The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Luke 2:22-40

Today, in our Gospel reading we heard another one of what are called the infancy narratives, stories about Jesus as a baby.  This morning, Luke tells us of an event that occurred forty days after Jesus’ birth, His presentation in the temple at Jerusalem.  Luke and Matthew a re the only Gospels that tell us infancy stories, and it is interesting how differently they approach the subject.

Going back the stories of Jesus’ birth, in Matthew’s Gospel, the Jews aren’t really looking for the Messiah – only foreigners come following the star of Bethlehem.  The Jewish King, Herod, doesn’t seem to know the prophecies of Malachi – and has to send his priests to find out where this baby is being born.

Matthew has gone to a lot of trouble to trace Jesus’ lineage back to King David, proving that Joseph is the rightful heir to the throne, and Jesus is thus a royal prince.  And the gifts the Wise Men bring are really gifts fit for a king.

In comparison, Luke does not have Wise Men, nor kings, heralding the birth of the Messiah.  Luke has shepherds.  Shepherds were the poorest and lowliest of folk, were shunned by people in the towns, were considered dirty and unacceptable in polite society. But in Luke, it is to these societal outcasts that angel choirs sing the news of Jesus’ birth. 

Matthew is a Jewish rabbinical scholar, concerned deeply with establishing Jesus as the heir of David and the true Messiah. Luke is not Jewish. He is interested in the early Church, in the days when all the faithful pooled their worldly goods and lived together in community. It is the poor that Luke believes are the closest to God.

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord").

We begin this morning’s Gospel with the reasons for the Holy Family showing up in the Temple at Jerusalem. First and foremost, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Every first-born son had to be presented to the priest at the temple, because that child belonged to God. In Exodus the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Consecrate to Me every firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine” (Exodus 13:1-2).

The parents of the child would bring with them five shekels, which they would give to the priest to buy back their baby, and then they could take the child home with them. If the shekels were not presented, the child would remain at the temple. You may remember Samuel. He was a child who, due to her earlier promise to God, was not bought back by Hannah, his mother, and he remained at the temple under the care tutelage of the priest Eli.

Then there was a second reason for the Holy Family being at the temple.  Following the rituals put forth in Leviticus, it was, and still is, the Jewish custom that forty days after the birth of a son, (eighty days for a daughter), the mother must go through the rites of purification from childbirth. If the husband has in any way touched his wife before this ritual cleansing, he too must undergo purification.

So, Jesus’ parents both show up, because it is time for their purification, and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." That probably doesn’t sound at all telling to any modern listener, but the members of the early Church would have known something right away.  The usual offering for purification was a lamb in its first year as a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering – but lambs were expensive.  So, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons had been designated as an acceptable offering from the poor.  Luke has clearly told us that Jesus’ parents are poor.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. 

Simeon is a devout and righteous Jewish man who has been waiting in the temple for many years for the “consolation of Israel”.  We are told that the Holy Spirit was with him, and has promised him that he will not die until he has seen the Messiah.  Simeon is not a rich man in worldly terms, but he is rich in the Spirit.

On that same day there was also present a prophet, Anna.  We are told of her that she is a widow and has never left the temple. She also is not rich in worldly terms, but she is a holy woman. Like Simeon, she spends her time in worship.  We are also told she is 84 years of age, and because of this piece of information it has always be inferred that Simeon was also a senior.

We have two devout elderly people, who are not among the rich, and two poor young people who, with their baby, have come to keep the rituals required of them.  It is a holy and joyful picture these wonderful people present to us.

The young parents must have been filled with happiness, for they are concluding the process, required by their faith, of becoming a family. And then – the unexpected happens.  Simeon takes the child in his arms and bursts into song.  (Luke, as you may remember, was the only Gospel writer to preserve the songs of the early Church.)  And what he sings, proclaims Jesus to be the Messiah.  Then he turns his attention to Mary, and warns her of the challenges and suffering that lie ahead, not only for her son, but also for her.

Finally, Anna enters the scene, and she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.  Thank goodness for Anna – who joyfully concludes our Gospel story today.

What does it all mean for us?

For one thing, Mosaic Law nowhere demanded that the purification or the redemption, for that is what buying back the baby is called, the child is “redeemed” from temple service, take place within the Temple itself. This means that the Holy Family was showing extra devotion by going to the Temple for this special day.  To take the extra step, to do the extra kindness, all for Jesus, for God, this is what is expected of us.

Simeon and Anna represent for us Luke’s vision of the way to grow in holiness as one ages. They have devoted themselves to prayer and leading righteous lives, an example that Luke would expect any Christian to follow.

And all the people in today’s Gospel story are poor.  To long not for worldly wealth, but to long for the richness of grace and holiness, to long always for the Lord, this Luke shows us is the way to live.

And there is one more very amazing thing, in this story.  Today we celebrate and remember the Presentation of Jesus in the temple.  Luke tells us, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.  To redeem a child, the parents would give five shekels to the priest, but Luke leaves out a description of this redemption taking place. Yet, though Jesus has not been redeemed, Mary and Joseph take the child Jesus home with them. What does this mean?

The answer is simple.  It means that for His entire life on earth, Jesus belongs to His Heavenly Father, belongs to God.:  Our Gospel tells us Jesus is the Messiah, our Lord and our God.

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, as we present ourselves to You in prayer, help us always to remember that You have redeemed us, and bought us out of sin into union with You through the Holy Spirit.  Help us live lives that reflect Your glory, and Your light, for we belong to You – now and forever.  Amen.