It was winter in Jerusalem. The temple glowed with borrowed fire, its lamps trembling against the night. Oil surrendered itself to the wick, a fragile flame destined to die. Songs rose in memory of deliverance, yet the Deliverer Himself walked unwelcomed beneath the colonnade.

Candles for the temple, stones for the Christ.

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Stones in Their Hands, Darkness in Their Hearts

The stones they carried were not merely weapons—they were confessions. Hardened hands revealed hardened hearts. They lit external lights to honor a miracle of oil, but their souls remained unlit, their lives filled with shadow. The menorah burned in the temple, but the flame of faith was extinguished within them.

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The Porch of Exclusion

Christ did not stand in the center of the temple, enthroned as High Priest. He walked the porch, the margins, the place of debate and suspicion. Even His location was a parable: the true Temple treated as an intruder to their festivities. Dedication was celebrated in stone, but the Dedicator Himself was pushed aside.

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The Ancient Substitution

This pattern is older than the stones themselves:

• The Ark adored, while the God of the Ark ignored.
• The Temple exalted, while the Lord of the Temple rejected.
• The Feasts observed, while the God of the feasts forgotten.

And the pattern endures: wafers raised while Christ is sidelined, Christmas packaging adored while the Lord of all is reduced to a seasonal diversion. Humanity clings to symbols because they can be controlled; it resists substance because it demands surrender.

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Admonitions as Questions

• Do we decorate the season and neglect dedication?
• Do we polish the temple while ignoring the God of the temple?
• Do we idolize the wrapper while discarding the gift?
• Do we cling to ritual light while resisting the eternal Light?

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The Call

The Festival of Lights burned in the temple, but the Light of the world was nearly snuffed out in the colonnade. Stones in their hands mirrored the stony hardness of their hearts. Candles in their temple masked the darkness of their lives. And Christ on the porch revealed their refusal to welcome Him as High Priest.

Rededicate not the stone, but the soul. Adore not the wrapper, but the Gift. Welcome not the flicker of ritual, but the brilliance of His presence