The Presentation of our Lord and the Purification of Mary
Today, we have the epilogue of Luke’s nativity account, with the story of Joseph and Mary bringing the
infant Jesus to the temple just 40 days after his birth. Bethlehem isn’t far from Jerusalem, and so they
made the short journey to the temple and did all that we prescribed for them to
do as good observant Jews. We’ll look at
that a little bit first. And then the
Holy Family meets Simeon and Anna, two elderly saints who sing and tell of their
joy at seeing the infant Messiah. We
echo their song and their words today. 2
Ceremonies, and 2 witnesses, all of it pointing us to Christ, our newborn king.
We really have 2 ceremonies that were done together
here. The one is the purification of
Mary after giving birth to a son. Like
all Jewish women, the process of childbirth made one ceremonially unclean. And so, at a certain time after the birth,
she had to come and make a sacrifice at the temple, and be restored to being
clean. We can read about this in
Leviticus 12.
Even in the midst of new life’s arrival, there is the
reminder of sin and death. Not just the
pain in childbirth that God increased due to the sin of Eve, but also the blood
that was lost in the process – another sign of the corruption of sin in our
world. Even one of the most joyful and
beautiful events in life is tainted by pain and sorrow, and reminders of
death. We can all relate to that.
Some radical feminist has probably written how misogynist
these Jewish ceremonial laws were, but missing the point by a mile – that it
all is a stark reminder of sin, and our need – all of us - for purification and
restoration. Our gracious God provides
just that – and ultimately in Christ.
And so Mary is purified. Faithful
Mary and Joseph receive the gifts God prescribes for them in the way he
prescribes them.
The other important ceremony is the redemption of the
firstborn. This we read about in Exodus
13: The Lord said to Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever
is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of
beast, is mine.”
This, of course, is also not a pointless exercise in
religious piety. God used this ceremony
to remind the people of each generation how he acted to free them from slavery
in Egypt. When the final plague came,
and the firstborn of all Egypt were destroyed, God saved the firstborn of
Israel by the Passover. Again, he made
provision for his people through the shedding of blood. And now, he declared, all the firstborn of
Israel going forward would belong to him.
They must be bought back from death, with a sacrifice of a lamb.
So in this way God had the people look back, but also
foreshadowed his redemption by the Lamb of God who is sacrificed to redeem the
whole world. Blood is shed so that blood
is not shed. Life is given so that the
debt for sparing life is paid. And he
who, as an infant, is redeemed by the sacrifice of animals today, tomorrow
sacrifices himself for the sins of the world.
Mary is purified, and the infant redeemer is redeemed. Two ceremonies which teach us, remind us, and
orient us to the purification and redemption that come only through Mary’s son,
Jesus, the Christ. O Lord, purify and
redeem us by your Christ, through the means you have provided!
And then we meet Simeon.
Simeon who we are told is, “righteous and devout, waiting for the
Consolation of Israel”. Simeon is a
believer, and a faithful one at that.
Like Mary, he’s not sinless, but he trusts the Lord and practices his
faith devoutly. He’s there in the
temple, after all. He was probably there
a lot.
And like all righteous and devout believers at that time, he
was waiting for the Messiah. He’s kind
of the whole Old Testament people of Israel summed up in one. And look what Luke says about this one for
whom they wait: he’s the “consolation of
Israel”. Like a child that needs to be
consoled, Israel is weeping and wailing in their sins. But the Messiah comes to bring consolation,
that is, peace and calm, making everything right.
Simeon, though had something special. A revelation from the Holy Spirit. We’re not told much else, but that he had
received this message: “Simeon, you will
not see death until you see the Lord’s Christ”
Before you die, you get to see the Savior!
My friends, we are all Simeons, aren’t we? Waiting to be dismissed, waiting to depart in
peace. And how can we depart in peace
from this world until and unless we have seen the Lord’s Christ? How can we not depart in peace if we have
received him?
Simeon’s song, the Nunc Dimmittis, still sounds out
today. When we have received the Lord’s
Supper and are getting ready to finish the divine service, we join our voices
to Simeon’s. “Oh Lord now let your
servant depart in heavenly peace, for I have seen the glory of your redeeming
grace”. We are ready to depart, yes,
even to die, because we have seen the Lord’s Christ. Better yet, we have received him, his body
and blood, for the forgiveness of our sins.
We depart in peace knowing God is at peace with us, and doesn’t hold our
sins against us. We depart in peace knowing that Christ has redeemed us,
purified us, shed his blood for us! Our
eyes have seen his salvation!
Simeon sang about seeing the light to the nations and the
glory of Israel. Yes, that’s true, those
are both names for the Christ: The light
to the nations – he brings light, the shining light of God’s grace to all the
people who sat in the darkness of sin and unbelief. But he is also the glory of Israel. The glory had departed the temple back in the
days of Ezekiel. God’s mystical presence
in the cloud which filled the holy of holies.
But now, the glory of God made flesh has become a baby, a child, an
Israelite. Simeon had seen the glory of
God, the glory of Israel, return to the temple once more!
But the same happens every time the Christ brings his
presence to us in the means of grace.
The glory of God and the light to the nations shine forth in the word
proclaimed, in sins forgiven, in baptismal water and sacramental meal.
Simeon also points us toward the cross, and the sword that
will pierce Mary’s heart. This Jesus,
this little baby Jesus, will also bring a sword, and division – for the rising
and fall of many in Israel. To those
that receive him, like Simeon, he raises us to righteousness and life! To those that oppose him, they can only fall. And in the final judgment, all hearts are
revealed as either righteous in Christ, or corrupt and wicked and condemned. O Lord, let us ever receive Christ joyfully
like Simeon, and depart in peace according to your word.
And then we see dear Anna, the prophetess. At 84, she was old, especially for her
day. Or look puts it more kindly,
“advanced in years”. She had a hard
life, most of it lived as a widow after her husband died young. But she knew where to find consolation, and
spent her days in the temple, fasting and praying, day and night. Like Simeon, righteous and devout. Like Simeon, approaching nearer to death
every day. Like us, too, really, each of
us moves closer to death each day. Each
of us has sorrows and troubles in life.
Each of us can fast and pray and worship as we prepare for that day when
we depart in peace.
And look at what else Anna did – she spoke. She told all who would listen about the
Redemption of Jerusalem. She told them
about Jesus. She probably witnessed the
whole thing with Simeon. They probably
talked about what it all meant, this special child that God brought to them, to
the temple, to this world. The light to the nations, the glory of Israel, the
rise and fall of many, the Redemption of Jerusalem. O Lord, may we also be so
free to speak of our redemption in Christ!
As we move away from Christmas and toward Epiphany yet
again, we consider the end of Luke’s nativity account. The Purification of Mary, which points us to
Christ, who purifies us. The Redemption
of the Firstborn, and the Firstborn redeemer who saves us. Simeon, who waited for the consolation of
Israel, and who was consoled in Christ and could depart in peace. And faithful Anna, who added her voice of
thanks and praise and told anyone and everyone about the infant Jesus, the
Redemption of Israel.
What a way to close out the Christmas season, with two
ceremonies, and two witnesses – all pointing us to the one newborn Christ, the
redeemer, the light to the nations, the glory of Israel, the consolation of all
who trust in him.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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