Hanukkah, a pedagogical resource in the hands of the apostles.

We live in a world where spontaneity is constantly promoted, and although this is very good, the mistake has been to stigmatize everything falling under the category of ritual as bad. One of those who understood and explained this best was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in his book The Little Prince. In the dialogue between the fox and the little visitor, he says:

“The little prince came back the next day, and the fox said, ‘It would have been better to come back at the same time. If, for example, you come at four in the afternoon, from three I’ll begin to be happy. The later it gets, the more I’ll feel happy. By four, I’ll be agitated and restless. This way, I’ll discover what happiness is worth. But if you come at any time, I’ll never know when to prepare my heart. Rituals are necessary.’ ‘What’s a ritual?’ asked the little prince. ‘It’s also something too often forgotten,’ said the fox. ‘It’s what makes one day different from another day and one hour from another.’”

In this way, we can understand that through the repetition or ritualism of events, one can learn more and more about the same theme. Let’s not forget that it was God Himself who taught this system. Therefore, each year through celebrations, a specific theme was spoken of and everything to which it pointed. We know that not everyone passed the test correctly when the Messiah became man, but this teaching method was so effective that it was clear that this failure depended exclusively on sin in their hearts. It’s not that the information arrived incorrectly or that the teaching was unclear, but rather that they could recognize the uniqueness of Jesus and simply chose to reject it due to their personal interests, revealing their distance from God and His purposes. That’s why Jesus constantly exposed their crimes and sins, as we saw in the previous article.

A journey through a couple of apostolic texts will allow us to see the application of the teaching of Hanukkah, and how they could identify the Messiah through it and also continue to transmit that message:

(John 1:1-18): One mistake often made when studying the biblical text is its decontextualization. Although this is understandable due to cultural differences and the distance in time from the text to the reader, we must therefore adopt the Jewish lens of the first century to approach it more closely. As a consequence, whenever light is mentioned in the text, most of its expositors often resort to modern science or simply the nocturnal illumination of a house. So if we look at the context of first-century Judea, and we already know that once a year there is an eight-day celebration in the winter period (the darkest of the year), then we can better understand what this meant for a time without electric light. As we said in previous articles, a Jewish city or neighborhood shone completely when the Hanukkah menorahs (9-light menorahs) were lit in every house during a specific period of the year. These lights were placed on the outside at the entrance of the houses because it was a requirement of the celebration that both visitors and neighbors saw them from the street. Now the text of John surely gains more life before you: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1–5). Wow! The Word and God are the same, and Life and Light belong to that Word because He is the only way God became accessible to His material creation that is limited to time and space. So, if all life and all light are in Him, necessarily outside Him there is nothing but darkness. Or as one of the Jews themselves would say centuries later: “Darkness is nothing but the absence of light,” so when the Light appears where there was darkness due to its absence, the Light has no other option but to triumph and shine, as the Light will always prevail with its mere presence. And what does John teach that happened in this world subject to spiritual darkness? Simple: “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” (John 1:9). Imagine what it’s like to put the Hanukkah menorah at the door and someone asks, “Why do you put so many lights on the doors? Why does this house, this neighborhood, or this city shine so brightly?” The Christians’ answer would not only be the same as had been given up to that moment by Pharisaism: “Because a miracle was performed here a long time ago to save us from Antiochus’s extermination,” but something more powerful and that could now be enjoyed by all the people inserted into the saints: “Because in this home, God has performed a miracle that is the salvation from eternal extermination, now we are born of God and in us is Life and Light, and if you confess and accept the Messiah Jesus as we did, you too will have the same.” And all thanks to what? Well, because “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father), full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).

(Philippians 2:1-18): In this other text, Paul writing to the Philippians from his tribulation and imprisonment, represents that moment when it seems that the teaching of the gospel is going to suffer a setback and could be extinguished. Saying this today sounds somewhat pessimistic, but just over 30 years after the beginning of Messianic teaching, with small groups of believers in some cities of the empire and the threat of not knowing what happened to the entire church of Judea, Perea, and Galilee due to the war with Rome, not knowing about the rest of the apostles and that he writes from prison, puts believers in a situation very similar to that of Israel in the time of Antiochus, where everything seems to end. Therefore, from the beginning of the letter Paul will face his readers with this reality, but at the same time he will give them encouragement through the passion of Jesus himself and will present them with the challenge: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12–13). In other words, that they could be left alone, without any teacher, and even with many teaching a different gospel, but just as God raised up the Maccabees He will raise up new leaders, teachers, and, furthermore, a well-concerted body that will make of their diversity a body. So under that perspective and in the midst of an immoral and confused generation, inheritor of the same virus that contaminated Antiochus, they should be like Hanukkah menorahs in the midst of the dark universe and that only thanks and solely to being subject to the Word of Life (Philippians 2:15–16).

Although there are other texts, I urge you to undertake your own research in the Apostolic Teachings to understand them more deeply in light of Hanukkah. If you have the desire to celebrate this festival of Light and God’s miracles this year, remember that the crucial thing is not so much to adhere meticulously to every detail of the tradition, although that can be valuable, but to live fully what you can do, celebrating from the depths of your being as a member of the family of Light. Do it with the total intention of thanking God and radiating what He has worked in you towards others. Remember: “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” (Luke 11:33–36).

Author: Dr. Liber Aguiar