Festival of the Light of Lights

By Collections of the National Library of Israel, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27920578

In one sense, I understand why Christians have historically not celebrated the festivals of our Jewish forebears. I also can understand why it would at least seem a little insensitive to start celebrating them now, as a sort of cultural appropriation when tensions are unfortunately too high to begin with. St. Paul seems to refer to these old “festivals” as “shadows” in contrast to the “reality” of Christ in Colossians 2:16-17, which seems like a dismissal of them in favor of the New Covenant. Fortunately, this supersessionist approach to Judaism and Christianity has been thoroughly debunked, one great example of this recent scholarship comes from the excellent book Paul, A New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Paulin Theology.

It is interesting that the term shadows is used as the Jewish festival that takes place during the season of Advent is known as the “festival of lights” and commemorates the miraculous lighting of the Temple lampstand in its reconsecration to God. In the same way that Christians have a long tradition of citing and celebrating Old Testament figures as types of Christ, which are used as a means to better understand and appreciate the person of Jesus, we should also see these old covenant festivals similarly.

Hanukkah is known as the festival of lights and is celebrated within the season of Advent. It recognizes the light that God established with his people in the Temple and the flame of faith they kept alive under religious persecution. This similar light of faith was kept alive for generations until the “light of the world,” Jesus Christ, was born on that holy night (John 8:12).

Whenever I teach the concept of liturgy or the sacraments to my students at the high school or college level, many of whom have been raised with little exposure to a formal liturgical sensibility, I always point out that I find it ironic that the only canon of Scriptures that includes the basis for the celebration of Hanukkah, which is found in 1 and 2 Maccabees, is that of the Catholic and Orthodox bibles. This is not to undermine its celebration within Jewish communities as they, like their Catholic and Orthodox co-religionists, have always had a place for extra-biblical tradition in its theology and worship. I point it out simply to emphasize the same sense of continuity that Catholics are meant to see in the images of the Old Testament that point to Christ, like those of the Paschal Lamb or the Pillar of Fire, can and should be seen in the liturgical celebrations of Jesus and his people.

The struggle of the Maccabees and the rededication of the Temple would have been much more present to the mind of Jesus and his hearers during his life and ministry. One could compare it to the enthusiasm for the relatively new feast of “Divine Mercy Sunday” in the Catholic Tradition, whose roots go back to the beginning of our faith but God saw fit to emphasize during this point in history. In a similar way, God has always presented Himself as light long before the Maccabean revolt

It is no accident that the lamp that was lit in the Temple was meant to resemble both the Tree of Life from Genesis 3 and the burning bush from Exodus 3. Significantly, the flames would represent both the fruit that hung from the Tree of Life and the fire of the burning bush. Both of these images represent in different ways God was present to the Jewish people as well as to Christians. The Tree of Life is seen as a symbol of the Torah itself according to many commentaries of Proverbs 3:18. The flames of the burning bush were seen as God’s presence to both Jews and Christians. Finally, the fruit that hangs from the Tree of Life later became a symbol for the presence of Jesus hanging on the Cross in Revelation 22.

If the light of the menorah represents God’s presence in a limited, veiled sense, then the light that emanates from the manger is the Light of lights. It was a miraculous light that shone for eight days on a limited, material substance; now we prepare to celebrate the eternal light, eight being a symbol for the Resurrection and New Creation, that shines through the limited, material substance of Jesus’s earthly body. Christians, especially liturgical Christians, can see this festival of lights as a precursor to the festival of the Light of lights who “shines in the darkness” (John 1:5).

The best way to connect Hanukkah to its Christian fulfillment is to read and tell the story of the Maccabees to your loved ones. It is the most underappreciated story in the Old Testament largely because it is only found in Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments. Even for those who do not hold it as inspired Scripture, it is an exciting story filled with courageous characters who provide models of faithfulness for Christians experiencing challenges and persecution of their faith. It is also shockingly Resurrection-focused.

ארכיון השומר הצעיר יד יערי - Hashomer Hatzair Archives Yad Yaari

In 2 Maccabees 7, the seven brothers are being tortured for their unwillingness to break God’s laws, one puts forth his tongue and his hands to be severed saying, “It was from Heaven that I received these; for the sake of his laws I disregard them; from him I hope to receive them again.” How many of us could speak with such boldness? Before even the lamps of the Temple were re-lit and miraculous stayed lit, there was a fire burning in this one’s soul because of his faith. You could do this in conjunction with Advent as you light the candles of the wreath, read a section of the Maccabees story and connect the candle lighting to that of our Jewish forebears in faith.

Ultimately, like all Old Testament types of Christ, and the entire Old Testament, Hanukkah is best understood by Christians as fulfilled in the person of Jesus. It should be seen in the way St. Paul sees “all things” as being “brought into subjection” into the “glorified body” of Jesus (Philippians 3:21). This is not a reconciliation per se, as there was never a discontinuity between the old and new covenants, but an integration. It is not one light as opposed to darkness, but the Light from which all other lights are inflamed.