Hanukkah
Most translations read “the Feast of Dedication” instead of Hanukkah, and the result is that a great revelation is hidden. Continuing in the passage we see that Yeshua was walking in the Temple, in Solomon’s Colonnade. As an observant Jew, Yeshua celebrated Hanukkah. During my first year teaching high school, I had the incredible opportunity to share the Jewish background of our Messiah with my students. I taught at a Christian school, but most of my students had little to no knowledge of the culture in which Yeshua grew up in. I loved seeing their faith become brighter as they connected intentional statements that Yeshua made about Himself during precise times. Sometime before Hanukkah Yeshua calls Himself the Light of the world. Hanukkah is known as the festival of lights, and Yeshua was very intentional about this title and the timing connected to it. As they learned more it was clear that they would never see the holiday that they only knew as being celebrated by Jewish people, the same way ever again. My time sharing about Hanukkah with my students is perhaps my favorite memory with them throughout my entire time teaching at this particular school. I taught them the Hora, and we danced together. I taught them how to play with dreidels, and the competition was fierce! We enjoyed homemade challah and gelt, and it was just an overall blessing to see the smiles on my high school students’ faces as they participated in a holiday they never imagined they could come to know.
Hanukkah is my favorite holiday. I love everything about it: the season it falls in, the traditions and customs, the food. But the most meaningful aspect of Hanukkah is of course the story behind the holiday and what it means for us as followers of Yeshua, both Jew and Gentile. Though Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday, Gentiles would be blessed to look into- and even celebrate- the holiday the Messiah celebrated. The story of Hanukkah starts with the Maccabees, a small group of bold Israelite men who courageously take on the most powerful world empire at the time. What stirred the Maccabees? Zeal for G-d and the things of G-d. Seeing the House of G-d and the land defiled with sin perpetrated by the Seleucids consumed them with righteous anger and an overwhelming desire to clean and restore that which was once holy and fit for service to the G-d of Israel. The Temple had been ransacked and utterly desecrated, with a pig being slaughtered and placed on the altar. This was no longer a Temple kadosh l’ADONAI (holy unto the L-ORD). The Maccabees’ passion for G-d and His house led them to clean the Temple and rededicate it to ADONAI.
During Hanukkah every follower of Messiah must ask him/herself, Am I kadosh l’ADONAI? Am I holy unto ADONAI? The believer is the Temple of ADONAI. How is my Temple? How is your Temple? Is it fit for service to Him? Is it a holy place? Is it maintained properly? Are unholy things kept out? And whenever anything threaten the House of G-d do we, like the Maccabees, rise up and defend the Name, the House, and the things of ADONAI? May it be so of us, His people. May we be consumed with zeal for Him, His House, His Name, and His Word, that we would courageously rise and defend the honor of our G-d in our society and in our world each day. And during this Feast of Dedication, may our lives be dedicated to ADONAI, that we would be able to serve the Light of the world without compromise and without hindrance.
Happy Hanukkah!