Today is December 12, a day like any other for many of us. However, as the sun sets this evening, Jewish homes throughout the world will begin a beautiful eight-night celebration of remembrance and worship, commemorating the rededication of the Lord's temple by the lighting of candles.

In Christianity, we often overlook Hanukkah, simply because of the importance of Christmas in our lives. As a result, we miss the biblical significance of this Jewish observance. If we open our Bibles and look in the Old Testament, we won’t find the holiday mentioned anywhere. However, when we turn to the New Testament, we see Jesus in the temple celebrating Hanukkah in John 10.

So, where did this holiday come from? Why did Jesus celebrate it? And what does it mean for Christ followers today? The extrabiblical historical accounts of Josephus, as well as 1 Maccabees, tell us that roughly 160 years before the birth of Jesus, Israel was living under the rule of the pagan Greek forces of the Seleucids, descendants of one of the generals of Alexander the Great.

Under the rule of King Antiochus IV, the Seleucids were brutally oppressive to the Jewish people. The king made it a capital offense for Jews to circumcise their boys, possess Scriptures, observe the Sabbath, or follow Hebrew dietary laws.

Antiochus ended the daily sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem and the observance of high holy days. He also carried out the sacrifice of a pig — an unclean animal — on the temple altar, dedicating God’s temple to Zeus and plundering its sacred treasures. This was a dark time for God’s people.

The Seleucids crucified many Jews, young and old, for their love of God. They strangled women in their homes for following God’s commandments. The Seleucids brutalized young men, tearing away their flesh until they died, for reading the words of Scripture. It was a time of great sorrow for those who loved the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In 167 B.C., Antiochus sought to continue his subjugation of the Jewish nation by sending pagan priests with armed escorts and private altars to each of the towns throughout Israel, forcing the Jewish priests of each village to sacrifice on the pagan altar in a show of fealty.

This portable altar arrived in the small town of Modin, a short distance from Jerusalem. There, the elder priest Mattathias be Yohana — believed to be a descendant of Phineas, the man of zeal in Numbers 25 — refused to sacrifice on a pagan altar. However, a young priest did step forward and carry out the sacrifice.

From the Old Testament to the New Testament, God’s personal involvement in the lives of people is evident.

In their zealous anger for the Lord, Mattathias and his five sons lashed out, slaughtering the envoy of Greeks in the village, as well as the young Jewish priest. They called all those who still had love and zeal for the Lord to follow them.

Mattathias and his sons and those who followed them fled into the wilderness, igniting a war of independence. After more than two years of fighting, Matthias died. His leadership passed to his son Judas, who had become an accomplished warrior. Under Judas’ guerilla warfare attack strategy, he and his men took back the temple in 164 B.C.

When the men reached the temple, they wept at the sight of it. What was once a dwelling for the presence of God was now an unclean place. They began to purge the temple, destroying the previous sacrificial altar and building a new one. The men made a new altar of incense, shewbread table, and menorah.

The group even tore down and replaced all the veils, linens and doors to remove every reminder of the impurity that had existed there. After three years of desolation, the temple again became a place for the worship of the God of Israel.

Later, in the fourth and fifth centuries, the Hanukkah story of the menorah emerged. According to that tradition, there was a lack of oil at the temple dedication, but the temple menorah miraculously kept burning for eight nights. However, this does not appear in the historical texts of Josephus or 1 Maccabees.

Instead, these accounts focus on the greatest miracle of Hanukkah: that a small group of Jewish rebels could stand against a mighty kingdom and restore the name and ways of the one true God in the land of Israel.

John 10:22 reflects this, referring to the holiday as “the Festival of Dedication” (Hanukkah in the NLT, ISV and The Message). Jesus’ celebration of Hanukkah reminds us of the importance of remembering and acknowledging God’s work on our behalf.

At this place that was dedicated to God, Jesus shows up as God in the flesh. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, God’s personal involvement in the lives of people is evident.

Though we might not be Jewish or accustomed to commemorating Jewish holidays, we and the Jewish nation serve the same God: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In taking time to learn about this holiday, we too can be reminded that no matter what external forces the world brings against us, God calls us to remain on the path of righteousness, standing firm in our faith, knowing that we will ultimately see the victory in the name of the Lord.