Christ celebrated Channuka, so why don't you?

Question

Keira D - I have no side.

"You seem to be suggesting that this should be enforced. "

You Christians read questions like you read the Bible - making up all sorts of stuff that isn't there

Answer 1

Im not jewish..

Answer 2

Actually DID Jesus celebrate Hanukkah? the Second temple was still being completed in Jesus life time, it was not completed until 70 CE (after his death) so did ANYONE celebrate Hanukkah in Jesus day. Yes the Macabees were defeated in 165 BCE, and you had the rededication of the altar but the rebuilding of the Temple took a long long time. So when did the celebration honoring the memory of the rededication begin being practiced? Before the Temple was finsihed? Probably not. We know when in history it celebrates, I have never seen anything that states when the celebration began.

Until recently Hanukkah was only a very minor holiday and not universally celebrated.

Edit: Actually in answering another question I thought to come back and add this here. Odds are Jesus did not celebrate Hanukkah and no one did at the time. Because Christians were not forced to leave the Jewish Temple until 70 CE when the Second Temple was destroyed, therefore Christians would have celebrated Hannukkah in the temple practices, however there is nothing in history written about it in the early practices of Christianity, so more then likely it was not celebrated until after the expulsion of the Christians.

Ok I did some searching. The first references to the custom of celebrating Hanukkah as a yearly observance and how to follow the observance is laid down in the Talmud, which there are no writings before 200 CE. So while Jesus would have known the miricle of the oils and the rededication of the Temple Altar it is not likely that he or anyone else at the time "celebrated" any Hanukkah observances.

Answer 3

The question is too "in your face" defiant, to be very effective in this forum. It will likely gain nobody over to your side.

The idea underlying it is sound enough, but the presentation is a bit faulty. If a person really wished to follow Jesus of Nazareth, then he or she would follow the religion Jesus himself followed in life: Judaism. The Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples which has been turned into a religious ritual is none other than the Passover Seder which Jesus as an observant Jew would not have missed, nor would his disciples who were also observant Jews. The only difference between the early Christians and the other Jews, was one group believed the Messiah had come, the other did not. Outside of that, there were no significant differences between early Christians and Jews. Paul and later Constantine changed all that, and to make this new faith more palatable to the Gentiles, a stupendous amounts of pagan influence was overlaid on a Judaic foundation. Judaism has no concept of virgin births and god men walking the Earth, but paganism had it aplenty. Dec 25th and the nativity story was plagiarized almost verbatim by the writer of Luke from the Zoroastrian sect of Mithraism, a Sun worshipping cult, whose holy day was SUN-DAY.

The earliest Christian communities, led by Jesus' brother James are known to have historically continued their observance of Judaism and their continuing to meet at Synogogues and observe the true Sabbath which is from Sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday. It was the Roman Emperor Constantine, and not Jesus that changed the day from Saturday to Sunday, at a time when Christianity was no longer a Jewish sect but having absorbed massive elements of pagan faiths, had become something totally different.

But as far as I'm concerned people can celebrate whatever Holiday they like, whether Hannukah, Christmas or Kwanza. It is not for me to command anyone to recognize or observe ANY of them. As a secularist and humanist myself, I don't go to crazy about Holidays much, and prefer to spend Holidays at the beach admiring the beauty of Nature. But each to his own. Makes little difference to me anyway.

You should be aware by now, that even the evidence of history will make little difference and people will continue doing whatever it is they do. Big deal. Nobody is ever going to be damned for celebrating Hanukkah or not celebrating it.
Judaism doesn't believe in eternal damnation either!

Answer 4

It depends on who you ask whether or not Jesus celebrated Hanukkah. Hanukkah celebrated the re-dedication of the temple and the miracle of the 8 day oil. When the Maccabees retook Jerusalem, they replaced the Onias high priest family line with others. I believe that this Onias line founded the Essene movement and Jesus and John the Baptist were born into that Essene community. Therefore, Jesus would have no reason to honor a celebration involving the kicking out of what he would have referred to as "The true High Priests". He would have participated in other Jewish traditions. However, when dealing with Jerusalem or the Temple, he would have entered only through the Essene gate of the city and wouldn't have treated the High Priests with much respect, thinking of them as usurpers who were under Rome's thumb.

Answer 5

I am a Messianic Jew and I DO celebrate Chanukkah! Y'shua celebrated it in John 10:22 ~ The ONLY place it is mentioned in the Bible outside of the Apocrypha!

Y'shua is the Light of the World! I believe He was conceived at Chanukkah and born at Sukkot (Tabernacles)

TO paperback_writer, you are surely mistaken. The 1st Disciples were Jewish and so were all the writters of the Bible from Genisis to Revelation. They never stopped being Jews or following the Torah. Y'shua didn't come to start a new religion. I am a Completed Jew in Him. Isaiah 53:5 says But He was wounded because of our transgressions, He was crushed because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our welfare was upon Him, and with His stripes we were healed.

Y'shua fulfilled 324 Messianic Prophecies that are in the Tanach. Paperback you can call me a mamzer and say that I am no longer a Jew, but a Jew is a Jew is a Jew. Whether if that Jew is Orthodox, Reform, Secular or Messianic they are still Jewish.

Answer 6

Firstly, ALEX C - mazeltov for showing us all that anti semitism is alive and kicking. Now everyone on this site can see what a nasty little racist you are.

TO THE ASKER:

Yep, Jesus lived and died a practising Jew, and he never stated that G-d's eternal covenant with the Jews was being replaced or made redundant.

It was those that came along decades after his death that had to claim this, in order to make Christianity appear logical. Paul was the true founder of Christianity and he never even met Jesus.

The only people who today are following the same religion as Jesus, are the Jews.

And before anyone says it: NO, Jesus is NOT mentioned in the Tanakh ('old' testament). If you believe that you haven't bothered to research the accurate translations of the original Hebrew words.

SANDAND

Er, hellllloooo, anyone in? How could Jesus possibly have celebrated either xmas or easter??? Think about it!

SHMUEL

You are not a 'messianic jew' - you are a Christian. No such thing as 'messianic jew' - nobody can be both Jewish and also Christian at the same time. Could you be both Muslim and Catholic? No? Same logic applies here.

Only Jewish religious law can define who is Jewish. Christians don't get to define that FOR us. 'messianic jews' hold the same beliefs as Christians; that's your right of course. But don't go round pretending to be Jewish when you are totally distorting and misrepresenting Judaism and all it stands for. No Jew accepts Jesus as messiah or as part divine. Not a single one: if they do, they are no longer Jewish, but an apostate. Not me saying it: it's Jewish religious law.

http://www.whatjewsbelieve.org/

http://www.jewsforjudaism.com

Answer 7

It's a Jewish celebration not a Christian. But there is nothing morally wrong in celebrating it. You seem to be suggesting that this should be enforced. But why ?

Answer 8

Don't forget ham on Christmas!
Who came up with that? Man I know it doesn't matter what goes but what comes out the mouth but still, have a turkey.

Answer 9

Christ was Jewish. So, he would have celebrated traditional Jewish holidays. Once He was died and rose again his followers were no longer Jewish, but Christian. Nothing wrong though with celebrating traditional holidays, but we must keep in mind that Jesus was the promised Savior.

Answer 10

I celebrate the Holiday Season...With all due respect to those that tout Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Yule, Festivus, etc...I just keep it simple and reduce to the least offensive denominator...The HOLIDAYS!

Answer 11

Good question!! Once, in Golders green, I sent my mother a Channuka card instead of a Christmas car. She was furious. lol