(Audio)
Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Mary and Joseph were being faithful parents, doing what good Jews did in their case. It was something they would have done no matter the true identity and nature of Jesus. Yet in doing so something else was also happening. Prophecy was being fulfilled. One current, of humanity, obedience, and offering, joined with another, of divine presence and restoration.
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
The shekinah cloud of glory had been absent from the temple for so long. It is probably safe to say that no one envisioned that it would return in the form of a baby. Like so much else that Jesus did it infused a very human thing with divine presence. Most people probably expected to find Jesus more as he will appear in his second coming, with clouds of glory and trumpet blasts. And if that is all they watched for they would miss him. Jesus had set about uniting heaven and earth. The fact of his doing so necessarily means that his divinity, while still a light, would not blind or overwhelm anyone. They had to be willing to watch to and find it in the very human places where he chooses to shine forth.
He will sit refining and purifying silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi,
Refining them like gold or like silver
that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.
Precisely because of the humanity of Jesus we can enter in. Because of his divinity he can give us what we need the most.
Since the children share in blood and flesh,
Jesus likewise shared in them,
that through death he might destroy the one
who has the power of death, that is, the Devil,
and free those who through fear of death
had been subject to slavery all their life.
Let us keep watch like Simeon and Anna. Let us look for the consolation Jesus offers us in our own lives, the places where his divinity infuses the most human of circumstances.
Because he himself was tested through what he suffered,
he is able to help those who are being tested.
Jesus brings challenges even to those of us who welcome him. Let us be careful, then, not to contradict his sign. May the piercing of Mary's heart not reveal sinfulness or indifference in our own. If we recognize and welcome Jesus we can have the peace of Simeon.
Now, Master, you may let your servant go
in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples
If we welcome Jesus we can have the joy of Anna.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
May we find in Jesus the word of God fulfilled. May we speak about him wait for the salvation only he can bring.
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