“The Word Became Flesh and Tabernacled Among Us”
Hanukkah, known in ancient times as the Festival of Dedication, is an annual event marking the Jewish revolt in 160 BC when the Israelites reclaimed Jerusalem from the Seleucid Empire and subsequently rededicated the Temple. The Temple was revered as the dwelling place of God on earth. Inside the Temple building was a room called the Most Holy Place, where only the High Priest of Israel could enter, and only once per year, and then only after extensive purification rituals. The Most Holy Place was the intersection of heaven and Earth. It was akin to a fireplace with a roaring fire tucked away inside a fortified castle. The idea was that a holy God was in there and we unholy creatures were out here – in safety, we hope.
In the time of Moses, long before the Temple was constructed in Jerusalem, the Israelites traveled with a portable Temple called the Tent of Meeting or Tabernacle. In the opening of the Book of John, we read “The Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” This is also translated “pitched a tent among us”, or “dwelled with us.” What is meant by this curious phrase?
The Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed is often called “the upside-down kingdom” where common notions are upended, such as the first will be last, we overcome evil with good, we find our life by losing it in Him. In the Book of John Chapter 10, we see Jesus teaching on the Temple grounds during Hanukkah. He is in the process of turning the concept of the Temple on its head, when He is suddenly interrupted by some religious leaders in the crowd:
“Tell us plainly, are you the Messiah or not?”
Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe….I and the Father are one.”
Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
Jesus answered them, “Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.”
Eastern religions claim that God is in all of creation – in humankind, the animal kingdom, the trees, the land, the stars, etc. This God is often regarded more like a life force than a personal being. If a Hindu says “God is in me”, he is not making a claim to be God, he is simply saying God is in everything. The Abrahamic religions are quite different; holding that there is one God. He is an eternal spirit, absolutely holy, distinct from His creation, and deeply interested in interacting with the humans made in His image.
So, when Jesus, a devout Jewish rabbi, says “The Father is in me”, his words are taken at face value by the crowd that he is not only replacing the Temple, he is claiming to be the one true God, the creator of heaven and earth.
Christianity holds that God is everywhere, but NOT inhabiting every human (or animal or plant or stone) as the other religions believed, but He has made Himself known to every human – through the wonder of His creation and by writing his law on everyone’s heart, such that the Bible plainly states “we are without excuse.” (see the Book of Romans Chapters 1-2) We all know what we ought to do, but fail to do so, often intentionally. And unless we have seared our conscience, that failure normally makes us uneasy. If you don’t feel uneasy about such failures now, can you recall a time when you did? It is what the Bible calls “godly sorrow.” All humans feel it; it’s a warning sign that there is a penalty for breaking God’s laws. Jesus began his public ministry with the words “The Kingdom of God is in your midst, repent and believe the good news!” (Book of Mark Chapter 1)
The awesome story of how the good news came to us begins with Christmas and is completed with Easter. God in his mercy to us, became a man, was born into a humble existence, lived the perfect life, always did what he ought to do, and died a horrible death in both pain and shame – bearing the full wrath of God on our behalf. But He rose and conquered death, disarming the forces opposing God of their ultimate weapon, and beckons all humans to follow Him.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. And then he asks “Do you believe this?” (Book of John Chapter 11)
If you believe in your heart that He has risen from the dead, and profess with your mouth He is Lord and Savior, then you are a part of the new Temple of God, where “Jesus Himself is the chief cornerstone…and in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Book of Ephesians Chapter 2)
On the morning of his crucifixion, Jesus prayed to the Father for his followers: “Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (Book of John Chapter 17)
Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!