Presentation Of The Lord
LUKE 2:22-40 (Malachy 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18)
The celebration of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in his Father’s temple replaces the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Luke notes that “the time came for their purification.” If by the word their Luke is under the impression that the whole family was required to submit to a purification ritual after the birth of a child, he is misinformed. This author of the “Gospel of the Gentiles” seems to have been a Gentile himself rather than a Christian Jew. This would explain the limitations long noticed by scholars in his knowledge of Jewish customs, Palestinian geography, and Jewish history. To put the best light on the matter, by the phrase “their purification” Luke could simply mean Jewish purification ritual mandated by their laws and customs.
According to a law in Leviticus 12:2-8, a woman had to submit to a purification ritual forty days after the birth of a boy, and eighty days after the birth of a girl. At the end of this time the birth-mother was to present to a priest a one-year old lamb as an offering to be consumed by fire, and a turtledove “for a sin-offering.” Exception was made for the poor. They could substitute a second turtledove for the yearling lamb. Luke cites a second law, from Exodus 13:2, 15, with the reason for the law: “Consecrate to me all the first-born. Whatever opens the womb among the people of Israel…is mine. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn among humans, and the firstborn among cattle, …but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.” The firstborn of animals were sacrificed. The firstborn of humans were redeemed, bought back from the Lord for five shekels, a price set by Leviticus 27:6.
Luke is not clear about either of these customs/laws. He blends the two into a presentat-ion of Jesus in the Jerusalem temple. The prescribed fee for the purification of the mother, in Luke’s mind, becomes the ransom or redemption price for the child. As far as is now known, in the first Christian century there was no such custom of presenting a child in the Jerusalem temple. Luke gives us a clue about his catechetical intentions, when he closes his story of Jesus’ presentation in the temple with a statement that echoes the stories of two Old Testament heroes, Samson and Samuel. Luke writes at the end of the story, “And the child (Jesus) grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.” Similar statements were written about Samson and Samuel in Judges 13:24 and 1 Samuel 2:26. Both heroes were dedicated to the Lord before their birth, while Samuel was taken as a child to the shrine of the Ark of the Covenant at Shiloh and “loaned to the Lord” for life. Luke thus proclaims Jesus’ total dedication or consecration to the service of God for life.
During the presentation of Jesus by his parents, Luke brings onto the scene first a holy man, then a holy woman. It is his custom throughout his gospel to balance the genders in this way. First on the scene is Simeon, and an elderly devout man who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. The Holy Spirit now led him into the temple at just the right time. He saw the child Jesus with his parents. He takes the child in his arms and sings a hymn, which is Luke’s composition, a hymn still used in the official night prayer of the Church. This hymn is usually known by its Latin name, the two opening words, Nunc dimittis, meaning, “Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord, in peace, etc.” Simeon was ready to die. He had seen the salvation of his people, but not only of his own people, the Jews. Luke is always concerned about the salvation of all peoples. Thus the hymn must have these words about the Jewish Messiah, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
Simeon blesses the parents of Jesus. This is a difficult passage that speaks of the child being the cause of the fall and rise of many in Israel and as a sign (from God) which will be spoken against. Luke composes the words of this blessing with hindsight. He well knows the division and opposition that Jesus brought into Israel as some accepted him and his mission, while others rejected him. The most difficult part of this oracle is in the words Simeon addresses to Mary, “A sword will pierce through your own soul also.” Most probable meaning: Even though Luke had already depicted Mary in his annunciation scene as Jesus’ first disciple and model of all believers, he proclaims that Mary too would not escape the misunderstanding, sorrow, heartbreak, and rejection that came from being the mother of his unusual Son. The Gospel of John’s depiction of Mary at the foot of the cross has no connection with this saying of Luke’s gospel.
Finally Luke introduces ancient Anna into the scene. He notes that she spent most of her time worshipping in the temple. In this scene she praises God, and speaks of this child to all awaiting the freedom of Jerusalem. In the time of Jesus this would have meant freedom from Roman occupation/oppression. For Luke these words meant redemption from sin through repentance and forgiveness in the new Jerusalem, the Christian Church. Luke closes by revealing a purpose of this catechetical story. He notes that the parents of Jesus performed “all according to the law of the Lord.” Luke proposes them as models of Christian family life focused on the law of the Lord.
