The Holy Family Of Jesus, Mary And Joseph
LUKE 2:22-40 (Genesis 15:1-6, 21:1-3; Psalm 105:1-6, 8-9; Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19)
The great event, the birth of the Lord, has taken place. Jesus was incorporated into the family of Abraham by circumcision on the eighth day after his birth. There was a law for the purification of a mother who had given birth, Leviticus 12:2-8. The purification took place forty days after the birth of a male child. On the designated day the mother was to present to a priest a one-year old lamb as an offering to be consumed by fire, and a turtle dove “for a sin offering.” Exception was made for the poor. They could substitute a second turtledove for the lamb. Luke notes, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” The shedding of blood in any normal birth required a sin offering, “and she shall be clean from the flow of her blood.” A woman’s life or vitality was linked with her blood. Loss of blood in childbirth, therefore the loss of a part of her life, was thought to separate her in some way from the Lord to whom all life belonged. Luke obviously attributes to Mary a normal birth process including a loss of blood.
Luke cites a second custom (or law) connected with the birth of a male child, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.” This law and the reason for it are found in Exodus 13:2, 15, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn, whatever is the first to open the womb, both of man and of beast, is mine. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord slew all the firstborn of man and of cattle. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.” The firstborn human male could be bought back from the Lord. The price was set by Leviticus 27:6, five shekels. Luke confuses these two laws or customs, so that in his version the prescribed fee for the purification of the mother becomes the redemption price for the son. Although the liturgy of February 2 celebrates both Mary’s purification and Jesus’ presentation, the greater emphasis is on Jesus’ presentation. The very name of the feast, “The Presentation of the Lord,” indicates this emphasis.
As far as we know, there was no custom in the first century of presenting a child in the temple. This would be no problem for Luke who is not writing a biography, but a catechesis. By placing this scene in the temple itself, Luke proclaims Jesus’ total dedication to his Father from the beginning. An indication of Luke’s catechetical intention is seen in his closing statement to the whole episode, “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.” Thus Luke recalls two ancient heroes who were also totally dedicated to the Lord by their parents – Samson, Judges 13:24 and Samuel in 1 Samuel 2:26. These two “Judges” who served the Lord with their whole life are in this story Luke’s pattern for the Lord Jesus.
Onto the scene Luke brings both a man and woman. The first to enter is Simeon, “righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel.” The consolation of Israel was the awaited Messiah (the Christ). Simeon was filled with the Holy Spirit, who guided him into the temple at the right time. The Holy Spirit had promised him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. He took the child in his arms, blessed God, and chanted the words of another of Luke’s hymns in his first two chapters. The first line recognizes that the promise of seeing the Messiah before Simeon’s death is now realized, “Now, O Lord, you may let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation.” Luke recognizes the twofold mission of early Christianity – the mission to the Jews and the mission to the Gentiles. Thus Simeon chants of the little Messiah in his arms, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
Simeon blesses Jesus’ “father and mother.” Then he addresses Mary, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against.” Jesus was to be a standard, a criterion, a sign, by which his fellow Jews would be measured. Some would be scandalized (“fall”) by rejecting him, while others would “rise,” by accepting him and his mission. Jesus and his mission, the “sign which is spoken against,” will bring about “that the thoughts of many hearts will be made known.” But between the second and fourth lines lies a cross for interpreters, “And a sword will pierce through your (Mary’s) own soul also.” There is no indication in Luke’s gospel that he was familiar with the scene at the foot of the cross in the Gospel of John in which alone we find the presence of Jesus’ mother by the cross. Simeon’s words should be interpreted from Luke’s gospel only. Mary would not escape misunderstanding, heartbreak, and rejection that accompanied being mother of this unusual Son. Examples: giving birth in a stable, the loss of Jesus in the temple, his strange answer when she reproached him.
In the next scene, an elderly prophetess named Anna, a widow, who spent most of her time praying in the temple, also approached the Holy Family. Luke does not say so, but she too must have been guided by the Holy Spirit as Simeon was earlier. Luke gives her no words, but “she spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Israel.” The Greek noun which Luke uses for “redemption” has a meaning of loosening, freeing, releasing. This can mean freeing from Roman occupation, as the Messiah was expected by some to do. For Luke redemption means Jesus’ mission to lead all people to God. “He has visited and redeemed his people, Luke 1:68, as we read in Zechariah’s hymn. In that context redemption and salvation are synonyms. In Luke 21:28, redemption is completed at the Second Coming, when we “stand before the Son of man.”
