Today we are celebrating the Presentation of Christ in the temple. This was a traditional Jewish ritual whereby a firstborn son was symbolically offered to God in the. Great temple in Jerusalem. Luke tells the story of Jesus’ presentation with great simplicity, and gives us no clue at the beginning about the momentous event which is about to take place.
There are three participants in this story besides Mary, Joseph and the baby. We meet the family first as they arrive in the temple and make the necessary offering. Then we meet the old man Simeon. We only know of him from Luke. He describes Simeon as upright and devout, that is, a man living his faith. Like all faithful Jews he watched and waited for the time when the Saviour promised by God would come into the world. Over the centuries, the prophets had foretold the fulfilment, at some point, of God’s promise. When would it be? Maybe Simeon was thinking about these things as he came into the temple. Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon – the Holy Spirit, another participant in this story. The Holy Spirit had already told Simeon he would live to see the Messiah and, guided by the Spirit, Simeon had come to the temple that day. And this was the day when God fulfilled his two promises to Simeon: he had sent the Messiah and Simeon would see him. There was no fanfare of trumpets, no glittering procession, no crowds of richly robed people. But suddenly the Messiah was there. As Malachi had prophesied, “The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple” (3.1).
Mary and Joseph had come into the Temple carrying Jesus. In our mind’s eye perhaps we can see the the Temple court, with its bustle of activity, and the little group of people with the baby, seemingly like any other. Then we almost hold our breath waiting for what happens next. Old Simeon reaches out his arms to receive the Baby. No doubt with the understanding given to him by the Holy Spirit, he recognises him as the promised Messiah. The first thing he does is give thanks to God for the fulfilment of his promises. His words are very lovely, and his vision is far-seeing. Many of us know them in their old form from the King James Bible: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people to be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel”. Simon sees that God’s salvation is for all people, Jew and Gentile, with no exception. But still under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Simeon speaks prophetic words whose truth we still see today. He foresees that not everyone will accept the Messiah. “Many in Israel will stand or fall because of him”. The truth will come out. Those who are arrogant, uncaring and secure in themselves will fall, having rejected God’s strength, and those who are humble, despised, or rejected, God will raised up, care for and protect. And Simeon also foresees suffering, particularly for Mary, the mother of the Messiah. She will suffer when she sees her son’s suffering.
As in our own lives, there is both lightness and darkness. Threaded through this story of light and hope there is the idea of sacrifice and suffering. The child Jesus was brought to the Temple as a symbolic offering to God of what any parent would hold most dear, their first born child. It is a way of saying to God “I give you my all, whatever the cost”. And God replies by giving his firstborn, his only Son, in suffering, to save us from ourselves, to give us light and hope and a way back from our sinfulness to our rightful place in the heart of God.
Then Luke introduces us to the final character in the story. The old lady, Anna. (She is 84, even older than I am today). She comes up to the group and she too recognises the child, and gives thanks. She has been a widow for many years and so her position in the society of her times was insignificant. As a widow, she did not even have the status of a married woman. She was one of the weak and old and insignificant in society. But Luke introduces her by her name and family, Anna, daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher, and tells us that she had given all the years of her long widowhood to God in worship and prayer. And, lowly though she may be in her own world, God has dignified her as a prophetess, one who walks so closely with him that she can discern something of his ways and can recognise the Messiah, his son.
So we’ve met all the participants in the story: the holy family, the Holy Spirit, Simeon and Anna. Is there anyone else? There is of course ourselves. We are there in the Temple too, watching what is happening, listening to what is said, faithful sharers in Simeon’s joy, in his words of thanksgiving and in Anna’s praises And together we are worshipping God here, now, as Simeon and Anna worshipped in the Temple. No doubt encouraged by the Holy Spirit, we have come here this morning and we too know that the light of Christ has come into the world and into our daily lives, to give us courage and comfort, vision and hope. So let us help bring the brightness and light and hope we have been given to all we meet as we go about our daily lives in the times ahead.
S.E.R.