Happy Hanukkah!

 

Hanukkah begins this evening at sundown.  This "Festival of Lights" will be celebrated for eight days.  The celebration of this season is not commanded by God through Moses.  It is the result of a much later event in Jewish history, the triumph of the few and the weak over the many and the strong.  In particular, the season commemorates the victory of God through the Maccabees over the forces of Antiochus Epiphanes.

Under the leadership of Judas (the Hammer), the Temple was reclaimed and purified.  An even smaller miracle occurred when the lone cruse of oil lasted the entire eight nights of the Feast of Dedication.  Since that glorious time, the focus of worship is around the successive lighting of candles for eight evenings.

In John 10:22-39, Jesus is in Jerusalem during the Feast of Dedication.  He is questioned vigorously by the authorities while in Solomon's courts.  They demand of Him a straight answer as to His identity.  He declares that His works (miracles) testify plainly. 

On this night and subsequent evenings, let us ponder the miracles wrought by God across the centuries.  God continues His defense of the few, the weak and the pure in Jesus.