The Festival of Light
Please read
John 1:1-9
John 10:22
Exodus 25:31-40
Lev 24:4
The fuel for the Menorah was the purest of olive oil, which was also used to anoint kings and priests. The prophet Zechariah’s vision of a menorah flanked by two olive branches, which provided oil for the lighting of the seven lamps
The seven-branch Menorah was lit by the High Priest every morning and evening, first in the Tabernacle and then in the House of God, the holy Temple in Jerusalem. The perpetually burning flames reflected the light of the Presence of the God of Israel and of His Word. Throughout history, great nations have sought to overcome and even extinguish this light along with the Covenant people of God.
Circa 175 B.C., the mighty Greco-Syrian army, under the leadership of Antiochus IV, was in control of Judea. By 168 B.C. the Holy Temple was desecrated, the worship of Israel’s God was forbidden by law and the values and lifestyle of Hellenism enforced – on pain of death. Many Jews willingly embraced the Hellenistic way of life and assimilated as thoroughly as possible, which expedited their acceptance and ability to function successfully within the new system. There were many God-fearing Jews, however, who chose to remain faithful to the ways of the Hebrew Scriptures and readily gave their lives rather than submit to the yoke of man-exalting Hellenism.
One small family, an elderly priests, Mattitiyahu (a son of the High Priest, Johnathan) and his grown sons lived in the village far from Jerusalem. They stood firm in the face of the tyranny and refused to bow down. More and more faithful Jews rallied around them, until the tiny rag-tag band, who became known as the Maccabees (meaning hammers), challenged the might of the Greco-Syrian army. They used guerilla tactics and their intimate knowledge of the terrain was a great benefit. Their main strength, however, was the awareness of God’s presence with them.
Although it is not the primary focus, the political/historical reality celebrated at Hanukkah is the fact that the Maccabees defeated their foe, an army vastly superior in might, numbers, training, and equipment. (The story is well recorded in the First Book of Maccabees, in the Apocrypha.) After 400 years of repression and persecution, the fact that the Judean state thus created was able to exist in relative independence for another 200 years, while confronting a hostile world on equal terms, was a miracle in itself.
Rabbinic literature almost totally ignores the military triumph of the Maccabees and emphasizes instead the miracle of the Temple menorah. After their victory, one of the first things the Maccabees did, as they started to reclaim and restore their land from the enemy, was to cleanse and rededicate the Temple in Jerusalem.
The sign of dedication, and the symbol of God’s Presence in His House, was the lighting of the golden, seven-branched Menorah in the Holy Place. They had found only one flask of uncontaminated oil fit for use in the lighting – enough for one day. It would take another week for the preparation, according to biblical standards, of more pure olive oil. So eager were they to restore the light to the Temple that they decided in faith to use what they had. What joy arose as the blessings were sung, and one by one the seven lights were lit and their radiance grew to bear shining witness to the presence of the Creator of light in their midst.
They had done all in their power to restore His light to the darkened Temple. Now the Eternal, the source of all light, intervened and the flames of the Menorah kept burning day after day, for the next seven days, until the fresh store of oil was prepared. Thus, in 164 BC, at the rededication of the Temple, the festival of Hanukkah was inaugurated, and the nine-branched menorah is lit to commemorate the victory of light over darkness, and the miracle of the oil that kept burning for eight days.
What size Messiah do you want: large or small? The answer to this question underlies the incident above. The season and location mentioned are pregnant with meaning.
Those were dark days for Judah. Herod, an Edomite convert to Judaism, ruled as a usurper to the throne. Outwardly he professed adherence to the God of Israel, yet, in the Hellenistic cities he had built, he erected heathen temples containing statues of the emperor. Herod "surrounded himself by foreign mercenaries, and reared fortresses around his palace and the Temple which he built....he placed over the great gate of the Temple of Jerusalem a massive golden eagle, the symbol of Roman dominion.... Pilate sought to introduce into Jerusalem images of the emperor...." What a contrast with the glorious days of the Maccabees! How tragic! Once again a program of hellenization and pagan influence was being carried out in Israel, but this time lead by King Herod!
Do you see why the question of John 10:22 is pregnant with meaning? The people were hoping for the Messiah, conceived as another Judah Maccabee, who would be raised up to vanquish the heathen occupation forces. The Temple, lit up, as was the whole city, in commemoration of that earlier victory, made them very conscious of the Roman presence in Jerusalem. How the people longed for another military hero to lead them in a revolt to throw off the shackles of the oppressor!
The Messiah they hoped for was too small. The real Messiah was not, so to speak, the Messiah of Hanukkah, a deliverer bringing temporal victory, but rather the Messiah of Christmas, the timeless God incarnate, bringing a greater and eternal deliverance.
Is your Messiah too small? The Judeans of that day stumbled because they had not heeded the scriptures. They had forgotten the messianic promise which stated: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." (Isaiah 49:6). They were hoping for a messiah just for them, a messiah who would bring political restoration and national security. When such a "messiah" came upon the scene later, in the person of Bar Kochba, they followed him in revolt and suffered a great defeat.
Is your Messiah big enough to deliver from the greatest oppression of all? Do you look to him for your eternal destiny? Jesus isn't a temporary fix for coping with life's hardships. He is the Eternal Savior who gives us the ultimate victory. He defeats sin, raises the dead and gives an eternal inheritance. In this life we all face death and tragedy, but the eternity we will spend with God outshines whatever we suffer. No matter what sin you struggle with, no matter what suffering you face, Jesus is the ultimate deliverer. Is your Messiah really that big?
Hanukkah is a festival of light. Isaiah said: "...in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles....The people walking in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the shadow of death a light has dawned. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government there will be no end." The nation would be enlarged and go forth in triumph, but not as a merely temporal political victory. Messiah would bring an eternal kingdom which would increase without end. The true light would come into the darkness. It would be a light no one could extinguish. (Isaiah 9:1-7.) Jesus is that promised light of the world.
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