Did you realize that Jesus, both the Jewish Messiah and Savior of the world, celebrated Hanukkah as a child?

The significance of Hanukkah is because of a great miracle. Hanukkah commemorates the victory in 164 B.C. of a group of Jewish people (the Maccabees) over the Syrian Greeks, who had been occupying the Land of Israel. Not only had the Greeks destroyed the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, but they also banned the practice of Judaism entirely.

Now, during the rededication of the Temple, there was only enough oil to burn the temple candles for one day. However, the candles burned for eight consecutive nights, giving the Jews time to find more oil. The eight days of Hanukkah commemorate this miracle.

Today, Jews celebrate this religious holiday not only to remember this miracle but also to commemorate the victory God gave to Jewish freedom fighters, the Maccabees.

How does this connect with Christmas? Let me explain!

In John 10, the Jews asked Jesus who He was. When He claimed He was God, they tried to stone Him. The mob also refused to believe Jesus’s miraculous works.

Isn’t it ironic that just as the earlier Maccabees Jews had driven unbelievers out of the Jewish temple, now unbelievers were driving out the Son of God from that very temple!

Jesus’ identity is that He claimed to be the light of the world.

He [John] was not that Light but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.’

‘As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’

John 1:8-9; John 8:12; John 9:5 NKJV

And what does Jesus, the Light of the world, have in common with Hanukah, the Festival of Lights, beginning at sundown on December 18th and concluding at nightfall on December 26th? As Hanukkah candles light Jewish homes, so Jesus lights the lives of all believers.

When we come to Christ by faith, the Holy Spirit comes in and ignites our hearts with the flame of belief. We shine with the eternal light of Jesus living within us, as a lighted lamp for the world to see!

As we celebrate Christmas, let’s remember that the light of God came into the world through the birth of His Son, Jesus. May we all rejoice, as did the shepherds that holy night, in the salvation message the angels brought to earth, announcing that a Savior had been born.

May you have a very Merry Christmas celebrating the miracle of Jesus and may your light shine so others may find Him.

Manna from Heaven

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.  Isaiah 7:14