The common text for the week following Christmas is the presentation of Jesus in the temple. But why is this something important to study? Why does the church look at this particular section nearly every year after Christmas? What is there for us to learn from this passage?
22 And 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 male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said 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, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
The time of purification according to the Law of Moses would have been at 8 days old. This was the time of circumcision for a boy. It was also the time given in Leviticus 12 for how long it would take for a woman to be clean after giving birth. Remember there were some tremendously detailed rules for how a person was to do rituals of cleaning.
When she comes to present the child in the temple and present herself clean after the days of her purification, she is to bring a lamb and a pair of turtle doves. There was a provision made however for those who couldn’t afford the lamb. They were just bound to bring the turtle doves. And this is exactly what Mary and Joseph did in our text. This can be for one of two reasons. Either Mary and Joseph were legitimately poor and of lowly means. The other option however is that the cost associated with the journey had rendered them unable to pay for a lamb. For whatever the reason, they brought a pair of turtle doves for the sacrifice.
There was great symbolism and remembrance associated with the sacrifice. If you remember the time of the plagues that were brought on Egypt. The tenth plague was the death of the firstborn unless they sacrificed a lamb and put some of the blood on the doorposts so the angel of death could Passover the house. Every year they would celebrate the Passover with a similar ritual, but it didn’t end there.
Since the Passover event saved the firstborn of the house, they also brought a sacrifice at the presentation of the firstborn child as a reminder to them that God saved the firstborn children in Egypt. So there’s a great double meaning here with a celebration of God’s deliverance from Egypt but also a continual reminder of God’s saving nature of his people.
The story then turns quickly to Simeon. We don’t know a lot about this man aside from what we’re told here in Luke 2. He’s a devout and righteous man. He had been waiting his whole life to see this child born even though he didn’t know it would be a baby.
The consolation of Israel is an interesting concept. Actually it functions as a title for Jesus. So just like he’s called Immanuel and King of kings, here he’s also called Consolation of Israel. The whole idea behind consolation of Israel is found in the more common word comforter. You’ll see this more frequently in the Bible that Jesus is called the comforter. Jesus even says he’s going to send the Holy Spirit to be the comforter.
Israel had suffered significant judgment and punishment throughout the Old Testament. They had been taken captive as the consequence for running away from God’s commands. To say that Israel needed comfort, or consolation, was a bit of an understatement. But Israel also used this idea of Consolation of Israel to help shape their view of what this Messiah figure would look like. Knowing he was going to be a consolation for their judgment and for all the trouble they had faced, they began to see the coming one as a warrior or powerhouse kind of leader. I mean how else would they be comforted for their troubles unless someone else was going to pay?
When Simeon sees in this baby the Consolation of Israel and says behold my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles he’s actually saying something really profound. Simeon is seeing in this little baby everything that Jesus would do in his ministry. It’s almost as if he hears Jesus teaching, watches him heal, sees the miracles he does, feels the pain of his death and joy of his resurrection.
Lord now let your servant depart in peace. He’s seen everything he needs to see but that hasn’t even happened yet! He is so confident in the work that Jesus will one day do, that he can die content knowing that Israel has already been saved, but not just Israel. He sees the salvation of the whole world. The redeeming power of God for all people, both Israelite and Gentile (non-Israelite). Simeon’s words also tie other passages of the Bible together to help see exactly who Jesus is for the people of his day and beyond.
Two key themes for the life and ministry of Jesus are salvation and light into darkness. Salvation is earned only by the blood of the lamb. The Israelites would have known this reality. And for Simeon to claim that Jesus is the salvation of Israel, would mean that he sees Jesus as the ultimate Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This was a monstrous claim and it meant that Jesus was everything they were hoping for in the newborn king. The only problem…he didn’t really look like the powerful king they were anticipating. His parents were common folks. They weren’t rich by any stretch. They even had to use the “low cost option” for sacrifice. A major clue for how Simeon was able to see all of this in this little child is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit enabled Simeon to see Jesus as something more than just an infant child brought to the temple by his humble parents. The Spirit opened Simeon’s eyes to see something significantly more powerful.
Then there’s the Light in the darkness line. The theme of light shining in the darkness is another key theme of scripture. We see it vividly in John’s gospel account. Jesus would be the light of the world. He was the light that shined into the darkness but the darkness wasn’t able to overcome it. Simeon sees Jesus as the light of God sent to reveal all that which was hiding in the sin shrouded corners of the world.
But beyond this passage there are several others that speak to the world needing a light to show it the way. Isaiah 8-9 is another really important section that deals with the theme of even Israel being a place darkness. When Isaiah was writing, Assyria was going to invade and pretty much annihilate the landscape of the Galilee region. Isaiah 9 says that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. This prophecy was exactly what Simeon was seeing unfold as Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into the temple. The light of God was being carried into the Temple and one day would carry the people to God.
The power of this section is found not in Simeon or in his confession. It’s found in the Spirit who allowed Simeon to see all of this and understand what it was about. A people lost in their own thoughts and ways are met by the God who not only would show them the way but would be the way to the ultimate life of salvation and peace.
And this would be the message that Mary and Joseph would have taken out of the temple. This would be part of the message Mary would ponder in her heart. As she stood at the base of the cross and watched as her son was killed on the cross, she would have felt that spear pierce her own soul too.
Simeon saw the whole thing right there as he held the little baby in his arms. Pretty powerful message when you stop to think about it.
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