At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So, the Jews gathered around Him and said to Him, “How long will you keep us in the suspense?”(John 10:22).
The Feast of Dedication commemorates the victory of the Jews over the Greek oppression and the rededication of the temple. In 162 BC Antiochus Epiphanes took control of the temple and offered a pig on the altar in the temple desecrating the temple. Under the leadership of Judah Maccabee and his three brothers, they raised up an army of freedom fighters. For three years they fought and regained control of the temple on the 25th Kislev in 165 BC.
The temple was rededicated for 8 days and the miraculous event of the eternal flame burning for eight days, with only one day’s oil supply, gave rise to the Festival of Lights, or better known as Hanukkah. On the Gregorian calendar this date coincided with the 24th December in the year 165 BC.
It is on this day Jesus, the Light of the World, was walking on the Porch of Solomon. The question the Jews wanted answered was: ”If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus responded and said: “ I told you, and you do not believe.”
The Jews was outraged at this statement and accused Jesus of blasphemy. This accusation was levied against the backdrop of the statements recorded in the gospel of John, where Jesus said that He is the Bread of Life that came down from heaven, that He claimed to be the Light of World, that He will raise the dead on the last day, and that He forgave the woman who committed adultery.
When Jesus however, told them that He and the Father is one, the Jews picked up stones to stone Jesus for blasphemy. Jesus as always, referred them to scripture and asked them for which of the works He had done, did they want to stone Him. Their reply: “You, being a man, make yourself God.”
Jesus quoted from Psalm 82 to refute the accusation of blasphemy against Him. Psalm 82 reads:
God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods, he holds judgment:
“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
Arise, O God, judge the earth; for You shall inherit all the nations!
In His reply, by quoting from Psalm 82, Jesus placed the emphasis on the fact that the Israelite community who received the law at Sinai, the ones to whom the word of God came according to Rabbinical interpretation, was seen as “gods”. The Psalm however, elevates the supremacy of the only God and Jesus by using this very analogy, not only “made Himself out to be equal to God” but made the statement that He was the One the Father sent into world, clearly claiming that He was God. In fact, He plainly stated in verse 36 that He was the Son of God.
This discourse took place on the 25th Kislev, which is known on the Gregorian calendar as Christmas eve, the evening before the day that is celebrated by most people, as the day on which Jesus was born. Was Jesus born on the 25th December? Unlikely. But on this day, Jesus declared Himself to be the Son of God, Who came into the world to redeem mankind. What a reason to celebrate.
