Did you know that Hanukkah is mentioned in the Bible? In fact, did you know that Jesus celebrated Hanukkah? He was in Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication-whose other title is Hanukkah.

What was Hanukkah-the Feast of Dedication? More than 100 years before Jesus was born, the wicked king Antiochus Epiphanes had defiled the temple and left it empty. For three and a half years, Antiochus prevented the Jews from offering sacrifices. But then arose the great family of the Maccabees, and the Jewish hero Judas Macccabaeus defeated Antiochus's armies and liberated Judea. Judas was truly a great military leader. He defeated an army of six thousand with an ill-equipped army of three thousand. When the Syrians responded with an army of 60,000, Judas routed them with only 10,000 men, crying out to the "Savior of Israel, who crushed the attack of the mighty warrior by the hand of your servant David." (1 Maccabees 4:30) And on the 25th day of the 9th month (which is around the 25th of December on our calendar), Judas purified and rededicated the temple. Since they had missed the Feast of Tabernacles by two months, Judas Maccabaeus called for an eight-day feast to celebrate the restoration of the temple. As the apocryphal book os 2 Maccabees puts it, "They celebrated it for eight days with rejoicing, in the manner of the festival of booths, remembering how not long before, during the festival of booths, they had been wandering in the mountains and caves like wild animals." (2 Maccabees 10:6) It was remembered that Haggai 2 had spoken of how the word of the LORD had come to Haggai the prophet on the 24th day of the ninth month, declaring that "from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider: Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you." The Jews believed that this prophecy of Haggai was a sign. Israel had not been blessed since the day of Haggai. They had been ruled by foreign kings and persecuted in their own land. But now Judas Maccabaeus would restore the fortunes of his people. And so they kept the feast of Dedication-Hanukkah- every year as a reminder of God's faithfulness to his promises. If you want to read more about the Maccabees and their victories, read 1 & 2 Maccabees, or the account in Josephus' The Antiquities of the Jews. It is useful literature-not inspired-but useful.

But Jesus came to Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication, the remembrance of the great victory of Judas Maccabaeus, and how he had purified and rededicated the temple. Why does John mention this? Yes, John connects all of the events of his gospel with one of the feasts, probably because a great deal of Jesus public teaching would have occurred during the feasts when great crowds would gather in Jerusalem. But John gives more detail in this introduction than he normally does. Normally he says, "now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast," (3:23) or "now the Passover, the feast of the Jews was at hand" (6:4) or "Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand" (7:2) or "Now it was the Sabbath day" (9:14) If John gives more detail it is because the detail is important to the message. For instance, in 5:2, the additional detail describes the context of the invalid. And 7:37 mentions that it was the last day of the feast. So when John says that "it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon," he is doing more than just adding some color to the story. Jesus comes to the temple that Judas Maccabaeus restored and rededicated (albeit, upgraded by Herod the Great) at the feast that Judas Maccabaeus instituted, and claims to be greater than Judas Maccabaeus.

He has already claimed to be the true temple (2:19), the "son of man" (9:35) and the "I am" who spoke to Abraham (8:56-58), but he has not yet openly claimed to be the Messiah. The Jews gather around in the colonnade of Solomon- one of the porches around the outer court of the temple- and ask him, "how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." The implicit question is, "What are you going to do that is greater than Judas Maccabaeus?" They think of the Messiah as a great military hero-like Judas Maccabaeus.

But Jesus will not be lured into that trap. He does not point to works like those of Judas Maccabaeus. He says, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock." The works that I do-giving sight to the blind, healing the lame, feeding the people- these bear witness to Christ, not the glorious victories of the great Judas Maccabaeus! Yes, Jesus was willing to come to the temple and celebrate the works of Judas Maccabaeus, because God had indeed blessed Judas and given him the victory over those who dared to profane his temple. Of course Jesus was willing to celebrate that, because that's what he was about to do. Jesus was about to destroy forever those who would profane his temple.

And so he tells the Jews -and remember, by "the Jews" John means the Pharisees and leaders of the Jews- "You do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." The sheep hears the voice of the Good Shepherd and follows Jesus. But Jesus goes on to distance himself from the image of Judas Maccabaeus. The Maccabees had restored the worship of God, and had defeated the enemies of the Jews, but then came the Romans, and the Jews were once again brought under foreign domination. Jesus says that he gives his sheep "eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." The one who belongs to Jesus, who hears the voice of the Good Shepherd, will never perish. Why? Because Jesus is the true son of his Father. We have seen how Jesus does what he sees his Father doing, he speaks what he has heard from the Father. Now we hear how intimate is that relationship of Father and Son. No one can snatch you from Christ, because you have been given to Christ by the Father. To be in the hand of the Son is to be in the hand of the Father, because "I and the Father are one."

I and the Father are one Children, I want you to hear this. Jesus says that he is one with the Father. Because everything in the Christian faith comes back to this. Jesus, this man who has been healing the sick and feeding the hungry, is one with the Father. After having sent Moses to destroy the Egyptians and lead his people out of slavery, after having sent Joshua to be the great general who conquers Canaan, after having sent David who felled the mighty Goliath, after having sent Elijah who called down fire from heaven against the soldiers who came to capture him, after having sent Judas Maccabaeus who defeated armies many times larger than his own, he sent Jesus to heal sick people, feed the multitudes, and then die on the cross. After sending all these humble men as glorious servants, he sent his glorious Son as a humble servant.

I and the Father are one. What does that tell you about the Father? Yes, there will be a Day of Judgment, when the Son will be revealed in all his glory, but first the Father sent his beloved Son on an errand of mercy

The whole of our covenantal relation to God hinges on this. It is only if the Father and the Son are one that we can have communion with God. Over the centuries of prophets, priests and kings, many had claimed that God was the Father of Israel. But no one had the courage to say it like this!

The Jews had asked Jesus to tell them plainly if he was the Christ. They got more than they bargained for! They got a simple summary of the entire gospel: that the eternal relationship of the Father and the Son now is made manifest in the relationship between Jesus and the Father, and that through this relationship between Jesus and the Father, the people of God will receive eternal life. Jesus has not yet told them how he will do this (it will be through the cross), but it all comes back to the unity of the Father and the Son.

But when the Jews hear Jesus say that he is one with the Father, they immediately reach for the rocks. But rather than run for the hills, Jesus stands his ground.

"I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" The Jews reply "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God." Given the fact that Jesus had already claimed to be the "I am" who spoke to Abraham, Jesus' answer is particularly interesting. (Read 34-38) At first blush, it appears that he is backing off his claim to deity. It appears as though he is saying, "hey, all Israelites are "gods" in a sense, so what's the big deal?" But you gotta read Psalm 82 first! (READ) The problem in Psalm 82 is that the "gods" are judging unjustly. The weak and the needy are being trampled under the feet of the judges of Israel. But it is not every Israelite who is addressed as "gods," but only the judges of Israel are elohim, and sons of the Most High. Asaph declares the word of the LORD in verse 6: "I said 'you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.'" Remember that the Psalter was sung regularly in worship. Many Israelites would have had the entire Psalter memorized. Certainly the leaders of the Jews would have known exactly which Psalm Jesus was quoting from. He's not flattering them. Why do you suppose Jesus says, "and Scripture cannot be broken"? He's not using Psalm 82 to level the playing field between himself and the Jews; he's saying you were supposed to be the elohim, the sons of God who brought justice and righteousness to Israel. But, Psalm 82 condemns you, and God will arise and judge the earth, and he's going to do that in me. "If he called them gods to whom the word of God came-and Scripture cannot be broken- do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said 'I am the Son of God'?" But watch how Jesus develops this: "If I am not doing the works of my Father..." What are these works? The works that Jesus has been doing: healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, feeding the multitudes... If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. The Pharisees are in Psalm 82:6-the unjust judges who are called gods, and yet die like men. Jesus is in Psalm 82:7-the God who judges the earth and inherits the nations.

Once again they seek to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. It's unlikely that this refers to some miraculous escape, but you have to wonder: was Jesus a sprinter? or a big burly guy who just barreled through the temple? or did he just slip away into the crowd?

So Jesus left Jerusalem-for the last time (save one!) Now Jesus goes back to the place where John's gospel starts- across the Jordan where John the Baptist had been baptizing. Only one more time will he come to Jerusalem.

He came to the temple, but the Jews rejected him. Or as John had put it in chapter 1: "He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (1:11-12)

So the prophecy of Haggai was right. It was indeed on the 24th day of the ninth month when God would bless his people. Even Hanukkah-the Maccabean feast of Jewish nationality-points to Jesus! And from the Feast of Dedication onward, the flock is gathering. At first Jesus' taught so as to prevent the crowds from coming to him, but the voice of the shepherd is irresistible. Those who at first were uncertain are increasingly convinced because while John did no sign, everything that John said about "this man" was true. And many believed in him there beyond the Jordan.

John tells us at the end of his gospel that these things were written so that you might believe. Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? That he is one with the Father? Then let us sing Psalm 82 together, as Jesus has taught us to sing it: the Psalm of the overthrow of those who exalt themselves, and the Psalm of the God who inherits all nations, even our Lord Jesus Christ.

Copyright © 2003 Peter J. Wallace