Hannukah and Jesus
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is celebrated for eight days, commencing on the 25th day of the month of Kislev (November/December), to commemorate the victory of the Jews over the Syrian Empire in 165 BCE.Following their victory, the Maccabees, sons of the Priestly Hasmonean family which led the Jews in their revolt against the Syrian overlords, entered the Holy Temple in Jerusalem defiled by the Syrian invaders, cleansed it and dedicated it anew to the service of God. Then, in memory of their victory, the Maccabees celebrated the first Hanukkah. (Hanukkah is the Hebrew term for “the dedication”).The Talmud, the body of Jewish oral law, relates how the Jewish heroes, led by Judah Maccabee, were making ready to rededicate the Temple and were unable to find enough undefiled oil to light the lamps. However, in one of the Temple chambers, they finally came upon a small cruse of oil which, under normal circumstances, would have lasted only one evening. Miraculously, this small amount of oil kept the Temple lights burning, not for one night, but for all the eight nights until new oil fit for use in the temple could be obtained. This is the miracle commemorated by the kindling of the Hanukkah lights.
These events set the stage for the world that Jesus knew. The era of the Hasmonean revolt and the new Jewish monarchy which it created polarized the Jews in that time, and lighted their imagination. The Hasmonean dynasty was destroyed by King Herod, who ruled at the time of Jesus’ birth. He grew up at a time when this liberating dynasty has only just recently passed from the scope of history and many people remembered the former kings who had vanmighty empire to free the Jews. And this explains why the hopes were so high at the time of Jesus for another such annointed leader, a Messiah.
With Hanukkah, we have, in a sense, the birth of Jesus before his birth - that event which set the stage for every thing that he knew and for the reaction of many people to his ministry.
