At this time of year many Jews celebrate Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights also known as the Feast of Dedication. But Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah, didn’t celebrate Hanukkah nor should Christians today.
You might say that is because it is not part of the Christian religion but I would say it is worse than that. It is an antichrist festival celebrating the Jewish temple worship system, which for a follower of Jesus Christ, who replaced that earthly temple with the temple of His body, is like a dog returning to his vomit.
4 to whom having drawn near, a living Stone [Jesus Christ], indeed having been rejected by men, but chosen by God, precious; 5 you also as living stones are being built a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore, it is also contained in the Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion” an elect, “precious Stone,” “a Corner-foundation”; “and the one believing on Him shall not be put to shame, not ever!”
1 Peter 2:4-6 KJ3
Jesus is building His temple from living stones, the believers who follow Him. A temple of bricks and stones cannot be His temple. Jesus referred to that old stony temple being replaced by His body as follows.
19 Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and will you raise it up in three days? 21 But he spoke of the temple of his body.
John 2:19-21 AKJV
Jesus is the cornerstone of His temple, and for that reason in 70 AD He destroyed the old stony temple, and ended the Old Covenant worship. Any Christian desiring the rebuilding of the temple or celebrating anything to do with the old temple is either severely misguided or is not a follower of Christ.
So …
Wishing someone “Happy Hanukkah” isn’t Christian kindness. It is a theological statement, and it is the wrong one.
Hanukkah commemorates a temple system the New Testament says has been fulfilled and rendered obsolete in Jesus Himself. Christ was the Festival of Lights incarnate, the Light of the World in flesh. There is no light of God without Him.
The Church Fathers knew this. Chrysostom condemned Christians who lit lamps with Jews. Augustine warned that returning to ceremonies after Christ was unbelief, not obedience.
The Reformers agreed without hesitation, that Christians should take no part in worship that refuses to honor Jesus. You cannot honor God by honoring traditions that deny His Son, and you cannot evangelize Jews by affirming traditions that point away (instead of toward) Jesus. We are not called to prove how non-antisemitic we are.
We are called to proclaim Christ without apology, and any worship offered to a god who doesn’t have a Son named Jesus, is worship given to a false god.
Above I used the phrase “a dog returning to his vomit” likening it to those who wish or desire to return to the old ways of temple worship. The phrase originates from a proverb,
Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
Proverbs 26:11 ESV
This vivid metaphor illustrates the behavior of someone who learns nothing from past mistakes and repeatedly engages in harmful or foolish actions, despite the negative consequences. The same imagery is referenced in 2 Peter 2:22, where it is used to describe individuals who have been cleansed from sin but then return to their former wicked ways, likened to a dog returning to its vomit or a washed sow wallowing in the mud.
Where in the New Testament does it say Jesus honored Judaism’s Festival of Lights?
One site claims “The Lord Jesus observed the celebration of Hanukkah in the Temple during the winter of AD 29 (John 10:22–39).” Other Judaizing “Christian” sites make similar claims. But Hanukkah is not even a Mosaic festival, it is derived from the oral traditions, the Talmud, which Jesus spoke very strongly against (Matthew 23).
Let’s see what the Apostle John actually wrote under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
22 And the Feast of Dedications [Hanukkah also called Festival of Lights] occurred in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s Porch. 24 Then the Jews encircled Him, and said to Him, Until when do You lift up our soul? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly. 25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and you did not believe. The works which I do in the name of My Father, these bear witness about Me. 26 But you do not believe, for you are not of My sheep, even as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give eternal life to them, and they shall not perish to the age, not ever! And not anyone shall snatch them out of My hand. 29 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. 30 I and the Father are One! 31 Then again the Jews took up stones, that they might stone Him.
John 10:22-31 KJ3
The only mention in Scripture is this verse 22 above. It is ancillary to the point Christ wanted us to hear. Verses 22-23 only locate when and where Jesus was when He was confronted by some unbelieving Jews who wanted to catch Him in blasphemy claiming He is God that they might kill Him by stoning. But there is absolutely no indication of Him celebrating Hanukkah. To say so would be disingenuous eisegesis well outside of what could be plainly understood from the text.
The tearing of the temple veil at Christ’s death symbolized the end of the old temple worship system and the opening of direct access to God through Jesus Christ, who is now the true and eternal High Priest (Hebrews 6:20).
Christ’s sacrifice was not merely a replacement for the old system but the fulfillment of it, making the old temple and its rituals obsolete in terms of their atoning power. The blood of bulls and rituals could never save anyway.
Therefore, the focus cannot be on the physical structure or the rituals of the old temple, but on the reality they foreshadowed — the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ.
The old temple worship has now become idol worship in that it attempts to usurp and replace that final sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross.
A Christian’s hope is not in a rebuilt Jewish temple, but in the eternal temple of God’s presence in Jesus Christ. There the blood of Jesus speaks better and louder than the blood of Abel or any temple sacrifice.
4 For it is impossible for the ones once having been enlightened, and having tasted of the heavenly gift, and becoming sharers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and tasting the good Word of God, and the works of power of a coming age, 6 and having fallen away, it is impossible for them again to renew to repentance, crucifying again for themselves the Son of God, and holding Him up to public shame [or contempt].
Hebrews 6:4-6 KJ3
See Festival of Shadows: Why Honoring Hanukkah Is a Denial of Christ
Related Reading
- The Abomination of Desolation is Jewish Temple Worship
- Christian Zionists are the Modern Judaizers
- The Vineyard of God
- Jesus on the Synagogue of Satan
- True Followers of Christ: The Narrow Path Explained
- Christians Should Follow the Teachings of Christ
- The Chasm Between the Christian and Jewish Faiths
- Christ is King | There is No Other Name Under Heaven Whereby We Must Be Saved
Recommended Reading
- Book: Apocalypse Now: On the Revelation of Jesus Christ (Premium membership needed)
- Book: Merchants of Death: Global Oligarchs and Their War On Humanity
- Book: The Physics of Creation, The Creator’s Ultimate Design for Earth (Premium membership needed)
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