Many Christians today encounter claims from the Hebrew Roots movement that believers must observe the festivals listed in the Torah and avoid anything not specifically commanded by Yahweh. According to this argument, any celebration outside Leviticus 23 is viewed as illegitimate or even sinful.
Yet Scripture itself provides a clear counterexample. Jesus participated in a festival that Yahweh never commanded. Christ celebrated Hanukkah. This single fact undermines a major pillar of Hebrew Roots teaching and demonstrates that their position cannot be maintained biblically.
The Biblical Account of Hanukkah in John 10
John 10:22 mentions the Feast of Dedication. This is Hanukkah, established after the Maccabean revolt to commemorate the restoration of the Temple once it was cleansed from pagan desecration. The Torah never commands this festival. It arose from Jewish devotion and a renewed commitment to Yahweh after a period of persecution. Yet Jesus traveled to Jerusalem, entered the Temple courts, and walked publicly during this festival. John records this without hesitation because the setting matters for the message Christ delivered. There is no rebuke, no distancing, and no suggestion that the festival violated the law.
Why This Undermines Hebrew Roots Claims
Hebrew Roots teachers insist that only feasts given directly by Yahweh are valid and that later celebrations are man-made additions that should be rejected. If this were true, Jesus would have avoided Hanukkah entirely. Instead, He affirmed it by His presence. His participation shows that the Hebrew Roots argument collapses under its own weight. Their position would require claiming that Jesus sinned by attending Hanukkah. Since no faithful Christian would ever make that claim, the argument ends where it begins.
Christ’s Participation Reveals the Real Standard
Christ’s example reveals that the issue is not a fixed list of festivals but loyalty to Yahweh. Hanukkah celebrates the protection of Israel from forced paganism, the preservation of Yahweh’s covenant people, and the cleansing of the Temple. These themes align completely with the heart of Scripture. Christ affirms celebrations that honor Yahweh’s works, even when they originate from historical events rather than Sinai legislation. This means Christians are not confined to the Leviticus calendar. They are free to remember and celebrate God’s redemptive acts in ways that glorify Him.
The Purpose of Festivals in Biblical Thought
The biblical festivals were never primarily about rigid rule-keeping. They were memorials that taught Israel to remember Yahweh’s faithfulness. They shaped identity and reinforced covenant loyalty. When Jewish communities established Hanukkah, they followed this same pattern. They created a celebration rooted in gratitude to Yahweh for deliverance. Jesus endorsed the meaning by participating. This demonstrates that the heart of biblical festivals is remembrance, thanksgiving, and loyalty to the God of Israel, not legalistic calendar purity.
Christ’s Example Validates Christian Freedom Today
Christians celebrate days such as Easter and Christmas as memorials of God’s most significant acts. Easter proclaims the resurrection of Jesus, the decisive victory over sin and death. Hebrew Roots teachers often argue that Easter is invalid because it does not appear in the Torah. Christ’s celebration of Hanukkah exposes the flaw in that reasoning. If Jesus Himself celebrated a non-Torah festival that honored Yahweh, then Christians may certainly celebrate Easter, which focuses on the central event of God’s redemptive plan. The question is not whether a holiday appears in Leviticus. The question is whether it honors the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
A Festival Through Which Christ Revealed Himself
John places some of Jesus’s most important statements during Hanukkah. In the Temple courts, during this festival, Christ declared that He is the Good Shepherd, that His sheep hear His voice, and that He and the Father are one. He used this setting to reveal His divine identity. The festival of rededication became the moment He pointed to the One who is the true Temple and the Light of the world. Instead of condemning Hanukkah, He used it to proclaim the truth. This reinforces the point that meaningful celebrations created by God’s people can serve as legitimate platforms for proclaiming Yahweh’s works.
Conclusion
Christ celebrated a festival that Yahweh never commanded in the Torah. He did so openly and without rebuke. This directly contradicts Hebrew Roots claims that only Torah-mandated festivals are legitimate. Jesus’s participation in Hanukkah demonstrates that the real standard has always been covenant loyalty and remembrance of Yahweh’s works. Celebrations that honor God’s faithfulness are not only allowed but affirmed by the example of Christ. Christians may therefore celebrate Easter and any other God honoring observance without fear of violating Scripture. Christ has already shown the way.
Discussion Questions
- How does Christ’s participation in Hanukkah, a festival not commanded in the Torah, demonstrate that celebrations honoring Yahweh are not limited to the Leviticus calendar?
- Why does Jesus’s presence at the Feast of Dedication undermine the Hebrew Roots claim that only Torah mandated festivals are legitimate for God’s people?
- In what ways does Hanukkah reflect the broader biblical purpose of festivals, such as remembrance, gratitude, and covenant loyalty, even though it originated after the Torah?
- How does the New Testament presentation of Christian freedom concerning days of observance support celebrations like Easter, which center on God’s greatest act of redemption?
- Why is it significant that Jesus used the setting of Hanukkah to reveal His divine identity, and what does this reveal about the legitimacy of later God honoring celebrations within the life of the Church?
Want to Know More
- D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, Eerdmans, 1991.
Carson provides a serious and detailed examination of the context surrounding John 10, including the Feast of Dedication. His work helps clarify why Jesus’s presence at Hanukkah carries theological weight and how it ties into His claims of divine identity. - Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, Hendrickson, 2003.
Keener offers an extensive historical background on Second Temple Judaism. His treatment of Hanukkah, Jewish customs, and the Temple helps readers understand why Jesus’s participation in this non-Torah festival directly undermines Hebrew Roots arguments. - N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, Fortress Press, 1996.
Wright explores Jesus within the lived Judaism of His day, which included festivals that developed after the Torah. His analysis supports the fact that Jesus engaged in the life of His people rather than isolating Himself within a strict Torah-only framework. - Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, Eerdmans, 2003.
Ferguson’s survey of Second Temple practices, Jewish history, and intertestamental developments provides the broader setting necessary to understand how and why festivals like Hanukkah arose and why Jewish participation in them was normal and faithful. - Edwin Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible, Baker Academic, 1997.
Yamauchi offers valuable insight into the period that shaped Israel’s later history, including the cultural forces and pressures that led to events like the Maccabean revolt. This background helps explain the meaning of Hanukkah and why Jesus’s attendance affirms its legitimacy.
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