The Light Shines in the Darkness

 

I’m hoping to have lunch this week with a Jewish friend. For her, it will be the middle of Hanukkah, for me, the middle of Advent. As I think about this get-together, it occurs to me that she and I have so very much in common. Our respective faiths motivated us both to be involved in a social justice endeavor. Both of us are worried about a close family member who is very ill. And like everyone else, we are both reeling from the awfulness of this year of COVID.

We have much in common spiritually as well. Hanukkah, the festival of lights, commemorates the events of 168 BCE when the Jews, led by Judas Maccabeus, revolted and overthrew the Greek-imposed government and the king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus had violently persecuted the Jews and desecrated the Temple.  The Jews sought to purify the Temple. They vowed to keep the lamps burning in the Temple for eight straight days and nights, but there was not enough oil to keep the flames burning. By a miracle of God, the oil lasted throughout the eight days and nights.

For Christians, Advent is the season of preparation before Christmas, when we commemorate the birth of Jesus. We believe that Jesus was God in flesh, manifesting as a normal human. His life as a teacher and healer led up to his death on the cross, which was a once-for-all atoning sacrifice for the sins of those who believe and accept this grace-gift of God’s forgiveness and mercy.

Of course, there is much, much more symbolism and meaning in both Christmas and Hanukkah. Through the ages, each generation and each individual has found a unique and timely application.

As I understand it, Hanukkah is about reconfirming faith in God, recognizing God’s faithfulness in delivering his people, in being present with them through all times and all circumstances. For me, Christmas is likewise reconfirming God’s faithfulness in delivering his people, in being present with them through all times and circumstances. We use the term “Emmanuel,” which is Hebrew for “God with us.”

The Jews, the Jewish faith, was intended by God to be a light to the Gentiles, that is, to all the peoples of the world who don’t yet know God. (Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6; Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47). Jesus, a Jew, called himself the light of the world (John 8:12).

As I look around me, there is so much darkness. Illness, injustice, violence, hypocrisy, delusion. But I also see people preparing for Christmas and celebrating Hanukkah. That’s why there are so many lights throughout the city and in people’s houses. People are always looking for the light – figuratively and literally.

Jews celebrate that light with the Hanukkah menorah, the eight-branched candle lampstand. Christians celebrate that light with candles, lightbulbs, and stars (as in the star of Bethlehem). To me, it’s pretty much the same thing. It is God’s light, God’s promise, God’s faithfulness. My two favorite Bible verses this season are: John 1:5 and Isaiah 60:1.

So, let us be comforted that “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” And let us be inspired to “Arise, shine, for your light has come.”