Every year I like to share this study as we are with the Christmas and Chanukah season, a time to think about what God has done in the past, the birth of Jesus and the importance of family, and for those who feel the pain of an empty seat around the holiday table. I learn about it in March 1994, it comes from Jim Flemings "The Gospel and the Feasts of the Land". It had a tremendous impact on me as my beloved Grandma had died on December 3, 1993, just into the Christmas season. Chanukah is around the same season. Chanukah celebrates when the religion worshiping the true God was "killed" but was restarted. In the book of John there are a group of stories while it does not always follow these steps in the same order, however they all have the same 4 elements: 1. A temple Holiday, 2. Jesus saying something (either to a group or individual) that focuses on a part of the holiday. 3. An "I Am" saying about the topic and 4. A sign focusing on this material. Once again while they all have these four elements, they don't always come in this same order. Actually it does for Chanukah. Jesus is in the Temple celebrating Chanukah, in Solomon's Colonnade which was a part of the temple that dated back to the Maccabees and was the center of the celebration. (Last year someone posted that Jesus was not celebrating Chanukah he just happened to be in the temple that day. But Solomon's Colonnade was the heart of the celebration since it dated back to the event. You may just happen to be in New York City on New Years eve, but you don't have to be in Times Square. Also Chanukah was treated like the other temple holidays, Passover and Feast of Tabernacals that Jesus used as a setting for his "I AM" statements.) Jesus talked about how not even death can keep his loved ones from him. His friend Lazarus died, Jesus stayed away a number of days, he said "I am the Resurrection and the Life" and he raises Lazarus
Since the story starts in John Chapter 10 and continues in Chapter 11 we tend not to see the connection. However it seems as Jesus used foreknowledge to see how important family is this time of year, and he gives a sermon for this time of year, and characteristic of Jesus it is a sermon for those who have a shadow over their holiday. Those who have empty spots around the holiday table, whether it is the table by the Christmas tree, or the table with the 8 lights that they light, but the message is that we celebrate birth of the one who says he is the resurrection and the life. That the true Chanukah light is the God who's worship was stopped and restarted, and that God promises that death is not the end. If God's people have been in the grave for several days, or several years or even several centuries it does not matter because the resurrection is not some future event but a living and breathing person. Our loved ones live in our memory, but even more important they live in God's memory, and if you think about it, being alive in God's memory is being more alive than our conscious existence is here. The person who is the resurrection will indeed come, no matter how long it may seem to delay, and will say to his sleeping loved ones "Come Forth" and reunite all who are willing and the light will never again burn out!
Christmas has a lot of traditions; besides celebrating the birth of Jesus, there is the themes of winter, family, Santa, Rudolf, Frosty, Scrooge etc. Surely there is room to add to this season the story of Chanukah, the story of the raising of Lazarus and have this also be a season to look forward to the resurrection and the life coming and saying to those we have lost to sheol "Come forth!!!" to the grand reunion, add to the traditions of the season the gift that there is an event beyond the grave, looking back to the Chanukah lights, the birth of Jesus, the grown Jesus raising of Lazarus to look forward to when we can be reunited with our loved ones as the Great Controversy draws to a close. Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas!!!
