THE LIGHT

Third week of Advent (Wednesday)

John 1:9-13 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

As we prepare for Christmas, our Jewish friends, who are truly our spiritual cousins, are preparing to celebrate Hanukkah (December 20 -28 this year), a feast referred to in the New Testament as the Feast of Lights (John 10:22). It originated in what Christians call the Intertestamental Period, the interlude of about 430 years between the end of the Hebrew Bible (Malachi 4:6) and the beginning of the Christian New Testament (Matthew 1:1).

After the Jews returned from Babylon (about 520 BC) Israel remained under foreign domination: Persian, Greek, Egyptian and finally Roman. And the nation was destroyed utterly by the Romans about 70 AD. So, from the Babylonian conquest in 587 BC, to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, a period of about 2500 years, there was no independent Jewish nation. That is, with the exception of a very brief period in the second century BC, when, under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus, they threw off their foreign oppressors.

During this time of freedom they rededicated the Temple, which had been deliberately desecrated by the Greeks under Antiochus Epiphanes (1 Maccabees 1:57-67). According to the tradition, when they prepared to light the lamp that burns continuously in the Temple they had enough oil for only one day. They lit the lamp anyway and, miraculously, it burned for eight days by which time they had been able to procure more pure, undesecrated oil.

The Feast of Hanukkah or Lights, commemorates the eight day miracle that initiated this tiny flash of liberation in an otherwise dark and oppressive time. It is a celebration of freedom, perseverance, and the faithfulness of God and his people. It reiterates the promise of light in the darkness of our lives and, though it is only accidentally associated with Christmas, it is a wonderful companion feast to the celebration of the coming of Christ who is Emmanuel (God with us).

In the Gospel of John Jesus declares "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12). And in Matthew’s Gospel he tells his disciples "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matt 5:14)

Both Hanukkah and Christmas come in the dark of winter. – My apologies to our friends in the southern hemisphere, but both Judaism and Christianity grew up north of the equator. – These feasts exist to shed a little light in the darkness of our world, and we in turn share this light with the world at large. For it is the nature of light to flow outward from its source and reflect everywhere. If it blesses anyone, it blesses everyone.

So, let’s lighten up as the nights grow longer. Light a candle in the window, illuminate a tree, string lights on the front of your home, hang them in the streets and in the malls. We can even light up a reindeer’s nose for the sake of all the little children in the world. It’s Hanukkah, it’s Christmas, the promise of light and life.

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth "

Though she doesn’t include this verse, nobody sings Silent Night quite like Mahalia Jackson. Enjoy!

(See you Sunday.)