By Messianic Rabbi David Levine
Secret #1
Did you know that Jesus celebrated Hanukkah, and so did his first followers? It’s in the Bible.
John 10:22–25
22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,
23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.
• Feast of Dedication – NIV footnote – that is, Hanukkah
• As you may know, Hanukkah means dedication.
• It wasn’t a Torah holiday – the events that Hanukkah commemorates took place after the writing of the Torah.
• When is Hanukkah?
Winter time – Kislev 25. It starts at sundown – and continues for a total of 8 days.
What is Solomon’s Colonnade? – it is the part of the Jerusalem temple that the book of Acts says is where all the disciples of Yeshua would gather.
Josephus in his Antiquities: “This restoration of the worship of God was a very joyful event to every religious Israelite; and being considered as a new dedication of the temple, great regard was paid to the festival instituted in remembrance of it.”
Josephus calls it the feast of lights, because the city was illuminated, as expressive of joy.
Lightfoot: The celebration was not restricted to Jerusalem, but was universal.
Solomon’s colonnade was a special place for Yeshua and his disciples.
Mentioned three times in the Book of Acts
Acts 2:46
Every day the disciples continued to meet together in the temple courts.
Acts 3:11
They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the lame man who was healed was holding tightly to Peter and John.
Acts 5:12
The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.
Secret #2
Did you know that the first people to be happy about the birth of Jesus were Jewish? That’s also in the Bible.
Let’s look at three people who were happy about the birth of Jesus.
First is a young Jewish woman named Miriam. We’ll read about her when she’s visited by an angel.
Luke 1:29
29 Mary was greatly troubled at the angel’s words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
• OK. You’re right. Her first response wasn’t joy – it was fear.
• But let’s read on to a moment when she’s excited about the birth of Jesus.
Luke 1:46
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
So now we see Miriam is happy.
Rejoicing.
She sees the blessing.
She sees the faithfulness of God.
She sees that God is faithful to Israel.
She sees that God is fulfilling his promise to her Jewish ancestors, starting with Abraham.
Let’s look at more people who were happy about Jesus’ birth.
Next is a Jewish man named Simeon or Shimon.
Luke 2:25
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.
26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Torah required,
28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.
34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,
35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
The third is a Jewish woman named Hannah or Anna:
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Torah of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.
40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
Miriam.
Shimon.
Hannah.
Three Jews who were happy about the birth of Jesus. The first people who were happy about the birth of Jesus were Jews. That’s the second Jewish secret at Christmastime.
Secret #3
Did you know that Jesus’ mom called him Yeshua (not Jesus)?
Let’s return to the NIV version in English.
Luke 1:31–32
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
But what language did Miriam speak? Not English!
The Angel would have been speaking to her in Hebrew for a reason – it is only in Hebrew that the name has any meaning.
The Hebrew is Yeshua – which means Salvation from God.
Yeshua and Yehoshua are related names – Yeshua and Joshua.
Salvation from God. The name means something specific in Hebrew.
Matthew provides a detail missing from Luke’s account. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him how to name the child, and why.
Matthew 1:21
21 She will give birth to a son, and you shall give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.
This name – Yeshua – means something – call him this because he will save his people from their sins.
Salvation from God – that’s what to call him – because he will save.
So not only did Miriam call him Yeshua, but Joseph also did.
It was a family thing!
As the story of Yeshua moved into other languages, the name was transformed. Nothing sinister – just the common way names change as they move around.
The same thing happened to Moses. His given name was Moshe. But it became Moses by the time it got to English.
Same for Yeshua…his given name was Yeshua, but it became Jesus by the time it got to English.
Here’s the thing – Yeshua is a great name, filled with meaning.
And let’s notice something – Yeshua is a name that has a good Jewish feel doesn’t it?
There it is – hidden in plain sight. Another Jewish secret at Christmastime.
Secret #4
Did you know that the first people to use Christ as a synonym for Messiah were Jews who spoke Greek?
Here’s the last Jewish secret for Christmastime that I want to mention.
The Jewish Bible was written originally in Hebrew, with some parts in the related language, Aramaic.
But as Jews spread into the Greek speaking world and the countries of the Roman empire, not every Jew read or spoke Hebrew as a first language.
That’s why the Jewish Bible was translated into Greek. The translation is called the Septuagint.
It uses Greek, but in a special Jewish way – because it preserves the distinctive qualities of the Hebrew language. It’s not good Greek. It’s Jewish Greek – that’s what Dan Gruber calls it.
So when the translators were looking for a Greek word to use for Mashiach – Messiah, they chose the Greek word Christos.
Mashiach in Hebrew means the one anointed with oil – or the Anointed One.
Christos was used, not so much as a perfect translation, because it wasn’t precise, but as a substitute or stand in word. Whenever Christos was read, it was understood to mean Mashiach, Messiah.
Now when the rest of the Bible was written – some in Hebrew, some in Greek – the apostles used the Septuagint as their literary stylebook.
So what word would the apostles use for Mashiach?
That’s right, Christos.
So there you have it, one more Jewish secret at Christmastime.
Let’s remember the birth of Yeshua the Messiah – even though early believers didn’t celebrate a Christmas holiday. And lots of early believers thought Yeshua was not born this time of year.
And yes we can remember that many Christmas traditions are not Biblical, they aren’t Jewish – and some are originally from pagan practices and holidays – but it’s still amazing isn’t it? – that after all these years, the Bible text still has all these Jewish secrets – they are hidden in plain view.
I want to encourage you to be lighthearted and joyful about this crazy fact – Many in the world around us are stopping to think about, even worship, the Jewish Messiah.
That’s an incredible secret worth telling others about.
