Jesus in the Temple Part 1 (Luke 2:21-38)

After the angels’ story, Luke reminds us of the parallel between John and Jesus, with Jesus being circumcised and named on the 8th day. Mary and Joseph are devout and obedient, just as Zechariah and Elizabeth were. The follow the law and the angel’s instructions. On the 40th day, they go to the temple for the legal purification of Mary and the presentation of Jesus. It is here that Jesus—like John—receives a prophetic revelation. Jesus’s future, however, is greater and more important to creation than John’s.

Simeon and Anna only mentioned here in Scripture. Simeon is a devout man who is inspired by the Holy Spirit. He had been promised by God that he would see the Messiah before he died. As he sees Jesus being brought into the temple, it is made known to him that this is the One. His song is brief, but powerful.

“Lord, now you are letting your servant5 depart in peace, according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

In Jesus, he sees the salvation God has promised. To all peoples. A revelation to the gentiles, who did not receive the scriptures, and glory for Israel, through whom the Messiah had come. I sometimes wonder if Simeon received an overwhelming vision of these “all peoples” throughout time past and to come, who would be restored into a right relationship with God through Jesus’s sacrifice.

He does get some sort of glimpse into the gospel message, because his words to Mary after the song indicate some of the harder aspects. The light of salvation would be both an instrument of the fall of some in Israel, as well as the rising of others. Just as the light is a help and a hope to the good living in darkness, it is a source of fear and repulsion for those who embrace evil and hide from exposure. Not only would God’s salvation divide the people of Israel, it would be a source of pain and sorrow for Mary, as the mother of Jesus.

Anna, like Simeon, was old and had been awaiting the Messiah her whole life. She led a strange life of piousness and focus on God. Her prophetic revelations were trustworthy. We don’t get to see her reaction or her words, but—similarly to the shepherds and the angels—she shares the testimony of her encounter with everyone she meets. The encounter with the Messiah prompts the declaration of the good news.