One of the most familiar Hanukkah stories is the account of the oil. After the recapture of the Temple from the pagan Greco-Syrians, the victorious Jews began the process of rededication of the Temple. (This is actually the source of the name for the holidy - “Hanukkah” means “dedication.”) When they came to rekindle the Temple’s menorah (lampstand), legend has it that the priests could only find enough oil to light the temple’s menorah for one day. Knowing that it would take eight days to purify new oil, the priests nevertheless went ahead and lit the lamps - and miraculously, the oil lasted the full eight days.
The rededication of the temple is an unquestioned historical event, but the legend of the oil is not, and we really don’t know whether anything like that actually happened. But as a matter of history, we do know that the rededication of the temple was to take eight days (and was actually modeled after the Feast of Tabernacles), so whether the menorah story is true or not, there is good reason for an eight-day celebration of Hanukkah. And also, whether the menorah story is true or not, there is an object lesson in lighting the Hanukkah menorah that is very worthwhile. The traditional Hanukkah menorah has eight branches, one for each of the eight nights, plus an extra (ninth) branch for a “servant” candle called the shammas. The shammas is lit first, and then it is used to light all the other candles on the menorah. The shammas is the servant, yet it gets special honor: a raised position on the menorah. Does this make you think of anything? How about the Light of the world (John 8:12, 9:5, 12:46; see also John 1:1-13, Matt. 4:16, Luke 2:32, 1 John 1:5, Rev. 21:23), the firstfruits who gives light to everyone else (John 12:35-36, Eph. 5:8, 2 Cor. 4:6), the King of kings (1 Tim. 6:15, Rev. 17:14, 19:16) who came as a servant (Luke 22:27)? There’s an object lesson in there, somewhere.