Jesus, and Hanukkah

 

Jesus, Hanukkah, and proposed national and NY legislation to combat antisemitism

I didn't realize until recently that Jesus participated in Hanukkah (in English: "Festival of Dedication"), until I noticed John 10:22-39. For a six-minute video on how six Jewish hostages in Gaza celebrated Hanukkah in a Hamas tunnel, watch "Hanukkah's TRUE Meaning: The Ancient Spirit of Evil is BACK" (Behold Israel with Amir Tsarfati). 

About Jesus and Hanukkah: 

Apparently, the Catholic Bible and Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) include the Books of Maccabees, named after the family who led a revolt of Jewish rebels against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in 165 BC. Their victory allowed the Jews to reclaim their Temple in Jerusalem and light the Menorah in an eight-day Festival of Dedication. (According to the video, "The True Story of Hanukkah", assuming it's accurate, the story of the one-day supply of oil keeping the Menorah miraculously lit for eight days was an oral tradition written down hundreds of years later in the Talmud, the second most important Jewish text after the Hebrew Bible.)

Anyway, the New Testament says that Jesus was in Jerusalem during the Festival of Dedication (Hanukkah). While the Gospel of John does not explicitly state that Jesus "celebrated" Hanukkah, it suggests that he was involved with its significance by visiting the Temple. John 10:22-39 states: "Then the Festival-of-Dedication[a] took place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. Then the Jews surrounded Him. And they were saying to Him, “How long are You keeping us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us with plainness”.  Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works which I am doing in the name of My Father— these are testifying about Me. However, you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice. And I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, ever. And someone will not snatch them out of My hand. What My Father has given to Me is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of the hand of the Father. I and the Father are one[d]”.

•  "The True Story of Hanukkah: The Secret History You Were Never Taught" (Holiday History).