If I were to ask you what was going on in the world in 1818, would you have any idea? Let me tell you some facts about what happened in 1818. It was a pretty amazing year. On the 1st of January the White House officially reopened after having been damaged in the War of 1812. On May 24th General Andrew Jackson captured Pensacola, Florida. The first steam vessel to sail the Great Lakes was launched on the 28th of May. On the 8th of October two English boxers were the first to use padded gloves. On the 24th of October Felix Mendelssohn performed his first public concert. On the 24th of December Franz Joseph Gruber composed Silent Night. And on the 25th of December Silent Night was sung for the first time. Also on the 25th of December the U.S. premier of Handel’s Messiah was performed in Boston. All of these things happened in the year 1818.
I chose to talk about the year 1818 because that year was 194 years ago. All of the things I mentioned meant something to most all of us because these things have meaning for us today. For instance, we are very familiar with the White House. Not only that, the White House is an important symbol for us as Americans. So its reopening after the War of 1812 makes sense to us and may even bring forth mental images of what we know of its history. Likewise, we know about Pensacola, Florida. We may even have been there. We know Silent Night and love to sing it at Christmas. We still are amazed by the music of Mendelssohn. In fact, we heard some Mendelssohn in the prelude this morning.
I went back 194 years because the context of today’s Gospel is the celebration of something that happened 194 years or so before Jesus’ earthly ministry. St. John tells us that it was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem. That Feast of the Dedication celebrated something that happened in 165 B.C., which was 194 years before Jesus was walking in the Temple, in the portico of Solomon. Reading this Gospel, to us that little detail that this was the feast of the Dedication means nothing. In fact, there hasn’t even been a temple for almost 2000 years, so we have no reason to remember its dedication.
But 194 years is a different story. It’s a much fresher memory of things that had relevance in the present, and it was sure to have relevance because it was an annual remembrance. In 165 B.C. Israel was ruled by Syria, and the king of the Syrians at that time was Antiochus IV, known as Antiochus Epiphanes. He was “one of the cruelest tyrants of all time.” He especially hated the Jews and wanted to wipe out their culture and religion. At one point, in 168 B.C., he decided “that Jerusalem should be wiped out and should be colonized with Greeks…..His army attacked Jerusalem, killed most of the men, and the women and children were enslaved.” All Jewish religious practices ceased. Regulations required that the Jews not observe the Sabbath, were to give up circumcision and following the food laws, and they were to be put to death if they disobeyed. Likewise, if anyone was found in possession of a Book of the Law (which was their Bible) he or she would be put to death. The crowning insult was an altar of Zeus that was erected over the altar of the burnt offering in the Temple.
There were many martyrs of Jews who held to their faith even when it meant they would die. And they continued to fight back, mainly through guerilla tactics. Eventually, under the leadership of a man named Judas Maccabeus, the Jews forced the Syrians out of their country. On the 25th of Chislev in the year 165, Judas Maccabeus restored the Temple to its former glory and “reintroduced the daily sacrifices.” Today, the Jews call the Feast of Dedication Hanukah.
Now fast forward 194 years to when Jesus is walking in the Temple on the Feast of Dedication. The victory of Judas Maccabeus is legendary, and reminds the Jews that they are once again subjects of a pagan king, forced to pay taxes to this foreign power. Their worship has reminded them that they are looking for someone even greater than Judas Maccabeus who will free them from Rome and usher in a new kingdom where the true God will reign. In fact, the readings from scripture centered on God as the shepherd of his people. It was the Jewish equivalent of the feast of the Good Shepherd, if you will.
So it is in this context that they ask our Lord the question, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” What they were asking was, “Can we expect you to be the one who will lead us to victory against the Romans and make Israel a great nation, as it was under King David?” Are you someone like Judas Maccabeus, but even greater?
We must remember, too, that while the average Jew on the street wanted the Messiah to come, many of the leaders did not. They liked the status quo and did not want a Messiah or would be Messiah to upset things.
So, what a loaded question! No wonder Jesus did not come right out and say, “Yes, I am the Messiah.” They wouldn’t have understood him. So he spoke around the issue, letting them draw their own conclusions. “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life.”
Jesus is the Messiah. We know that. Furthermore, we understand that his kingdom is not of this world. It isn’t a political reality, but a spiritual reality. We know all of this because he is our shepherd and we are his sheep.
And we have eternal life. To live in Christ is to have eternal life. To be baptized is to begin this life, for the seeds of eternal life are sown in baptism. To be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ is to taste and ingest eternal life. And to cast away the works of darkness and live a life of self-emptying love, letting the risen Christ minister through us, is to enjoy eternal life—here and now. All other roads that we human beings take to find meaning in life are dead ends—they lead not to life but to death.
The list of significant events that happened in 1818 did not include the fact that there were many throughout the world who were living that kind of life, just as there were 300 or 400, or 1900 years ago. The Christian witness of faith has endured these two millennia because it is true, for Jesus is alive and eternal life is to be found only through him and in him.
Last week the world witnessed a horrible tragedy in Boston. The senseless killing and maiming of innocent people ultimately come from alienation from God. We need to pray for the victims and the perpetrators and their families in this unspeakable tragedy. We need to pray for an end to the violence that infects the human race, that same violence that nailed our Lord to the cross. I pray that they, and all who suffer, may know the presence of our risen Lord, the Good Shepherd of his people, and that through him they may experience reconciliation with the Father.
Information about the Feast of Dedication is from The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible