Is John 10 making reference to the Feast of Dedication called Hanukkah? Quite possibly not. Why? John 11:55 gives us clues for a time in Winter and also close to the First Passover. Hanukkah is observed often before Winter begins on 12-21 for Israel and other countries north of the equator. Most years, Hanukkah is celebrated in November or December  and over before 12-21. It rarely begins on or after 12-21. So, Hanukkah is RARELY IN WINTER. When is First Passover? It is in March or April. These events are 3-4 months apart.

 

   Hanukkah is not the only event as a feast of dedication. The Tenakh lists several dedications, none of which are Hanukkah. These 4 are noted in Numbers 7:84-88, 2 Chronicles: 7-9, Ezra 6:16-17, and Nehemiah 12:27. With reference to Winter (after 12-21) and John 11:55 stating that "Passover was nigh at hand" narrows down to 1 of the 4 dedications. It is Ezra 6:16-17 when the Second Temple was dedicated. This was in late Winter. Here is the text. "And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the King." When is the month of Adar or Adar II? It is just before Nisan when the First Passover was celebrated. So is John 10 about Hanukkah? Quite possibly not. In http://newsletter.followersofyah.com/read2013/12/hanukkah-truth-or-tradition/   are thoughtful questions. "So, why would He celebrate the Feast of Dedication? He is the True Temple and condemned the old temple for destruction. So why would we honor the wrong temple? For that matter, why celebrate a temple that no longer exists and that the Messiah condemned to destruction and replacement?"

 

   Also, Messiah/Christ would NEVER NEED TO CELEBRATE the warfare and mass murder of the times of Judah Maccabee. The Messiah is The Prince of Peace, not a Death Prince of carnage, murder, and mayhem. Hanukkah events pointed to the future, the First Coming of the Messiah. For 20 centuries already, The Redeemer is true temple, true dedication, true sacrifice in blood, true light of lights, true living Torah, true forgiveness for the repentant, and true eternal life.

 

 

 

With Love and Shalom,

Jean