Master Minded Ministries Newsletter - December 2021
Why Should Christians Know About Hanukkah?
by Dave McGarrah
Most of the time when we hear about Hanukkah, we think it’s a “Jewish Thing.” However, you may be surprised when you hear a bit more about it. A couple of days ago, on Tuesday, December 12th, the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah began. Many Christians are familiar with the eight-day festival of Hanukkah because of its proximity to Christmas. It is commemorated on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, and falls sometime in late November or December.
Although a celebration of Christmas is nowhere to be found in the New Testament, Hanukkah finds its way into the Gospels and serves as an important backdrop in the ministry of Jesus in John 10. To understand the significance of this aspect of His ministry, however, it is necessary to understand Hanukkah. In 167 B.C., the Syro-Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes began to persecute the Jewish people. Antiochus IV Greek forbade circumcision, burned Jewish Scriptures, forced Jews to eat unclean swine’s flesh, and desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem by commanding an un-kosher sacrifice of swine on the Temple’s altar.
Horrified by the sacrilege of Antiochus, an elderly priest, Mattathias and his son Judah Maccabaeus (AKA: “the Hammer”) formed a militia and waged guerilla warfare against the occupying Greek forces. Almost three years later the revolution succeeded and the Temple was rededicated in 164 B.C. on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev. The festival commemorating the event is called Hanukkah, which means “Dedication.” The feast of Hanukkah lasts eight days because Judas Maccabaeus wanted to imitate the original dedication of the Temple by King Solomon, which lasted eight days. Judas Maccabaeus decreed that a new eight-day festival on the twenty-fifth day of the Jewish month of Kislev.
The Jewish Talmud offers another tradition to explain the eight days of Hanukkah. When the Jews recaptured Jerusalem from the abusive Greeks, the Jewish priests did not have enough oil to keep the Temple’s menorah lit. There was only enough sacred oil to burn for one day and it would take at least a week to mix a fresh supply of holy oil. To put it in a little different context, imagine being marooned on a deserted island. You only have 4% battery life left in your cell phone…but it lasts for eight days, when you are rescued. The miracle of Hanukkah was that the oneday supply of holy oil lasted for eight days. For this reason, Jews light the menorah during the eight days of the festival.
Most of my Christian friends are unaware of these connections. As a result, they miss the important “Hanukkah message” of Christ in John’s Gospel. The presence of Christ at the Temple during Hanukkah is important because Hanukkah recalled how the Maccabees dedicated the Temple after the Greeks had defiled it. However, the presence of God’s glory did not manifest itself at the re-dedication of the Maccabees and fill the Temple as it did in the days of King Solomon. Since the time of the Maccabees, God had not inhabited the Temple as He had before the Jews’ Babylonian exile. The presence of Christ in the Temple at Hanukkah shows that God’s presence had once again entered the Temple. It was the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem.
It was winter and Jesus was walking in the Temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered round him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us openly” (Jn 10:22-24). It was during Hanukkah that Christ answered them by boldly proclaiming: “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10: 30). Christ entered into the Temple at the feast of Hanukkah and presented himself as the God of Israel. His enemies immediately understood His claim in light of Hanukkah’s significance. We know this because they took up stones to stone him and said “we stone you for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself to be God” (Jn 10:31-33).
Hence, the festival of Hanukkah serves as a sign of Christ’s fulfillment of the Temple and the entire Old Covenant. Jesus was not only a gifted rabbi from Nazareth— He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 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) 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. Our Rabbi, Jesus the Christ, remains the Light of the world! Happy Hanukkah!
2022 – Here We Go Again – Happy New Year
by Jerri McGarrah
Are you looking forward to 2022? Yes, I am, too. I’ll probably make some new goals and consider all the ones that I failed in the past, you know, like losing weight, getting healthier, eating better, less stress, more focused and working to make better decisions, probably like 90% of the population! I know myself well enough to know that I’ll even spend money on doing something different.
If you know me, you know I love books! I’m sure there are some great ones out there that can inspire me to try it again, maybe even keep me on task for more than a week or two. The last book I found and spent money on really had me excited. I even planned my course of action. I’ve got the “map” for the direction I want to go. (It’s always about food at this point.) I had a four-week menu planner, the grocery list, the choices I could have in a day. This time I got as far as writing down the grocery list but never managed to get those items at the store! Another failed attempt – my excuse? Somebody invited us out to dinner. So there you go! As I was exploring my new book, by a doctor even, I felt a nudge in my spirit; “How many books do you need to tell you what you already know?”
I haven’t been able to get away from that question because it is such a penetrating one. I have been thinking about that in other areas as well, “How many books do you need to tell you what you already know?” As I’ve been thinking about all of us on this road as believers, it would be so nice if we could just find that one thing that we could grab on to and find all the right answers and adjust our life so that everything just worked. I know, there’s the Bible, but isn’t there just an amazing book that could really help us with all the “to dos” so we could just “do that” and everything would make sense? Some of my books: “Lord, Change Me”, “Finding Your Spiritual Gifts”, “Sacred Marriage”, “Our Brilliant Heritage” and so many others!
In fact, as I was writing this part I got up to look at all the books I have to inspire me and, my goodness, I ended up pulling at least 3 down that I want to look at more closely! Sound familiar? So, now what do we do? Is it enough to be curious, to be inspired, to look for the right perspective, to even make a plan? Is it enough to have the knowledge and the right answers if we don’t do anything about it? If this were enough I’d be skinny!
Here’s the truth of this message; it comes from 1 Corinthians 4:20; “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power?” Paul is challenging an attitude that is pervasive in the Corinthian church (maybe our church as well). An attitude of arrogance, pride and condemnation is what encompassed the church. Paul talks about the consistency of his life; “For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” (1 Cor 4:17) Here’s my takeaway; is my life consistent? Is what I know, what I say and how I live the same? (Actually no – I eat potato chips!) I know, now I’m meddling – this is just for me. If I want what I know I should want, am I willing to make the sacrifice to live consistently in order to make a straight path to my goal? When is today going to be the real beginning?
In other words, when I go shopping instead of treating myself to those potato chips, I should find another “treat” that would be a smarter option. Wow, what a concept, right? But I want to share the deeper spiritual ramifications to this. What is going on in your life that you wish you could change? It could be close to home, family, relationships, your marriage, anything that you would like to change. You may have physical issues that you could help if you’d make a few changes in your lifestyle. You may even have books because you’re willing to buy the answers. You may have even read the books and highlighted the really important things you want to think about. Great! What have you done about it? So, is it enough to know? You see, faith actually isn’t enough. I’m sure if I did all those things in the book about losing weight that they would work. I’m sure about that! I’d be healthier and look better but the fact remains that if I just really, really know all about it, but never do it, I’m as lost as a person who never knew anything. It makes no difference.
Convincing isn’t the answer. It’s doing it. But, it’s hard and I’m weak! I get it. The life of the believer has to more than talk – it has to reveal a power to live it out and that power has to be from the living Lord living in us. There is something that happens, that we have to do first, in order to find it. We take the first step in either a sacrifice or choice. We make the first shift in our pattern. It’s Peter stepping out of the boat in order to walk on water. It’s the disciples breaking that first little loaf of bread and breaking the fish in order to feed the multitudes. It’s allowing what you know to determine your actions.
All this to say, your goals and desires may be very good but until there is a moment that you put feet to your words, nothing will happen. You probably know God’s word and have even memorized scripture, but when your life takes on the real power of God reflected in your actions, they’re merely words that may or may not be true.
This is my prayer for you for your new year.
May the Lord draw close to you and show you what He wants to do in and through you and may He give you His power in order to be obedient to Him as He shows you.
Live joyfully, love brilliantly, and be extravagant in your blessings.
Master Minded Ministries Update
God has been so good and faithful to open doors of opportunity for MMM and the praise is all to Him. This year we have expanded the footprint of “The Teacher and the Preacher”. We are now broadcasting in 22 stations and have a podcast along with a social media presence. Although our planned trips were postponed, we have heard from many more who are waiting for the opportunity to travel and we feel like we could offer 3 trips in 2022. We have had the great privilege of helping a pastor be able to travel to Israel with CUFI.
We have taught and preached to hundreds about the Jewish roots of Christianity. Because of God’s leading and generous donors, our future is great and timing couldn’t be more critical. If you have a heart to reach out to our Jewish friends and family, we would love to hear from you and give you an opportunity to join the ranks.
All donations are tax deductible.
