Today’s gospel is the account of Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem- aged just six weeks- and the events that unfold as they do so.
LUKE 2, verses 22- 40
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.[f]27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon[g] came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the law, 28 Simeon[h] took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word,30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,32 a light for revelation to the gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.38 At that moment she came and began to praise God and to speak about the child[i] to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favour of God was upon him.
The presentation of Christ in the temple- just 6 weeks old, a tiny little scrap of a baby- is one of the most beautiful and moving accounts in our Gospels. It’s been depicted by countless artists, trying to capture this glorious moment- the dawn of God’s love breaking out in the confines of an ancient Temple; and countless composers have tried to set the words of Simeon to music beautiful enough to reflect the joy and wonder of this moment, a moment in which everything changes.
The Message version puts it this way. Simeon says
God, you can now release your servant; release me in peace as you promised.With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation; it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations, and of glory for your people Israel.”
A god revealing light- out in the open for everyone to see.
Simeon is changed, in this moment of recognition, from being a servant waiting patiently, to being set free from service in a new realisation- the realisation that he can die content- God’s faithfulness has brought about the completion of everything he has waited and hoped for. He has seen the coming of God’s anointed saviour with his own eyes, his joy is complete. To quote the poet Robert Browning “God ’s in His heaven—All’s right with the world!”
It’s a wonderful, transcendent realisation, full of mystery and beauty. A fulfilment and a peace which surpasses understanding. For Simeon, guided by the Spirit, this, possibly very nearly his last day, turns out to be the best of all possible days. To go back to last week’s gospel, where we talked about the wine at the marriage at Cana, the best has been saved until last for this faithful, righteous, devout man.
This account inverts what we might anticipate- it raises questions. Here we have the God revealing light, Christ himself, the light for all.
Surely, he should be surrounded by glory and hailed and acclaimed by the all the people, and by all those gathered in the Temple- the Holiest place for the people of Israel.
But that is not how events unfold. A couple of paupers, a lone widow, a doddery old man- they are the ones who get to see the good news in the flesh- with their own eyes, they are the ones who get to announce the good news to the people of Jerusalem.
Let’s look first at Mary and Joseph who bring Jesus, as they are bound by the law to do, in order that Mary can be ritually purified after giving birth. The book of Leviticus says this about the sacrifice a mother must bring:
“When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtledove for a purification offering. He shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf…… If she cannot afford a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a purification offering, and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf, and she shall be clean.”
Mary and Joseph then, are too poor to afford the usual offering. Jesus, the King of Kings, the light of the nations, is being brought from his birth in a manger, to the temple, where only the money for a couple of small birds can be scraped together. He’s probably still in the swaddling bands he was wrapped in at birth. With Mary and Joseph, he comes in poverty.
How often do we look at somebody’s outer appearance, and decide there and then that they are in some way less deserving of our attention than the person who has clearly washed their clothes, brushed their hair and polished their shoes? Do we expect miraculous, beautiful things, from those at the bottom of the social heap? Do we expect to find Jesus among them?
In spite of their poverty, Mary and Joseph are the ones who carry the word made flesh- God with us- to the Temple in which God is being worshipped. They carry God into God’s own temple, wrapped in rags. How extraordinary.
Then there is Anna- a widow- an old woman in her 80s. The widow in Hebrew scriptures is always a symbol of vulnerability and often also synonymous with poverty. How often in the scriptures do we hear the Lord exhorting His people to care for the orphan, the alien and the widow- the helpless child, the displaced foreigner, the defenceless woman?
Of course, Anna, as a woman, although we are told she was constantly at the Temple, would never have been allowed into the centre of the Temple. The Temple had five areas- the outermost court was for Gentiles- those not recognised as part of the nation of Israel. The next court was for women, where Jewish women were allowed to gather but beyond which they could not go. Then there was the Hall of priests and Israelites, where the real business of the temple was conducted, where sacrifices and prayers were offered. And in the centre of that area were 12 steps up to the Holy Place, where incense was burned in prayer. That in turn was further divided by a curtain (the temple curtain ripped from top to bottom at the moment of Christ’s death on the cross) from the Holy of Holies, which the High priest entered once a year.
Anna was never going to get in anywhere like that- she’s not allowed into the business end, the holy end, the important end of the temple. And yet she encounters God in the flesh. She is named by Luke as a prophet who proclaims the truth about the coming of God’s anointed and actually sees Him, face to face..
I wonder do we sometimes overlook, or inadvertently keep at the margins, people who may have much to tell us about the reality of God’s love and God’s presence, because they do not fit into the structures we have created, the order of things that we have established?
Or, perhaps, do we assume about ourselves, that because we aren’t up at the front, wearing the fancy vestments and standing behind the altar, that we can’t possibly know as much about God, or be touched by God, in the same way that the Bishop or the Archbishop or the churchwarden or the vicar can be? Anna tells us that the people on the edge, the vulnerable people, can be prophets who meet Jesus and proclaim his glory while the priests are still putting their robes on.
And let’s go back to Simeon- an old man- a man who has spent years we are told, devout and righteous, waiting for the salvation of Israel, now having the moment- the greatest moment of his life.
We use his prayer- known as the Nunc Dimittis- now Master you let your servant depart in peace- as a prayer at funerals, as we part with the people we love. We use it at night prayer, as the day draws to a close. It is a prayer of ending, a prayer to be said as the darkness of evening draws in, even while it proclaims the coming of light.
Our culture does not expect the greatest moments of our lives to come at the end. We talk about the prime of someone’s life, referring usually to early adulthood or perhaps, at latest, middle age. Very rarely do we look at old age as anything other than a season of deterioration, lost health, a shrinking world as childhood friends and close relatives die. Yet for Simeon the most important moment, and his most important realisation, and the most important words he will ever speak, come in his great old age.
As we grow older, weaker, slower, are we still in expectation that God will do great things in us and through us and for us? Are we still excited? Like Simeon, righteous and devout? I pray that, as we grow older we are becoming more and more certain of God’s goodness, more and more excited and expectant about God’s love.
We rightly lament that we are missing young people and families in our churches -and in Worcester we have, as a percentage of our congregations, fewer children and young people than any other diocese in the country.
So, we are right to be very concerned about that, and to be working hard to see if, with God’s help and by his grace, we can change it. But sisters and brothers, let’s not write ourselves or one another off on account of age. The best may yet be to come..
At the presentation of Christ in the Temple, the very tiniest baby shines a light, and is recognised by the very oldest and feeblest old folk, carried in by the very poorest parents. The God revealing light, out in the open, for everyone to see, shines in and for and through all people. Let’s pray for wisdom to see it and rejoice in it and proclaim it.
Amen
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