Luke 2:22-40
Jesus Is Presented in the Temple
22 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. 27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon 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 took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
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“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;
according to your word;
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for my eyes have seen your salvation,
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which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
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a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”
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 to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
The Return to Nazareth
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 favor of God was upon him.
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Depending on where you are in the world, there are many different rituals and traditions that surround the birth of a baby.
In my family, it has become somewhat of a tradition that my grandfather, who is a pastor, baptizes each of the grandchildren and great grandchildren.
One of my friends from college just had a baby boy and in her tradition, it is custom that the paternal grandfather give the baby his name after birth.
I just heard that in Morocco the family buys an entire goat, slaughters it, and feasts on it for weeks after the baby is born.
I spent my internship in Malaysia, and I remember being so excited when one of our Chinese families had a baby. I kept asking where he was— when could I see him? But in Chinese traditions, the mother and baby stay in confinement and eat all sorts of nutritious meals for the first month after birth. Finally, after 30 days, they have what they call a “Moon Party” and the baby makes her or his first public appearance. For many Christian Chinese people, the first public appearance is to church for the baptism.
There are a lot of traditions, superstitions, and rituals that go along with having a baby. In ancient Israel, the Jewish law said that women are unclean for 40 days after giving birth and baby boys are required to be circumcised 8 days after birth. So Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus traveled to the temple so that Mary could be cleansed and they could offer a sacrifice to the temple as the law required, dedicating their first born son to the Lord.
Now this story might seem a little odd to be told right after the typical Christmas narrative we heard on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. There are no wise men, there are no shepherds, no escape to Egypt just yet. We have these two characters— Simeon and the prophet Anna who we’ve never seen before and will never see again.
But the writer Luke adds all of these details for a reason— actually two reasons— Luke wants the readers to know where Jesus came from and where Jesus is going. At first reading this might not make much sense, but if we go back and look at the specific details that Luke includes we can see how clever of a narrator he really is.
We know, of course, that Jesus came from a Jewish family. Mary and Joseph are careful to follow the law as good Jewish people, going to the temple regularly and abiding by all of the rituals required of them. Jesus also came from humble beginnings. The sacrifice of two turtledoves or two young pigeons was what was required of the poorer families coming to the temple. Jesus came from the line of David, but he was not royalty. He did not live in a palace with mountains of money. In fact, living in Galilee, in the town of Nazareth, we know that Jesus was brought up from very humble beginnings— he would be what we consider very poor. He came as a Jew, from the wrong side of the tracks, as the son of a poor carpenter.
Then Luke uses Simeon and the prophet Anna to tell us where Jesus is going. Simeon calls him, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” He says that, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Anna praises God when she sees Jesus and spoke “about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Jesus was not just a child, but the child that the prophets had been waiting for. He was the one all of Jerusalem was waiting for— the one who would redeem God’s people. Jesus was the one God had promised for thousands of years. He is finally here— the holy one, the redeemer, the king of kings, the Son of God— a poor baby boy from Nazareth.
It wasn’t what anyone was expecting. We hear in Isaiah and the other prophets that there will be a mighty warrior, this champion to come and wipe out the oppressive Roman empire. God’s people expected a pillar of fire, a grand entrance with a chariot and a hundred horses. They expected Jesus to come down from heaven as a mighty commander and massacre all the people who oppose his rule.
Instead, we got a fragile, tiny baby, born among the filthy animals to poor parents from a no-where town. And, because we know the story well, we know that God will continue to surprise us with this Jesus and his ministry. Right from the beginning, God uses a woman (Mary) as the vessel for God’s salvation, and another woman (Anna)— a prophet no less— announces the importance of Jesus in the temple.
Jesus comes from the poor and excluded to save the poor and excluded. It is one of the ways that God remains so faithful to us. God does not sit from God’s throne on high and issue us trickle-down salvation from the hallowed halls and royalty. God did not try to use Herod or Pharaoh to bring about God’s salvation. Surely, God could have done that. But that’s what makes our God so incredible. God chose to come as a child.
God chose to become the most dirty and wretched in order to save the most wretched and dirty. Jesus will walk among his own people— the poor, the exiled, the outcast, the sick, needy, and burdens. He will eat with sinners and pardon adulterers. And finally he will rise up against the empire in the way only he can— with his death on a cross and resurrection after three days.
Nothing Jesus does is expected, none of it seems like what the prophets promised. Where was the champion? The strong, impressive leader with armies that God promised the Israelites?
Perhaps that’s what makes this story so very important. Right from the beginning, outsiders— these two seemingly random people in the temples say, “this is him. This is the one we have been waiting for. It might not seem like it, but it is him, the who God has promised from the beginning.” These two unexpected characters in this important place have set the stage for all of Jesus’ ministry and the coming of the kingdom— it will involve people we never expected, in the more common and sacred places.
The coming of the kingdom will involve a man eating locusts and living in the wild. It will involve a woman who listened at Jesus’ feet instead of cooking and cleaning with her sister. It will involve fishermen and tax collectors. It will involve a grieving mother. It will involve a man who spent his entire life persecuting Jewish people. It will involve hundreds of thousands of people who never even expected to encounter Jesus. And it involves us, as filthy and ragged as we are in this time after the holidays.
God’s faith can be, will be, and has been proclaimed by those we might consider to be minor characters. God is working in the nobodies of our society. After all, that’s who God chose to be the savior of the world— a nobody child from a nowhere town, with nobody parents.
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This sermon was preached at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, Florida on December 31, 2017.
