Jewish Festivals and History at the time of the birth of the Christ Child…in the life of Mary, Mother of God

HANUKKAH
Jewish Celebration

The history concerning Hanukkah goes back over two thousand years and involves the holy Temple of Jerusalem. It was in the Temple that the holy book of Torah was kept. The Torah contained the writings of Moses as well as the laws and customs of the Jewish faith. Over many years, the Temple was controlled by different rulers, some of whom did not respect the Jewish faith and put statues of their own gods in the Temple. Finally, after many years of war and persecution, the Jews regained control of the Temple but it was in ruins. History has it that the Jews began rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 B.C. A legend from that time tells how the Jews found a small amount of oil to light the Temple lamp. It was believed that the oil would only last one or two days. But the oil lasted for eight days and nights. The Jews celebrated during this time and rededicated the Temple. Hanukkah dates vary between the early month of November and during late December.

Hanukkah is also known as the “Festival of Lights” because in each synagogue, a holy lamp burns above Jewish scriptures. The light represents a symbol, being the strength of God. Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting of a candle on the Menorah (candle holder) holding nine candles. Eight candles represent the days the oil of the temple lamp lasted. The ninth candle known as Shammes , is a helping candle. The Shammus is the first candle that is lit, and used to light the rest of the candles. The candles are are lit just after the sun goes down. Families sing a Hanukkah song while watching the candles burn.

Latkes (potato pancakes) fried in oil, jelly doughnuts and many other treats fried in oil are enjoyed during Hanukkah. Families sing various songs play games in the light of the Menorah. Children add to their fun with Dreidels– a four sided “top” that they spin meaning “A great Miracle Happened There.” Like many other Jewish Holidays, Hanukkah is a special time for families to be together and celebrate the festivities of joy and thanksgiving.

The history of Israel

Jews lived in Israel at the time of Christ. They probably did not feel very safe. Once, their country had been very powerful. David and Solomon had been their kings. That was 1000 years ago. Now they were not powerful. The people had done wrong things. They had not obeyed God. God had spoken to Abraham and Moses. He had given them a Covenant (made a special agreement with them). But the people did not obey God’s rules. God punished them. He made them leave their country. He had told them that he would do this. In 586 BC, enemies burned down the Temple of Solomon. This temple was one of the most wonderful buildings in the world. The enemies took away everything that was inside the Temple.

After 70 years, some of the Jews returned to Israel. But it was very difficult to live there. While the Jews were away, many foreigners had come to live there. After some time the Jews did build the Temple again. This was much smaller than Solomon’s Temple. It was not so beautiful.

At this time, there were very strong rulers in the world. There were very strong countries. People from Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia and Greece were very powerful. Their armies marched into many countries.

Armies from Greece enter Israel

Alexander the Great (from Greece) entered Israel and many other countries. Alexander was not only a military leader. He also introduced new ideas to these countries. He made the Greek language and customs popular. Some Jews began to serve false Greek gods. After Alexander’s death, his Generals (important officers) fought against each other. Each one wanted to rule parts of his lands. Some of these battles were in Israel. Then one General spoilt the Temple, which the Jews had rebuilt. This General did some evil things in the Temple. He killed people who would not serve his false Greek gods. So, some Jews became very angry.

The Maccabees

The Maccabees were a family. They wanted the Jews to serve the true God only. And they opposed the false Greek gods. The Maccabees encouraged the Jews to fight their enemies. The Maccabees ruled *Israel for a short time.

The Romans

The Jews began to argue with each other. Then the Romans came and ruled Israel. They were very strict. The Jews wanted to be free. But the Roman Empire became very strong. The Romans ruled many countries. Their power was very great. It seemed impossible for the Jews to be free.

King Herod’s Temple

At the time of the birth of Jesus, the Romans had made Herod to be king over Israel. Herod was not a Jew. He was a foreigner. Although he was a Jew by religion, he did not obey the laws of the Jews. He was a strong and cruel man. He became king by a plot. He wanted to control the Jews. So he built the Temple again. He made it much bigger. His workmen began to build the Temple in 20 BC. They continued until about AD 64. Herod’s Temple was a very beautiful building.

But what happened in the Temple was not always good. People did not always behave in the right way:

• A Jew might want to kill an animal as a sacrifice (as a gift to God). He had to buy the animal from a special shopkeeper. The rulers in the Temple chose the shopkeepers. The shopkeepers could ask for big prices. People could not bring any other animals, even if they were good animals!
• The Romans appointed the high priest. But one family gave money to the Romans. So the Romans always chose men from that family to become the high priests.

Sadducees and Pharisees

One group of Jews were called Sadducees. They had different ideas from other Jews. They did not believe in the supernatural. They had very different ideas. Some people also have such ideas today. Really the Sadducees were a political party. They wanted to please the Romans. This group was very powerful. They did not care what they did. They wanted to remain powerful.

Another group were Pharisees. They studied the law of Moses. They did not always know its true meaning. Later, Jesus spoke to them about this. The leaders of the Pharisees were rich and powerful.

There were also some good Jews. These people wanted to please God. And they wanted to know more about God. They read the books of the prophets. So, these people believed that God would send a Messiah. The Messiah would be a good king. He would rule over them well. They desired that the king would come. But they had waited for a very long time. There had been no prophet for more than 400 years. Some people probably thought that God had forgotten them. Or, that God had left them. So, they were not sure that the words of the prophets would come true.

It was difficult for people in the time of Christ to understand the prophets’ words about the Messiah. There were many prophets. The meaning of their words was not always easy. Sometimes they did not seem to agree with one another. Many prophets wrote that the Messiah would be a great king. He would bring a time of peace. For the Jews there had been hundreds of years of battles, war and death. Enemies had made them prisoners. Enemies had destroyed their land. Of course the people wanted the Messiah. They wanted the words of the prophets to come true.

The Messiah would bring peace

Isaiah 54:11-15: You suffering citizens, storms have hurt you. And no one has comforted you. I will build your city. I will build its strong walls and its gates of precious and beautiful stones. The Lord will teach all your sons. Your children will live in peace. You will know true goodness. No one will come near you to hurt you. There will be nothing for you to be afraid of. I do not want anyone to attack you. If anyone does attack you, they will give in to you.

Micah 4:3: The Lord will be the judge between many nations. He will settle arguments for strong rulers from many countries. They will beat their swords and *spears into farmers’ tools. People from different nations will not fight or prepare to fight each other.

The Messiah would be a king

The prophets spoke about the birth of a king in Bethlehem, (Micah 5:2).

He would be from the family of David (2 Samuel 5:2). He would rule everywhere and for ever (2 Samuel 7:13, 16; Isaiah 9:6, 7; Micah 2:2-5). His rule would be good and completely right. It would please God. It would be like God’s first plan for the world, or even better. (The *angel who visited Mary spoke about the prophecy about a king, Luke 1:32, 33.)

The Messiah would be a judge

There were other prophecies. These said that this king would judge. He would judge all that is evil. John the Baptist knew these prophecies. Many of them are about the ‘Day of the Lord’. This means the time when men will see God’s power. The king will be absolutely right and good. He will be a wise judge. But men will have great terror because he has these qualities. (See for example, Isaiah 13:6-13). John the Baptist spoke about this.

The Messiah would suffer

Some prophecies also spoke about the Lord’s servant who would suffer, Isaiah 42:13-53:12. He would be a man who would be very sad.

How to understand the prophecies

This confused the Jews who lived in the time of Jesus. We can see their problems:
• How could the Messiah be all this?
• How could one man be a powerful king and also a servant who is sad?
• How could he be a strict judge and also bring peace for ever?

But they were sure that the Messiah would be a king. He would chase away all enemies. And all who had taken their land. He would give them peace, and freedom to rule themselves for ever. They did not understand the prophecies. So they did not understand what Jesus did. Christ makes all these prophecies come true, in a wonderful way. He made some prophecies come true when he came into the world for the first time. He will make other prophecies come true when he comes back again.

Elijah would come before the Messiah

We must mention one more prophecy. The Lord said that Elijah would come before the Messiah. Someone would bring the message about him.

Malachi 4:5, 6: See, the great day of the Lord will come. Before that, I will send the Prophet Elijah to you. He will help fathers to love their children. And he will help children to love their fathers. If not, I will come. I will bring bad things to the land.

The Jews thought that Elijah himself would appear. This was because his death was unusual (2 Kings 2:11). But later Jesus explained this prophecy. The *prophecy referred to John the Baptist. John came like Elijah, with the power of Elijah. This is the subject for our next section.
[Note also Deuteronomy 18:15, 18; Daniel 7:27.]

Zechariah and Elizabeth

The words of the prophets were true. What they said would happen, began to happen. There were still Jews who loved God. They were honest. They wanted to please God.

Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, loved God. Zechariah was a priest. He was on duty at the Temple twice a year. Zechariah and Elizabeth loved God very much. But they had no children. For Jews to have no children was very sad. They also felt ashamed. They had prayed for a child for a very long time. God did not seem to answer.

Then one day Zechariah was on duty in the Temple. He had a very special duty. He would do this only once in his life. He had to burn incense to God at the altar in the Holy Place in the Temple. [This incense would have a very lovely smell. The Jews believed that the smell carried their words to God.]

When Zechariah was doing this, an angel suddenly appeared to him. The angel had a message for him from God.

The angel’s message about John the Baptist

Luke 1:13: Do not be afraid, Zechariah; God has heard your prayer. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son. You are to call him John.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were now old. So Zechariah could not believe the angel’s message. The angel made him unable to speak (and probably unable to hear) until Elizabeth had her son, John. The angel said that John was to be ‘great in the sight of the Lord’ [God would think that John was great]. God would give John the Holy Spirit. The angel also said this.

The words of the angel referred to the prophecy of Malachi:

Malachi 4:5, 6: See, the great day of the Lord will come. Before that, I will send the prophet Elijah to you. He will help fathers to love their children. And help children to love their fathers. If not, I will come. I will bring bad things to the land.

Luke 1:17: And he [John] will go on before the Lord, like Elijah. [God would think that John was as great as Elijah.] He will have the same kind of spirit and power as Elijah. He will help fathers to love their children. And help the bad people to love the wisdom of the good people. He will prepare for the Lord.

Before the birth of John, Zechariah probably studied the prophecies in our previous section. And he would have studied other prophecies like them.

John the Baptist would be a Nazirite

The angel also said this: John was to be a Nazirite as long as he lived, (see Numbers 6:1-21). This meant that John would not drink any wine. And John would not cut his hair. A Nazirite promised to live only for the Lord. We know about two other men who were Nazirites for all of their lives. These were Samson and Samuel. John was to be a very special person. To be a Nazirite helped him to remember this.

This is the time in which Mary, Mother of God…lived with her son Jesus. This is the history of happenings in which they were principle actors. This is the era of His birth, life and death. However, we will concentrate on his birth and life for now.

Hannukah is celebrated hand in hand with the Birth of Christ…Christmas! This year it ends on the 23rd. We celebrate the fourth Sunday of Advent on the 24th and the Birth of the Christ on the 25th.

Birth Place

According to tradition, Mary gave birth to Jesus at the place of where the star is located on the floor. The tradition that the birth was in a cave is one of the oldest Christian traditions. Justin Martyr mentions it in the mid-2nd century, as does the Protoevangelium of James (also 2nd c.). Origen notes that the cave of Jesus’ birth was pointed out in his day and no doubt this was the same place where the Byzantine church was erected.

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- With three months, MARY’S pregnancy has already become visible. So, when SHE arrived in Nazareth, HER parents, relatives and friends exulted with the novelty. Although MARY was still “bride” , in that period called “Conduction”, the pregnancy was considered legal.

However, Joseph did not understand what happened with his bride. Even though he had a perfect knowledge about MARY´S virtues as well as her entire religious formation, he was confused about that occurrence. Same understanding Joseph’s drama, Mary has felt should not take the initiative in to explain the fact because it was in the domain of GOD and no one better than HE to find the opportune moment to justify the happening. So, SHE preferred to silence herself as well as to wait the divine providence.

But Joseph is not understanding what happened and he is not finding explanations for his bride’s pregnancy, “Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately”. (Matthews 1.19) However, while he decided about this, in the sleep an Angel of the LORD told him:

“But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the LORD appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee MARY thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the HOLY GHOST. And she shall bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying”.(Matthews 1.20-22)

So, everything was accomplished conform the LORD had said by the prophet: “Therefore the LORD himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel”. (Isaiah 7.14)

When Joseph awoke up he acted as the Angel had ordered, therefore was calm and totally recovered the emotional balance, removing from away of his mind the temptation of the devil that placed the malice into his thought.