Never burns out!

“Hanukkah: Becoming the Light”

This week we celebrate Hanukkah, a feast rich with meaning that reaches far beyond history. While there are many powerful lessons woven into this celebration, today I want to focus on just one.

Jesus Himself celebrated Hanukkah.
Joh 10:22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.

The word Hanukkah means “dedication,” and the feast commemorates a miraculous victory won by the Jewish people against overwhelming odds. In 168 BC, the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes attempted to forcibly assimilate Jewish worship into pagan culture. He outlawed the study of Torah, banned circumcision and temple worship, erected an idol of Zeus in the temple, and demanded that a pig be sacrificed on the altar. The people of God refused to compromise their faith.

After three and a half years of rebellion and resistance, the Jews regained control of Jerusalem and began cleansing and rededicating the temple. Scripture teaches that the temple lampstand was never to go out, yet they found only enough consecrated oil to last one day. By faith, they used what they had and God worked a miracle. The oil burned for eight days, the exact amount of time required to prepare new sacred oil. This is why Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and why a special menorah, called a Hanukkiah, with eight candles is used to remember the miracle.

One of the most powerful lessons of Hanukkah is found in the lighting of the candles themselves. The middle candle, known as the Shamash, the servant candle, is used to light all the others. For Christians, this candle beautifully points to Jesus, the Light of the World. He imparts His light to us and then calls us light of the world as well. He shares His revealed nature with us.

Revelation is light. God desires that we understand and walk in mysteries that have been hidden for ages. Yet sometimes we do not remain long enough under the burning presence of the Shamash, Jesus our Teacher, to truly be transformed.

Just as one candle lights another, the wick must remain within the flame. It must stay under its presence until it catches fire and becomes a flame itself. A brief touch is not enough; abiding is required.

The Light of the World invites us not merely to reflect His light, but to become like Him—light that burns on its own because it carries the fire of another realm.

Light that comes from another realm never burns out. Remain within the flame.