Religion:Feast of Renewal

Feast of Renewal
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." ― Revelation 21:5
Type	Christian
Date	January 1
First time	2023
Related to	Christmas New Year's Eve New Year's Day Entering New Jerusalem

The meaning of renewal in the Old and in the New Testament

The Birth of Jesus Christ and the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which coincide in time with the end of the calendar year and the beginning of the new year, are very different in meaning: the first celebrates the beginning of the Christian era; the second celebrates the restoration of the traditional service in the Temple in Jerusalem, which was interrupted by the civil war in 170 BC. As it is not difficult to understand, the feast of Hanukkah is a feast of restoration, which is explained by the continuation of the interrupted actions, and in this sense it is the opposite of the feast of Christmas, whose meaning is not only and not so much about a new chronology, but about the renewal of man, which begins with the coming of the new Adam. Renewal begins with the act of birth, continues with the unconventional behavior and teaching of the new Messiah, and ends with his execution, resurrection from the dead, and ascension to heaven, interpreted in Christianity as presaging the future renewal of all people:

For sin was in the world before the law was given; but sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Yet, death ruled from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed. Adam is an image of the one who would come. But there is a great difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. ― Romans 5:13-15

The antagonism and incompatibility of the old and the new is illustrated many times in the New Testament, one notable example of which is the scene described in Chapter 10 of the Gospel of John:

Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 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, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? If he called them ‘gods’, to whom the word of God came — and Scripture cannot be set aside — what about the One whom the Father set apart as His very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 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.

Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” And in that place many believed in Jesus.

The completion in a perfectly renewed creation

The end of all times begins with the Second coming of Jesus Christ, who extends the Kingdom of Heaven inherited by Him to all cities and to the whole earth, urbes et orbis terrarum. This power cleanses them from sin and filth and turns them into abodes of truth and righteousness. One of these cities is the future Jerusalem, coming down from heaven and becoming the earthly reality:

Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. — Revelation 19:7

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” — Revelation 21:2-4

But Jerusalem is certainly not alone in undergoing such a transformation, and the people of Israel will not be the only people on earth to be transformed by Jesus Christ from a satanic gathering into a pillar in the temple of his God:

I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars – I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. — Revelation 3:9

So the heavenly act called the wedding precedes or coincides with the Second coming, and the marriage itself is the union of God with the chosen people of God, which reminds us of his triumph on Palm Sunday. In his First coming, Jesus Christ becomes King of the Jews with a thorn wreath instead of a crown, united with the people in blood and on the cross, which is subsequently rectified through the spread of His teaching, preparing the bride, or rather brides, for betrothal and marriage with Him.

A wedding, or high time, is a heavenly prefiguration of what is to be consummated on earth, a turning point in history. In inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus Christ, as the ambassador and authorized representative of men, extends His Kingdom to the earth, and makes all people co-owners and co-participants. This co-existence and co-operation of God and men symbolizes cosmic harmony, abolishing former opposition and confrontation.

External links

• Праздник обновления.
• Feast of Renewal — New Heaven