrated their temple. Years later, the priest’s five sons, John, Simon, Judah, Eliezer, and Jonathan, known as the Macabees, won the resistance, recaptured Jerusalem, and cleansed the temple, preparing it for worship again.
In order to celebrate the people’s freedom to worship, the Macabee brothers planned to light the temple lamps, but according to Mosaic law, only a special, purest quality of oil could be used for lighting those lamps. They had enough oil for only one day, but the oil miraculously lasted eight days, which is why Menorahs are lit for eight days every Hanukkah. The middle 9th candle, is used to light the other 8.
The miracle of lights happened in the winter, during the darkest time of the year. Something about this holiday was special to Jesus, since He was very contemplative as He walked in the temple that day. Maybe He was thinking about spiritual darkness and suffering of people, and the world’s need for His Father’s divine light to pierce the darkness.
Since Jesus observed Hanukkah, even Christians can learn something from the Hanukkah story. He talked about lamp lighting in His sermons and parables, where He warns us not to hide our lamps or become too spiritually drowsy and run low on oil. In those days, a lamp required oil to stay lit, and in scripture, oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew’s gospel is the only one that contains the parable of the ten virgins- five wise, who had oil for their lamps and five foolish, who fell asleep and didn’t. (Matthew 25:1-13)
Through these parables, Jesus tells us to stay alert through prayer, so that our light can shine in the dark places of this world, instead of being hidden under a bushel.
(Matthew 5:15)
The Menorah represents the power of light to pierce the spiritual darkness in the world. Jesus is still present in the world through His church, since His light is in us and shines through us. He is like that 9th center candle on the Menorah, that lights all the others.
Maybe He was thinking about the Hanukkah story when He told His followers that He is the light of the world, and whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness. Then He went even further, saying that we are also the light of the world. (Matthew 5:14)
Sometimes the circumstances in our lives make it hard to focus on oil, lamps or shining our light. As Jesus walked in the temple on that Feast of Lights holiday, what if He was praying for us, and generations of believers yet to come? Maybe He prayed that we would look to Him for strength, and keep oil in our lamps, as we face life’s many challenges and trials.
The essence of the Macabees story is to stand firm on the truth of what we believe and who we believe in, knowing God is the source of our strength. As we cling to Jesus, He fills our lamps with oil, one day at a time. He did it for the Macabees and He will do it for us. We are all living Menorahs, with God’s light within us, which pierces through every kind of wintery darkness.
Lord, help us to shine as living Menorahs throughout this new year, piercing the darkness wherever you have placed us, as we continue drawing our strength from you. Amen
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL YOU LIVING MENORAHS