chanukkah. the consecration of the temple. the entrance of mary into the temple. the glory of the lord. the birth of the king. shepherds abiding in the field.
all of those images belong to this time of the year, and they are related in ways we don't always remember, but which are important if we are to understand how it is that the birth of jesus is the fulfillment of the desire of the nations.
most of the time we don't make much of the coincidence of chanukkah and christmas, except that they both somehow involve light and giving of gifts. (i had jewish friends as i was growing up whose families had chanukkah bushes.) nor are we, as christians at least, much aware that the word chanukkah is a pun on dedication, or that the festival is mentioned in the gospel according to john (10:22ff.) where curiously enough considering the story luke will include in his birth narrative, jesus talks about sheep.
chanukkah is the feast of the rededication of the temple during the maccabean revolt in the second century b.c. the books of maccabees did not become part of the jewish canon of scriptures as it was codified in the centuries following the destruction of jerusalem in a.d. 70, but they remain in the canon of the church, providing a fascinating background to the incarnation, and to the charges against jesus at his trial, for saying that he will tear down the temple and rebuild it. the story in 1 maccabees (4:36ff.), although it is the setting for the miracle of eight days of rejoicing, does not mention the talmud's story of the miracle of the small cruse of oil that kept the lights burning throughout the ritual that is the basis for the current celebration. but for my purposes, there is another thing missing, even more important.
when the first temple was dedicated, by solomon, 'the glory of the lord filled the lord's temple.' (i kings 8:11) there is no such event connected with the second temple, either at its first consecration, described in the book of ezra (6:3ff.), at the behest of kind darius of persia, nor at its rededication at the behest of judas maccabeus.
but the temple and its ceremony and centrality remained important in jewish understanding of their identity and their relationship to god, something it is vital to consider if we are to understand 'the christmas story.' jesus would replace the stones of the physical temple, the very stones, probably, thrown at him on his dedication visit to the temple, with living stones. the church would suggest that the first of those stones was his mother, the virgin mary, whose womb became a temple larger than the universe. and the imagery of the coming of the holy spirit in the book of acts is parallen to the description of the dedication of solomon's temple and of isaiah's and ezekiel's visions of the glory of the holy one. but before luke tells that story, he had another story of the glory of the lord.
it begins 'and there were shepherds, abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. and, lor, the angel of the lord came upon them, and the glory of the lord shone round about them . . . .' the king born in the stable is the legitimate king. the temple he builds will house the glory of the holy one. darius, judas maccabeus, herod, all are impostors.
and now, the glory of the lord is not contained in a building made with hands, a problem solomon had understood when he built the prophetic temple. but the glory of the lord can dwell (tabernacle, as john would say in his gospel, relating again to the presence in the temple and in the tent of meeting) in open fields with shepherds and, most importantly, in the human heart, where mary, luke informs us, pondered these things.
after the destruction of jerusalem, christians, whether jews or now, spread into the world, as did jews, christians or not, all sent to be witnesses to 'the light which cometh into the world', whether understood as having happened or still longed for.
so, one of the mitzvahs of the hanukkah lights that is often not appreciated enough is that they are lights for the whole world. they are not to light the house--for that there is the shamash, the helper or servant. they are to witness to the miracle, and to be an object for pondering, for meditation. they are often put in windows, or at the door opposite the mezuzah.
and so it is with the christ, the newborn king. "he is a light to lighten the gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people israel."
or as isaiah foretold it: ' and the glory of the lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the lord hath spoken it. '
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