Sunday, 10 March
Luke 2:21-52
Written by Dr Graham Leo. ©2019.
Our reading today takes us to Jerusalem – twice. Once when Jesus was still a baby, and the other when he left boyhood to become a man.
The first trip (vv22-24) was required by Jewish law. You can read about this in Leviticus 12:2-8. It was not the time of his circumcision; that would have been done on the eighth day after his birth by a local mohel, a person trained in this skill. It was also his naming ceremony.
The trip to Jerusalem took place 41 days after his birth, as the Leviticus passage indicates. At this time, the holy family meets two people whose stories are told by Luke with a great sense of personal presence.
The first is Simeon, an old man who was waiting ‘for the consolation of Israel’. This term will be readily understood by anyone who has savoured the lyrics and music of Handel’s Messiah. ‘Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.’ (Isaiah 52:9)
Simeon had been assured by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the appearance of the Messiah, ‘the Lord’s Christ’. The Greek word Christ, is just the translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. When he sees the infant Jesus being presented, the Holy Spirit reveals to him somehow that this child is the long-expected One.
So Simeon picks up the child and pronounces a prayer of thanks, which we now know as the Nunc dimittus. This is simply the Latin for the first two words of the song, ‘Now dismiss your servant in peace…’.
But note Simeon’s first words in your Bible. In the NIV it reads: ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised…’ Several other versions use ‘according to your word’. And there it is again! Luke’s ongoing theme that we have been noticing from the beginning. The promise of the Lord has been fulfilled. God’s word has been vindicated, at long last, after all these years.
Simeon blesses the parents, and warns them that their role as parents will not be an easy one. He warns them that their son will be ‘spoken against’. There will be an anti-logion (an ‘against-word’) spoken about the Divine Word (the Logos). Words spoken against God are rebellious words. The same Greek word (antilogion) is used in Numbers 20:13 in connection with rebellion. Jesus is a sure word, but he will confront words spoken against him. (Forgive me, Jesus, for my careless words!)
The second visitor that the parents encounter is a delightful presence, the prophetess Anna. In all my years, I have never heard a sermon spoken about her, nor read any commentary on her. But I think there is a divinely-revealed beauty about her. Just as Simeon had been prepared by God to be present at this moment, the presence of Anna was prepared thousands of years before. Here is her story, as I pieced it together years ago with some gracious guidance from the Holy Spirit.
This beautiful old prophetess welcomed the baby Jesus, the Messiah of the world. She was old and had suffered tragedy, but she brought welcome to Jesus and reflected the hope of ‘all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem’ (v38).
Luke makes almost a passing reference to the fact that Anna was of the tribe of Asher. But Luke makes no idle comments! In Genesis 49:20 we read Jacob’s prophecy over his son, Asher, that ‘Asher’s food will be rich’.
Jacob’s words are echoed centuries later in Isaiah 25:6-8, as a promise of the new kingdom of the Messiah. The imagery is of a fine banquet and of life lived in peace and security. The presence of Anna of the tribe of Asher is God’s way of saying that the promise of the coming kingdom of richness and plenty given to a relatively minor son of Jacob is at last being fulfilled. ‘Asher’ means ‘happy’ (Genesis 30:13).
None of Luke’s research was wasted. I cannot believe that he inserted the bit about Anna belonging to the tribe of Asher, if he had not himself made the connection that I’ve made here. Certainly the Holy Spirit knew the connection!
Once again, Luke is making the point that none of God’s words, even through a dying patriarch, are wasted. This ought to give us great comfort as we recollect the care that God has taken over millennia to ensure that this Messiah was born, that his purposes are being carried out, and that his promises are to be relied upon.
It was this word, this revealed scripture that the boy Jesus had learned so well, when he had prepared for his Bar Mitzvah that we read about in vv41-52, the second Jerusalem journey.
The point of this little anecdote is not the (supposed) failure of care by his parents. Travel in a family group in that era was not like going on a train trip today. You didn't have to watch your purse or your children at all times – you were travelling in a family and community group. Each cared for the other. How much we have lost in what we fondly call ‘progress’!
The point of the story is that this young boy was growing up deeply immersed in the Word of God. It is not surprising that he was able to instruct the teachers of the Temple. He was the one who inspired the Torah and the other scriptures in the first place! He had designed the architecture of the Temple! In a way that we cannot ever quite fully understand, this child was fully God and fully human.
It took the church some centuries before they managed to find the right words to put this truth into creedal statements. In 451 AD, at the Council of Chalcedon, they finally managed to put together the words that every major branch of Christianity could agree upon. Jesus had two natures, one divine and one human. Each is separate, distinct and yet complete. Both are united in the one person of Jesus Christ.
This doctrine of the Incarnation is one of the most precious in our faith. Luke has carefully prepared the ground for it, right here.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I worship you as God, and I thank you as my human brother for your coming amongst us. Thank you, Father God, that you prepared Simeon and Anna as human representatives to welcome your child into the Temple. Thank you for the care that you have lavished upon your Eternal Word. Forgive me for words of rebellion spoken against you, and protect me from such speech in the future. I will trust your care always. Amen.
