Hanukkah at the Time of Jesus
We have very
little information as to how Jesus related to the festival. We are aware He was
in the Temple at the time of the Feast:
“Now
it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus
walked in the temple, in Solomon’s
porch”
(John 10:22–23).
It seems very
probable that He would have been meditating on the implications of the
festival. So the context of the abrasive John 10 debate between Himself and
some of the nation’s leaders in Solomon’s Porch was the festival which
memorialised the cleansing of the Temple after a victorious campaign led by Judas Maccabaeus. He would have known
that patriotic Jews would have been acutely aware of the parallels between the
predicament that the Maccabees faced some two hundred years earlier and the difficulties
that then faced the nation. At the time of the Syrian occupation they overcame
all obstacles—but what of their present predicament?
When Christ walked in
Solomon’s porch, Rome had power over Israel. The Emperor, Tiberius, also held
the title ‘Pontifex Maximus’ which granted him authority over all Temples and
religious activities in the empire. His personal representative, the
Procurator, enforced this authority. For example, in Israel, the High
Priest’s official garments, made for
beauty and glory and reflecting the High Priest’s ministry of intercession,
were held by Pontius Pilate and only released for special occasions. Rome also
kept a garrison of soldiers in the Antonia Fortress, which was in the shadow of
the Temple. Always manned and ready for trouble, the castle was re-enforced with additional legionaries
at feast times, especially during Hanukkah, which had clear nationalistic
overtones. During this season zealots
fanned the nationalistic fervour
by emphasizing the genesis of the festival, that is, the rejection of another emperor,
a Syrian emperor, who also claimed jurisdiction over the Temple. But Rome,
perhaps mindful of the folly of Antiochus; certainly more politically aware than the Syrian; was
careful not to repeat his mistake – their policy was to allow the Jews as much
latitude as they could without compromising their own authority.
Jesus had a great affection for the Temple, at one time calling it “My
Father’s House”. From Solomon’s Porch He could see the great altar of sacrifice
which was visible through the gate of
Nicanor. He also understood the enormity of the profanity of Antiochus, who desecrated
the Temple by slaughtering a pig on the
altar in the court of priests, as well as erecting a statue of Zeus in
the most Holy Place (the home of the Ark of the Covenant, the ‘throne of God’).
Jesus was also aware that the current High Priest, Caiaphas, was leading the
Jewish ruling body, the Sanhedrin, to
commit an equally heinous profanity by rejecting His Messianic claim and
demanding His crucifixion.
The Pharisees, who considered themselves the descendants of the freedom
fighters who liberated Israel, especially looked forward to the day when the
Jewish nation would again know freedom and prosperity under the leadership of
the Messiah. But how devious is the human heart – it is incurably sick – or as
Jeremiah expressed it: “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked”
(Jer. 17:9). Their hoped-for Messiah was among them, but His Messianic leadership
was not to their taste. They would not be easily persuaded. John’s
remark that it was winter describes not only the season but also the relationship
between Jesus and the Pharisees.
So the two skirmishes reported in John 10 begin in an atmosphere of
hostility. Because of the ‘shepherd’ references in
the second confrontation, John connects the dispute with a previously delivered discourse, that of the ‘Good Shepherd’. In that
address Jesus started by using a double ‘amen’, that is,
‘truly, truly’ or ‘verily, verily’ (in verses 1 and 7). This emphasised the importance of the information that He was imparting. He spelt it out, albeit
in familiar imagery, how the events of the near future would evolve. He declared the ‘Good Shepherd’ would die for the sheep, not as the result of an
assassination attempt but rather because He chose to lay down His life in
accordance with the divine plan of the Father. As He
often did He divided the members of the nation into two
identifiable groups – those who were His followers, ‘His sheep’, and those who
were not. He promised ‘His sheep’ eternal safety, security and life abundant.
With the ‘Good
Shepherd’ teaching fresh in their minds the Pharisees again engaged the Lord
Jesus in debate, this time during the Hanukkah season. These, who opposed Him,
used the motif of the festival to raise the issue of His mission. They quickly
got to the point and asked Him directly,
“How
long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ (Messiah), tell us plainly” (John 10:24). It
is possible that there were those listening who were zealots looking for a
military leader who would follow the Maccabean heritage and lead Israel against
Rome. Jesus, who later said to Pilate He had no ambitions in that
direction, had to craft his
answer with care. An unwise response could result
in a political charge that would bring unnecessary complications. His path was
clearly mapped out for Him. He would die in the right way (by being
lifted up), at the right time (the time of the evening
sacrifice) on the right day (14th Nisan—Passover), at the right
Passover festival (in the 483rd year after the edict was issued
to rebuild Jerusalem). His reply to the Pharisees was: “I
told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they
bear witness of Me” (John 10:25). In other words He said, ‘I am providing
evidence enough that I am your Messiah if you only had eyes to see, but you are
blind’ (see John 9:39-41).
He then returned to the ‘Good Shepherd’ imagery which would have brought to the minds of His listeners
the ‘shepherd’ texts of the Old Testament, especially Psalm 23 but also Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34. The Davidic
Psalm which
begins “The Lord
(YHWH) is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1), is the passage that particularly speaks of
God (YHWH) as the shepherd who provides sustenance and safety. Jesus, in taking
this reference to Himself, (“I am the good shepherd” (John
vv.11,14)), asserted His deity as well as His Messiahship. That
was followed by even stronger
assertions
that identified Him with the Father. For
example:
“And
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall
anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is
greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I
and My Father are one” (John 10:28–30).
These latest declarations –
that it is Jesus who gives
eternal life –
that His followers will never perish –
that He has the same keeping power as God the Father –
that He and the Father are one in purpose, one in power and one in essence –
produced the predictable result - “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone
Him”. Jesus challenged this latest
outburst of anger,
“Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone
Me?”
The Jews responded,
“For a good work we do not stone You, but for
blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God”
(John 10.31-33).
This, of course, was part of the blasphemy
of Antiochus – he had called
himself ‘Epiphany’ (god manifest).
In response to this
latest accusation, the Messiah asked:
“Do
you say of Him whom the Father sanctified
and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son
of God’?” (John 10:36)
In this very pointed
question Jesus used two aspects of the feast to point to two remarkable truths
about Himself.
More Next Time:
