The Light of the Season

I was wished a Happy Hanukkah AND Kwanzaa last night – and so were you if you were tuned into the Chicago and Green Bay football game. Hanukkah is the Hebrew word for “dedication,” and it celebrates the rededication of the Temple to the Lord after it was desecrated by the Gentiles and the subsequent Jewish victory and independence in 165 B.C. Although it’s not described in Scripture, it is the most historically documented of all Jewish holidays. Last night we were shown the huge 9-pillar “lamp” called a hanukkiyah in downtown Chicago and told how it is lit from right to left, progressing with the eight day celebration. (I'm thinking the commentator was not Jewish as traditionally the lamp is lit from left to right.)

Kwanzaa runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 and is a unique African American celebration which focuses on the traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce, and self-improvement. It, too, has a “lamp” called a Kinara. The Kinara holds seven candles to reflect the seven principles which are the foundation of Kwanzaa. Each day of Kwanzaa, a new pillar is lit.

Hanukkah and Kwanzaa: two festivals, each having “light” as their central point of celebration.

And then there’s Christmas. It, too, centers around a Light; a Light by which all others cannot even dimly compare, for this Light is the central personality of all of history. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned (Is. 9:2). Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." (John 8:12).

So celebrate this Christmas season knowing that no culture can quench Him, no government can douse Him, and no place of employment can ban Him, for He is the bright, unquenchable and inescapable Christ, and on us, this Light has dawned.