their neighbors. All because God loved them enough to declare some things ceremonially or ritually “unclean” several millennia before modern science taught us how to live longer, healthier lives.
Jesus later declared that he did not come “to abolish the Law . . . but to fulfill [it]” (Matt. 5:17), and “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail” (Luke 16:17). From the beginning of His earthly life, even before He could talk or walk or exercise His will as a human, Jesus fulfilled the requirements of God’s covenant with the Jews.
On the eighth day of life, a newborn male was to be circumcised (Gen.
17:11-12; Lev. 12:3), at which time parents customarily announced the boy’s name. By following this Law of Moses, by bearing the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, Jesus became identified with the nation of Israel.
Luke’s description parallels his account of John’s circumcision (Luke 1:57- 66). Upon his circumcision, the couple named him Jesus, as instructed by the angel.
For the next thirty-three days, Joseph and Mary observed Old Testament laws by keeping the new mother and her child away from general contact with people and from daily routines. At the end of this period of ritual uncleanness, the family was to present their firstborn son in the temple and redeem him in recognition of the fact that he belonged to God (Exod. 13:2- 15; Num. 3:13; 8:17; 18:15-16). Afterwards, the parents took their child home, but with the reminder that he and they belonged to the Lord. For all children, regardless of birth order, the parents were to bring a sin offering (Lev. 12:6-7). Because Joseph and Mary brought a pair of doves as an offering, we know they were not wealthy (Lev. 12:8).
— 2:25-26 —
Luke abruptly shifts his narrative to tell a remarkable story of a devout Jew anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Messiah. We call the four-hundred- year span between Malachi and the birth of Christ a period of divine silence, meaning that no prophet wrote or spoke to the nation on behalf of God. That’s not to say, however, that the Lord had turned His back on His people. He miraculously preserved them through foreign invasion and affirmed their rededication of the temple after it had been desecrated. (Jews today continue to celebrate this event at Hanukkah, or the “Feast of
Dedication” [John 10:22; cf. 1 Macc. 4:52-60].) Furthermore, God spoke personally and supernaturally to devout men and women.
While Augustus Caesar strutted the marbled floors of his palace pulling the strings of power to suit his own agenda, while Herod maniacally
searched out and destroyed potential rivals to his ill-gotten throne, and while religious leaders skimmed money from the temple treasury and twisted Judaism to suit their perverse lust for power, God’s people quietly prayed for the coming of the Messiah. Simeon (Luke 2:25), whose name derives from the Hebrew verb “to hear,” lived in daily expectation of “the consolation of Israel,” a common messianic reference in Isaiah (Isa. 40:1;
49:13; 51:3; 57:18; 61:2). The Holy Spirit revealed to this member of Israel’s believing remnant that he would see the Messiah in his own lifetime.
— 2:27-32 —
In the same way that Simeon knew he would see the Christ before his death, he knew to come to the temple on that particular day, and he knew which couple carried the Christ child. Who knows how long the man had been rehearsing these lines in anticipation of this day? But, when he took the baby in his arms, he offered to the Lord a hymn of praise. The lines of his blessing bear the telltale rhythm and meter of a song, just like the praise songs of Mary (1:46-55) and Zacharias (1:68-79).
His short song can be divided into two sections. The first (2:29-30) celebrates the fulfillment of God’s promise to him personally. The second (2:31-32) celebrates the provision of a Savior to the entire world, both Jew and Gentile.
Take note of Simeon’s emphasis on eyes, seeing, light, and glory. The archetype of light as a symbol for truth can be traced throughout the Bible.
Furthermore, God’s “glory” had long been associated with light, with the radiant splendor of His character often being manifested in the light that came to be called the shekinah. Simeon’s song draws upon the close association of glory with God’s visible presence to declare that this little baby was nothing less than God revealed in physical form.
— 2:33-35 —
Joseph and Mary were “amazed.” Luke will use the Greek term thaumazō [2296] often as he describes the reaction of witnesses to the miracles of Jesus. It carries the idea of wonder or astonishment.
I am amazed that the couple was amazed. Each had received a personal visit from an angel bearing astounding news. They had experienced a virgin conception and birth. They knew they held the Messiah in their arms and had heard the report of the shepherds, how a host of angels split the heavens and filled the night sky with their praise of “Messiah God.” Yet Simeon’s song astonished them.
Mary didn’t completely comprehend what had happened. In fact, the reality of God becoming a human would take the people who knew Jesus a lifetime to appreciate. We look back at them and wonder how they could be so slow to grasp the truth. But I’m sure if they could see into the future, they would marvel that we are not more amazed!
After blessing the couple, Simeon prophesied the future of the Christ child. He would be both a blessing and a curse to individuals, depending upon how they regarded Him. He would cause some to fall as a stone of stumbling (Isa. 8:14-15), while to others He would be a cornerstone (Isa.
28:16) upon which to build.[26] He would become the means of destruction for those who oppose the redemptive plan of God, but the source of
salvation for those who submit to Him.
Simeon predicted the boy’s effect on Mary personally and on the nation as a whole. The Messiah’s death would be like a soldier’s sword to His mother, and it would divide the nation like a broadsword, separating true children of the covenant from unbelievers (cf. Matt. 10:34-39).
— 2:36-38 —
Another fixture of the temple in Jerusalem was a woman named Anna, or, more properly, Hannah, which is Hebrew for “grace” or “mercy.” Luke designates her a “prophetess” (cf. Exod. 15:20; Judg. 4:4; 2 Kgs. 22:14;
Neh. 6:14; Isa. 8:3), meaning she received revelation from God. She
suffered a terrible, yet common, tragedy in that her husband died after only seven years of marriage. Rather than remarry, as women were strongly encouraged to do (1 Tim. 5:14), she devoted the remainder of her very long life to praying, fasting, and worshiping in the temple. Like Simeon, she actively anticipated the coming of the Messiah and the “redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38)—a figurative way of indicating the nation of Israel as a whole by reference to its capital.
She and Simeon probably knew one another and worshiped with a group of people who eagerly sought the One who would redeem Jerusalem.
After Simeon had made his pronouncement, she arrived and gave further prophetic confirmation that the baby was the long-awaited Redeemer, and she excitedly began to announce his arrival to all who had hoped for the Messiah. Luke doesn’t reveal how the people responded to her report. We don’t know whether they scorned her as a feebleminded, old woman or heeded her words as a prophetess.
Curiously, Luke abruptly ends the episode with a summary of Jesus’
first twelve years of life. Perhaps Luke included this brief snippet from Mary’s baby book to let us know that the arrival of the Messiah was neither quiet nor unexpected. His birth had been announced to the people most
likely to care, and they spread the news like wildfire. Many people anticipated His coming, although none of them occupied positions of power, wealth, or religious influence. So, without much fanfare, the Christ entered the temple to satisfy the requirement of the Law and to take His place alongside His kindred Jews. Only a small remnant understood the importance of what occurred that day.
While the Christ child’s visit to His Father’s house passed without much notice from the rulers and priests of Israel, we begin to appreciate several truths about Jesus. In the short span of eighteen verses, we discover an important relationship between the Messiah and the Law of God. While the Christ came to usher Israel into a new era of grace, He did not come to invalidate the Law God had given to Israel through Moses. On the contrary, the Messiah came to satisfy the Law on Israel’s behalf.
We also see Jesus as a personal and historical linchpin connecting Israel’s dismal past with its glorious future. The sin of Israel and its failure to steward the word of God to the nations prevented the nation from
receiving all the covenant blessings of the Lord. In the Christ, through His obedience, Israel will finally receive the full measure of peace, prosperity, and power that God had always longed to give His people.
And we learn in the prophetic utterance of a “righteous and devout”
(2:25) worshiper that the events of Golgotha trace their beginning to Bethlehem. The Son of God was born to die and destined to rise again.