Luke 2:21-40
December 28, 2008
Will Fitzgerald
This is a somewhat rambling teaching—we will go through the scripture passages bit by bit and see what we see. But our major theme will be, I think, witnesses to the truth.
2:21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. 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.”
“They” of course, are the holy family: Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Mary is the one to be purified per se, but the family goes together; Joseph and Mary go to present their son; Jesus goes cause he’s too little to stay on his own, plus there are some people he needs to meet.
Luke is covering three events:
Jesus’s circumcision reminds us that God’s promise goes all the way back to Abraham. A baby boy born into a Jewish family was required to be circumcised. Jewish men bore these physical marks as a outward sign of the covenant that existed between God and the Jewish people.
Mary’s purification is another sign of God’s covenant with Israel. Israel was the people who keep this set of kosher laws; one set of these laws had to do with blood and how it made people ritually unclean—that is, unable to participate in certain religious ceremonies. The law is specifically:
Then the woman must wait thirty-three days [after the circumcision ceremony] to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. (Lev 12:3)
Joseph and Mary could have sacrificed a lamb, but they chose two birds instead—apparently because of their poverty, but perhaps for other reasons.
The presentation and redemption of Jesus is also done according to the law (Exodus 13:11-16; Leviticus 12:6-8). Basically, this is a reminder how God “passed over” the first born of Israel during the first Passover as part of the Exodus story. This is a reminder of how God saved God’s people so they wouldn’t forget what had happened.
I find it interesting that Luke, who is perhaps the only non-Jew who wrote a book of the Christian Bible, is careful to paint this portrait of Mary and Joseph as pious Jews, fulfilling their ritual obligations after the birth of Jesus. It is similarly interesting to see how echos of the Hebrew Bible stories are found in Luke’s narrative—for example, the echo of Hannah’s song in the Magnificat. Although Luke is apparently writing to a primarily Greek audience, it is believed, he does not downplay the Jewishness of Jesus and the importance of God’s ritual law in his life and the life of his people. In fact, we can see that he goes out of his way to include this Jewish material. Luke knows that if he is to carry out his goal of writing an “orderly account” of Jesus’s life, he must write about Jesus the Jew, and the world into which Jesus was born, down to including the genealogy of his step-father (Luke 3:23-37).
Luke’s early chapters focus on a number of faithful witnesses to the announcement and birth of John and Jesus. First we have the angel Gabriel, who brings the message to Zechariah that he is going to have a baby with Elizabeth, his wife, despite their age. And we have Zechariah and Elizabeth, who both testify to the work of God—and of course, we have their pregnancy and the birth of John. Gabriel reenters the story with a message to Mary; Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and John’s witness—while still in the womb—of Jesus’s Lordship. Both Mary and Zechariah sing God’s glory at the news of the birth of their children. Then, we have the heavenly host proclaiming God’s favor to the shepherds, who visit the baby in the manger, and find things as they were told. Angels, shepherds, priests, men, women—many witness the events, and many witness to the events.
In this chapter, we have two more witnesses to what God is doing in the birth of this child: Simeon and Mary.
2:25 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,
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.
Simeon had a rare privilege. How many people have you heard of who thought they knew, actually knew, the approximate time of the coming of the Messiah? Many good people, and many crazy people, have predicted Jesus’s return in the past 2000 years. Would he come in the year 90? 400? 500? 1000? 1033? 1533 (by Anabaptist radicals)? 1843? 1850? 1914? 1967? 2000? All these people have been wrong, wrong, wrong.
But Simeon knew when the first the Messiah would come the first time—at least, he knew that the Messiah, the “consolation of Israel,” would come before the end of his life. The Spirit guides Simeon to the temple where Jesus is being presented, and knows, miraculously, that this child is born to be the Messiah.
We get the strong sense that the main purpose of Simeon’s life, what we would describe as his life’s call, was just this: to recognize Messiah when he came. He saw himself as God’s servant, called to wait for Messiah’s appearance. When Messiah came, he could say: Lord, my work is done; you are discharging your servant peacefully, as you said you would do.
Here’s another important thing about Simeon: He is the first witness in Luke’s gospel who tells us that God’s salvation will not be for Jews only, but also for non-Jews: “my eyes have seen your salvation … a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Again, remember, Luke is probably a Gentile, and his gospel and the book of Acts will tell—among other stories—how the good news of salvation is spread by his faithful witness “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).”
So Simeon, too, was one of the faithful witnesses. His first and primary witness is to the young couple in the temple, who are amazed at what they hear. But we can be glad to have Simeon’s story as a witness to ourselves as well.
2:34 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.”
Let me return to this blessing in minute. But first, let’s talk about Anna.
2:36 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.
I could be wrong, but I think that Anna is the only member of the tribe of Asher who gets to play a special part in God’s story as recorded in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. She’s one of those old, holy women you may have met, who are a bit over-zealous perhaps for God’s temple. She is a bookend to Simeon—a female witness, as he is a male witness; just as Mary is a female witness as Zechariah is a male one. Luke is big on telling the story of women. Anyway, Anna overhears what is happening between Simeon and the holy family, and begins to praise God and to tell everyone around all about it. This is good gossip—she sees the work of God and shares with other what is happening.
2:39 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.
So, Jesus and his family return home. Matthew’s gospel tells us that some very exciting things are about to happen, but Luke is silent about this; perhaps he didn’t know. In any case, he tells us that Jesus grows up in God’s favor, growing up in wisdom. He is becoming the man he is predicted to be. He “must be about his Father’s business,” as we will learn in the next chapter.
I want to end by looking at Simeon’s blessing:
2:34 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.”
Simeon knows that things are going to change, and the change will be sharp:
There will be a sharp division between those who oppose God’s work, and those who support it. Jesus himself is the sign: those who recognize the work on God in Jesus will be God supporters; those who oppose Jesus will be God’s opposition.
There will be many who die, and many who will rise. I don’t know if Simeon knows what he is saying, but Luke does: Jesus is going to be the first martyr of his own message, and the first born anew. His death, and his resurrection open the way for a good death and a good rebirth for all of his followers.
Jesus will cause much pain to those who love him. Mary will have a sword pierced through her heart, as she sees what happens to the child she loves. First, and this is perhaps a small thing, he will not be a “mama’s boy” but a “Abba’s boy”: he will be about God the Father’s business, not primarily what his mother and father want him to do. But second, of course, he will cause his mother pain as she watches him tortured and killed, and spend those three days in the tomb (which she could barely know would only last three days).
Luke’s Christmas story, like Matthew’s and the slaughter of the Innocents and the flight into Egypt, does not necessarily end on a happy note. Rather, there is this note of tragedy and pain even in the blessing of this child.
We, too, can expect difficulties ahead—the ordinary difficulties of life, but also the difficulties that arise when we try to truly follow Jesus and his way. This is a fact repeated again and again in the New Testament. But, as is also repeated again and again in the New Testament, we don’t do this alone—we do it along side of Jesus, who knew rejection and death himself.
Let us be about the faithful work that God calls us to do.
9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
“Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period. 3 On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. 4 Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over.
11 “After the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your forefathers, 12 you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.
14 “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”
6 ” ‘When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. 7 He shall offer them before the LORD to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood. ” ‘These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. 8 If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’ “