At sunset on Tuesday, December 7, millions of pious Jews began the observance of Hanukkah, a minor feast on the Jewish calendar but one that many non-Jews have become familiar with due to its proximity to Christmas. Or, more accurately, because of Christmas’ proximity to Hanukkah.

Although a celebration of Christmas is nowhere to be found in the New Testament (even subsequent to the resurrection of Christ), Hanukkah finds its way into the gospels and serves as an important backdrop in the ministry of Jesus Christ in John 10. To understand the significance of this aspect of His ministry, however, it is necessary to understand Hanukkah.

Hanukkah (Heb., dedication) looks back to events that transpired more than 150 years prior to the birth of Jesus, to a time when fallout from Alexander the Great’s premature demise was still reverberating throughout the Mediterranean area. A brilliant (if brutal) military strategist, Alexander died in 323 BCE at the age of 32-33 (depending on the source) and left an unorganized kingdom behind. No heir apparent was apparent, and the kingdom was divided into four regions.

Palestine, the home of the Jewish people, came under the dominion of Ptolemy; during his rule, the Jews enjoyed relative peace and the freedom to observe their faith in accordance with the Scriptures.

More than a century later, following the death of Antiochus the Great, Palestine came under the rule of Antiochus IV, who called himself “Antiochus Epiphanes.” The title “epiphanes” meant “manifestation,” and hinted at his belief that he was the manifestation of a god on earth – probably Zeus, the chief of the Greek gods of whom Antiochus was quite fond.

Seeing himself as an apostle of Greek culture (even as Alexander had seen himself), Antiochus Epiphanes was zealous to transform Palestine from a Jewish to a Hellenistic society. Attacking on a Sabbath, when he knew that the Jews would not fight, he slaughtered his enemies in Jerusalem, tore down the city walls and fortified his own choice for High Priest: Menelaus, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, not Levi. Antiochus’ efforts to transform Judaism found some sympathetic supporters among certain, more “modern” segments of the Jews.

When resistance to the non-Levitical priest arose, Antiochus became more determined to Hellenize Palestine. He ordered that Greek gods were to be worshiped by all Jews and equated the God of the Jews with Jupiter. The worship of Bacchus (the god of wine) was made mandatory, which included a drunken orgy. The Jews were not allowed to observe most of their practices, including circumcision, the Sabbath, or the yearly feasts. Copies of the Scriptures were destroyed.

In 168 BCE he had an idol set up on the Temple altar, referred to as the “abomination of desolation” by the Jews, and on the 25th of Kislev (December) sacrificed a pig on the altar and sprinkled the Temple with the blood.

Not all Jews, of course, complied with the orders from Antiochus. One elderly scribe, Eleazar, refused to eat pork – it being forbidden by the Scriptures – and was beaten to death. A mother and her seven children were slaughtered when they refused to worship the image Antiochus had placed in the Temple, and two other mothers were killed for having circumcised their sons.

Antiochus also ordered that pagan altars be established in all villages and required acts of loyalty and worship from the Jews. In the small town of Modin, a representative from Antiochus built an altar and called for the Jews to sacrifice at it to demonstrate their obedience to the government. The priest at Modin was another old man, Mattathias, who also refused to comply. When a capitulating Jew came forward to sacrifice, the old priest killed the Jew and the representative. He then fled to the hills with his five sons. Others followed.

Mattathias died within a year of the revolt, but not before he determined that to defend oneself did not violate the Sabbath . One of his sons, Judas (or Judah in Hebrew), took over leadership of the rebellion. Nicknamed “the Maccabee” (i.e., the hammer), Judas succeeded in defeating and resisting the forces sent against him. He eventually came to Jerusalem, where Menelaus and his followers fled before him, and captured the city and Temple.

One the 25th of Kislev, 165 BCE – three years to the day – the altar to Jupiter was taken down and the image ground to dust. The Temple was cleansed and dedicated: an eight-day Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah, or the Feast of Lights) was observed.

Thus did the observance of Hanukkah begin.

In John 10.22, almost two hundred years later, mention is made of the Feast of Dedication. At that time, one part of the festival included the reading of a portion of Scripture that reminded the people of the unfaithful rulers of the past and the God who would watch over His people. The passage that was read came from the prophet Ezekiel:

“The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

“‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

“`For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them’” (34.1-11, NIV, emphases added)

This, then, is the context for the incredible statements that Jesus made during the Feast of Dedication during His final winter on earth. Against this backdrop Jesus declares, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. . . . My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (Jn 10.14-15, 27-29).

Jesus contrasted Himself with the unfaithful, corrupt shepherds of Israel’s past and declared Himself to be the True Shepherd of God’s people. In so doing, He established the standard for all subsequent shepherds of the people of God and described the responsibilities of leadership: to take care of the flock, to strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back the strays, search for the lost; to rule gently and kindly, and to keep them from scattering and becoming vulnerable to the enemy.

Perhaps the church would do well to observe its own version of the Feast of Dedication. It could be a time of commitment and re-dedication for all those in positions of leadership in the church. Pastors, elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, missionaries, and anyone else who is involved in any type of ministry in the church, would be re-commissioned to their responsibilities. The passage from Ezekiel and others could be charged to them, and a call to a renewed sense of devotion to the Good Shepherd presented. It could serve as a yearly reminder of the privilege and gravity of serving Christ in His church.

Of course, not all in such aforementioned positions would pass the test. This is inevitable and desirable. Those who fail the shepherd’s test should be shepherded themselves, not dismissed from the church, and restored to the health and love that motivated them to begin with. Rather than making such servants or shepherds like disposable containers, they would be valued and loved even as Christ loved Peter and made sure to restore him following his own fall and failure.


2 Cor 1:13