Celebrate Jeshua and the Festival of Lights with us

Tomorrow Thursday, December 7, we shall come to gather to celebrate the salvation of our people.

All over the world tomorrow night, the Jewish People will be lighting their Hanukkah menorahs in remembrance of the miracles that God performed many thousand years ago.

The first miracle to commemorate is God’s deliverance.

For many years, the Jewish People had been oppressed by the Syrian/Greeks, who desecrated the Holy Temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar.  They enforced idolatry and forbade Jews from reading and following the Torah.

God delivered the Jewish people through a Jewish priest named Mattathias and his sons.  They led a small group of Jewish men to rise up against the 25,000 soldiers of the Syrian/Greek army.

When the Jewish priests entered the Temple to re-dedicate it and light the Menorah, only one small bottle of oil was found—enough to last one day.

Miraculously, that tiny supply of oil lasted eight full days. 

This second miracle gave the priests enough time to create more sanctified oil to keep the Temple Menorah burning, as it had to remain lit 24 hours a day.

Over 100 years later, Jeshua was at the Holy Temple on Hanukkah when he was asked directly,

“Are you the Messiah?”

Then came the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) at Jerusalem.  It was winter and Jeshua ben Josef was in the Temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. Solomon’s Colonnade was a long covered walkway on the east side of the temple. Two months had elapsed since Jesus’ last confrontation with the Jews (John 7:1-10:21) at the Feast of Tabernacles (7:2), which was in October. Jesus again returned to the temple area.

“Then came Hanukkah; it was winter in Jerusalem. Yeshua was walking in the Temple around Solomon’s Colonnade. Then the Judean leaders surrounded Him, saying,

“How long will You hold us in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tell us outright!””
(John 10:22-24 TLV)

We have good reason to think also about that Nazarene man, who we accept as our Messiah. As we light the first candle on the hanukkiah, we also remind ourselves how that great rabbi also lighted the candle, but told his pupils he was the light coming into the world.

“Yeshua spoke to them again, saying,

“I am the light of the world. The one who follows Me will no longer walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””
(John 8:12 TLV)

The scene was in the Temple area where John was witnessing the disputes between Jeshua and the Jews. Today we are convinced that we can have life in him when we believe in that son of man.

“Yeshua said to her,

“I am the resurrection and the life! Whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, shall live.”
(John 11:25 TLV)

Today, like it has been in many previous times, the world is in darkness, a symbol of evil, sin, and ignorance (Isa. 9:2; Matt. 4:16; 27:45; John 3:19). “Light” in the Bible is a symbol of God and His holiness (Acts 9:3; 1 John 1:5) Jeshua is bringing that Light of God to the world, and it is up to the people to come to see that light.

A father lights the Hanukkiah

Whilst we rejoice together in the miracles of Hanukkah, and the miracles that God is doing today in our lives, we can take time to gather with different people around us, to talk about the wonders of God and how he provided a saviour, who is bringing light to our world.

May your holiday season be illuminated by the

Light of the World—Jeshua HaMashiach.