Stoned-Campbell Disciple

Today is the 25th day of the month known as Kislev in the Jewish calendar. That means today is the first day of Hanukkah . . . the Festival of Lights. This is a wonderful time of the year that has deep meaning for all the descendants of Abraham. It is a shame that many modern, conservative Christians are not as familiar with this holiday, but we should be.

As the student of the Gospel of John knows, the Jewish festivals form an integral part of the story the Evangelist tells about Jesus. In 10.22ff we read about one of those festivals that is missed by those unfamiliar with the Apocrypha: Hanukkah. This short study will attempt three things at once: 1) emphasize the Jewishness of Jesus; 2) help us understand our Jewish “brethren” better; 3) show how the author of John used a “non-biblical” feast to teach about the nature of the Son. I will give a short overview of what Hanukkah is about and then look at John 10.

The “History” of Hanukkah

Hanukkah is observed for eight days, beginning on the 25th of the Hebrew month Kislev which usually falls in December. Hanukkah means “feast of dedication” (cf. John 10.22) and commemorates the victory of a small band of devotees of Yahweh against overwhelming odds in the person of Antiochus Ephiphanes in 165 B.C. Antiochus had tried to impose paganism upon Palestinian Jews, many of whom were happy to comply. The High Priest Joshua (i.e. “Jesus”) changed his name to “Jason” to show his assimilation into the pagan Greek culture. Antiochus imposed a number of restrictions on the People of God. He placed a pagan altar in the Temple of God for the worship of Zeus and offered swine upon it (the “abomination of desolation”). The Jews were forbidden the mark of the covenant – circumcision. The penalty for violating this law was death for the surgeon, the mother and the child. The Torah was banned and burned in large numbers. Young men were forced to have their circumcision “reversed” through a painful procedure and participate in the Greek gymnasium (which was done in the nude). The very survival of Judaism was at stake in this crises.

A small band led by an old priest by the name of Mattathias and his five sons revolted. Their struggle lasted three years and culminated on the 25th day of Kislev with the recapture and dedication of the Temple. The Jews cleansed and purified the defiled temple. The celebration culminated in the relighting of the menorah for eight days as was supposed to have been done in Solomon’s day. That is why the festival is celebrated for “eight” days. The festival has even been called “the Sukkot of the month of Kislev” (2 Maccabees 1.9; 10.6-8). It is appropriate here to quote from the writings themselves on how this wonderful event transpired:

“Then Judas and his brothers said, “See, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.” So all the army assembled and went up to Mount Zion. There they saw the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, and the gates burned. In the courts they saw bushes sprung up as in a thicket, or as on one of the mountains. They saw also the chambers of the priests in ruins. Then they tore their clothes and mourned with great lamentation; they sprinkled themselves with ashes and fell face down on the ground. And when the signal was given with the trumpets, they cried out to Heaven. Then Judas detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary.” (1 Maccabees 4.36-41)

Later in the same chapter we read:

“Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-eighth year, they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering that they had built. At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed Heaven, who had prospered them. So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and joyfully offered burnt offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well-being and a thanksgiving offering. They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests, and fitted them with doors. There was very great joy among the people, and the disgrace brought by the Gentiles was removed. Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.” (1 Maccabees 4.52-59).

The Rabbis explained where the tradition of the eight days and the menorah comes from. The Talmud states:

“What is Hanukkah? Our rabbis stated: ‘Commencing on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev, there are eight days during with mourning and fasting are forbidden. When the Greeks entered the Temple, they defiled all the oils therein, and when the Hasmonean dynasty prevailed against them and defeated them, they made search and found only one cruse of oil, sufficient for but one day’s lighting, which lay with the seal of the High Priest. Yet a miracle was wrought therein and with it they lit the lamp therewith for eight days. The following year these days were appointed a Festival with the recital of Hallel and thanksgiving.’” (Babylonian Talmud, Shab. 21b).

Through the years Hanukkah has celebrated the faith of a few in the power of God to work wonders through powerless and weak. Thus the Festival celebrates God’s yeshua (“salvation” . . . also the name of “Jesus”). This faith was not only on the part of men but of the incredible sacrifice of women. This is especially evident in the book of Second Maccabees which relates the story of Hannah, a Jewish mother. I must summarize this great story.

The king tried to force Hannah, and her seven sons, to transgress the Torah and forfeit her faith in Yahweh. Rather than transgress (by eating pig meat). Rather than cave in she exhorted her sons to endure through gruesome torture and death. All seven sons died as Hannah watched and finally she herself was killed by the king. But as Hannah put it she gave her sons and her own life in “sanctification of God’s name” (2 Macc. 7.1-41).

The authors of the books of Maccabees believe that Mattathias, his sons, Hannah and her sons, could never have “witnessed” without the “hidden miracle” of God. God was present, God was active, it was who God delivered. For God is the God of the Covenant of Love. Thus during the celebration of Hanukkah, a Jew has often read the story of Judith and meditated on the passage in Zechariah . . . “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit [shall you prevail], says the Lord of hosts” (4.6). Not a bad passage to associate with the Festival of Lights.

There are other traditions associated with the Festival like the dreidel but detailing them all will make this “short” summary . . . way to long.

If you want to delve further in First Maccabees see my article: Book of First Maccabees, God’s Family of Deliverance

Since most Christians in the Churches of Christ often have little knowledge of the Feast of Lights or where it came from the above summary was necessary background for this part of my blog. This festival, though it has no “authority” as such in the Hebrew Bible, it was important not only in the life of Jesus but also to the apostle John as he tells his story in the Gospel of John. John explicitly roots the encounter of Jesus with some Jewish leaders against the background of Hanukkah in 10.22-39. He even notes it was “winter.”

As G. R. Beasley-Murray writes, “In the festival that celebrated the deliverance of Israel from a destroyer of true religion and the consecration of the temple for true worship, Jesus affirmed that God had consecrated him as the true Redeemer, whose deliverance issues in the kingdom of God and with it the worship of God under the new covenant.” Indeed, Jesus is the “fulfillment of the Festival of Dedication.” (Word Biblical Themes: John, pp. 84-85).

Commentators of such stature as B.F. Westcott, F.F. Bruce and Leon Morris say much the same thing. Jesus is not only observing the feast but fulfills its meaning in his life (in John’s argument).

Against the backdrop of a burning menorah, the illuminated testimony to the “miracles” or “signs” of God’s “salvation” of Israel, John tells us the living Yeshua was standing in front of the Jewish leaders . . . who did not “believe” his “miracles” (John 10.38). God is continuing to deliver his people. Not simply through the Maccabees but through the Son. Jesus is truly the “light of the world.” He is God’s shining “menorah.”

The only person who casts a different perspective on this text is, almost predictably, one of “our own.” B. W. Johnson in both his “People’s New Testament” and his “Commentary on John” (p. 164) says “Nay!” Johnson’s argument is surely not rooted in the Greek text of John rather it seems to be rooted in a prior assumption — Jesus would not observe a festival that “lacked biblical authority.” He writes, “The feast of Dedication was not one of the divinely appointed festivals, and there is nothing in the Savior’s ministry to create the idea that he would observe it . . .”

 

Westcott clearly blows that perspective out of the water. John wants to link what Jesus says with the Festival — purposefully. Anyway Johnson demonstrates what a prior commitment to an assumption can do to a rather obvious intention in the text — blind it. Jesus is a Jew and he thought giving God the credit for the deliverance through the Maccabees was a good thing. He did not have a problem endorsing this tradition just as he did not have one with the synagogue. And the Apostle thought it provided a “brilliant” opportunity to say something deep about who Jesus is and what he has done.

 

John 10 is a gem of a text that allows us to deal with many things at once. And since Hanukkah is being observed this time of year it also creates a sense of understanding of our Jewish roots — that are all too often buried and forgotten.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
Milwaukee, WI