Without going into a lot of detail, there's a lot of paranoia going around about the whole "Merry Christmas" issue among people I know, on both sides of the "aisle". So I'm going to show the world that Chanukah is mentioned in the New Testament. What's ironic is that Christmas is not a Biblical holiday, though the birth of Jesus, of course, is mentioned in the Bible (even though the birth was probably in the fall instead of the winter).
And Jesus was around when Chanukah (the Feast of Dedication) was happening (horrors! to some Jewish people who don't believe he was Jewish).
From John 10:22-30 (New Living Translation):
It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah. He was at the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon's Colonnade. The Jewish leaders surrounded him and asked, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly."
Jesus replied, "I have already told you, and you don't believe me. The proof is what I do in the name of my Father. But you don't believe me because you are not part of my flock. My sheep recognize my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. So no one can take them from me. The Father and I are one."
John 10:22-23 in the Amplified (which tries to take all words and meanings into consideration, thus the brackets are theirs): "After this the Feast of Dedication [of the reconsecration of the temple] was taking place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in Solomon's Porch in the temple area."
And finally, the New International Version (NIV) of the same: "Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade."
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