David Bahn – Reflections

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Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. ³⁷ Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. ³⁸ She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. 

³⁹ When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. ⁴⁰ There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him. – Luke 2:36-40

I was in college – second go-round. I had nearly made the less-than-auspicious dean’s list a year earlier and had taken some time away. But now I was back and on a much better track. Rather than D’s and F’s I was earning A’s and B’s. Only part of the reason for that was the fact that the class load I carried was not exactly the most challenging. But still… A’s and B’s are better than D’s and F’s any day. My philosophy professor (Yes, it was an easy A, don’t laugh!) got to know me well. I told him of my life’s challenges at the time. 

I had come to class one day sharing from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount only to be strongly challenged and roundly ridiculed. I had met the love of my life and she was 5000+ miles away, studying for a semester in Germany. I was helping at my parents’ motel and enduring significant isolation and loneliness. And I was trying to figure out how my faith would really integrate with my life. I was in a crucible of sorts. 

My professor knew some of these things, and pondered out loud, “I wonder what you are being prepared for.” I’m not sure he had God in the picture of my refining. I’m not sure he even factored God into any equation. But he did recognize that things were happening which were and would shape me for years to come. That’s what God does. He shapes people through our experiences, relationships, his word, and his providential daily guidance. 

I’m thinking about that in regard to Jesus, even at this very early age. He’s barely 8 days old and already things are happening to him and around him that will be played out in his life and ministry. He was now a Son of the Covenant through circumcision. He was dedicated to the Lord by way of his parents’ obedience to the Law of Moses. He was identified as God’s salvation by Simeon. He was the source of Anna’s praise at this encounter. 

But we don’t have to wonder what God had in mind for him. We know what he was being prepared for. He was being prepared for his life and ministry as God incarnate, the fulfillment of all of the prophecies and promises of God, the Second Adam, the embodiment of all that man was created to be. And it was beginning to unfold in the sight of the world in these days. 

But it would not come immediately. Jesus’ ministry would not unfold publicly for 30 years. He would grow up in his hometown of Nazareth, under the care and guidance of his parents, and as his age, wisdom, physical strength, and social stature progressed. Jesus was not delivered as a done deal, a complete package.

Jesus will grow up healthy and strong. Although he was already filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was already on him, there would be more to learn, more to be done. More opportunities to display his love for God and man. And while his earthly destiny would lead him to a horrific death on a cruel Roman cross, his ultimate destiny is that at his name every knee would bow in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I believe Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and true man, born of the Virgin Mary is my Lord. He has redeemed me, purchased and won me from sin, death, and the power of the devil. He did this not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood, his innocent suffering and death. He did this so that I may be his own and live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in eternal righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. And just as he was raised from the dead, he lives and reigns with the Father for all eternity. (Based on Luther’s Small Catechism, explanation to the 2nd Article of the Apostle’s Creed)

All this begins now to unfold at the temple when Jesus is just 8 days old. What is God preparing you for today – no matter how old you are?

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Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. ³⁷ Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. ³⁸ She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. – Luke 2:36-38

You may be able to identify with this. It’s not so true anymore, but when I was working full time, it was a well-worn pattern. I would come into the house at the end of the day, stick my head in the office where Diane was most often at work, and say, “Hi Babe! How was your day?” All I really wanted was to acknowledge her, let her know that I was home and receive a condensed executive summary of her wellbeing at the moment. I should have said, “Hi, Diane. I’m home. Hope you are doing well. I can’t wait to hear about your day after I’ve had a few moments to decompress. I’m not ready to listen to you now, but I’ll give you my full attention later this evening. You OK with that?” Or something like that.

But I most often would not do that, and Diane took me at my word. She would begin to tell me about her day. I’m not a details person, and she is. So I would zone out after three or four specifics and she would need to keep filling in the details. So many words!

I shouldn’t talk. Because I do talk – at least I did talk for a living. As a pastor, I would lead, teach, preach, counsel, direct, and advise regularly. I had lots of words and used them. In fact I have so many words that today, I find the hard drive in my head spinning furiously seeking the word that I know is there, but can’t quite bring to mind! But I digress. Words. How many do you have? How do you use them? 

Anna apparently had many words. She used them to praise God, worshiping and praying day and night. And once she saw the Baby Jesus, she used her words to tell people about the child. Can you imagine what she said? Did she talk about how cute he was? Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not sure that was an item of conversation in those days. Did she talk about how Simeon blessed the child and spoke his prayer to God upon seeing him? Did she point people to the prophecies of Scripture and tell them that this Jesus was the promised One? Did she talk about what it meant that the Messiah had come? That Scripture had been fulfilled? That God had broken his 400 year silence? 

It’s easy to get into a conversation these days. Mention COVID. Ask about families’ health. Comment on masks, vaccines, or mandates. You’re likely to unplug a pent-up spew of words – all emotionally-laden and charged. But what if we would learn to see Jesus at work in our lives? What if we would marvel at his grace toward us? What if we made a point of bringing people words of grace and life? 

Anna couldn’t help herself in that moment. Perhaps you’ll experience a moment like that as well, when God shows up, and reminds you of his goodness, faithfulness, and love. Maybe we could pray for such moments. That’s what Anna had been doing prior to this encounter. 

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Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. ³⁷ Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. ³⁸ She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

³⁹ When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. ⁴⁰ There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him. – Luke 2:36-40

James Dobson tells the story of Ryan, his son when he was a toddler. Seems he had wanted to get up onto the back of a pickup truck and he didn’t quite make it. His center of gravity was tugging him one way as he fought to get up. His feet were dangling a foot above the ground and he was calling, “Help the boy! Will someone please help the boy!”

I love that image. We can relate, can’t we? Half way to a goal, dangling over the edge. Not wanting to let go of our progress, but unable to make it all the way by ourselves. Help the boy! Help the girl! Would someone please help me? 

Lose those last 10 pounds. Gain control of our spending. Finish the home improvement project. Clean out the closet. Clean out the computer files(!). So close. But so much in need of help. Sad the person who cannot admit to his need. Sad the one who just gives up. Sad the person who is chronically stuck in the mire of their half-way efforts.

We don’t often think of Jesus as needing help. He is the Son of God after all. He is the Word who was in the beginning with God; who was God. He is the one to whom every knee will bow. He is the alpha and the omega.

But Jesus does need help. He cannot do the things required of in the Law of Moses. He had to rely on his parents to bring him to the temple. He had to rely on the priests to perform their duties. He had to live from his earliest age in dependance and obedience to his parents. He would need to learn and grow and become a man in the truest and fullest sense. Why would he choose to put himself in that situation? 

Jesus did all this in order to redeem and save us. He took on human flesh, not just as a skin coat, but as a real baby, infant, toddler, adolescent, and man. In every way tempted as we are, yet without sin. But even more than that, subject to the same limitations as all people. And he would do it perfectly.

Jesus submitted to needing help so that he could help us eternally and retain a heart for us in the midst of a world in which we all need help. So I rejoice today in this, that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). 

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Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. ³⁷ Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. ³⁸ She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

³⁹ When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. ⁴⁰ There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him. – Luke 2:36-40

Our youngest son played on a soccer team called, Relentless Pursuit. Diane and I both marveled, wondering where he got his speed. He was one of the fastest players on the team. Justin, one of his teammates was faster, but Steve was no slouch. He definitely lived up to the name of their team. 

Anna is noted for her relentless pursuit: She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She pursued God. Day and night. In the temple. Worshiping and praying. And because of her habitual presence there, she was present when the baby Jesus was brought for his dedication and circumcision. She pursued God, and God showed up.

People today have other relentless pursuits. A quick search of Youtube reveals a host of those who pursue everything from the latest restoration project, to airplanes. I have to confess in that regard…I can all too easily fall down a Youtube wormhole. I’ve graduated from men sawing down large trees, to guys playing with various sized guns, to restorations of toys and other assorted items. Then I discovered the Wristwatch Revival, and Jimmy’s World, a guy who rolls a message at the first of all his videos: “Caution! I am an idiot. Do not take any airplane or financial advice from me. This is to show you how to go bankrupt with airplanes…” In that same spirit: Caution! Do not click on those links above. Youtube will suck you in and you’ll spend half your day watching kids unwrap toys or cats doing silly things. But I digress…

Not all that is totally wasted time. We need a break now and then from the weighty issues of the world: Russian threats to Ukraine. The latest COVID variant. Political posturing and division. These press in on us with relentless tenacity. Once in a while it’s good to be able to take a break. Of course if the break becomes a relentless pursuit all its own, you have a problem. Thankfully I’m not there. 

I recently decided to memorize larger sections of Scripture. I have John 1:1-18 down. I know Luke 2:1-20 by heart. I have several psalms memorized. But I’m challenging myself to memorize large sections of the Bible as a means of personal spiritual discipline. One thing I’ve noticed in that pursuit is how God opens up new insights to his word as I hide it in my heart.

I’m not sure my efforts can qualify as relentless pursuit. But I am  thankful for any influence of the Holy Spirit to be more like Anna, and less like my newest YouTuber hero.

I need not caution you in regard to pursuing God through meditating and memorizing his word. I’m thinking about memorizing a few chapters from the book of Romans…

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And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, ³⁷ and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸ And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

³⁹ And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. – Luke 2:36-40

People identify in many different ways today. Just the other day I was filling out a form which asked: How do identify? The options were “male, female, or other.” The server at a church conference made it known as soon as she found out we were a bunch of pastors that she was in a lesbian relationship. In fact it may have been even before she found out who we were that she self-identified in that way. 

We don’t know much about Anna. We know she was a prophetess. But we don’t fully know what that means, and how that would compare to John the Baptizer. We know she was devoted, and regularly and often in the temple. But we know little of in what capacity she was there; though we might surmise that she was there to worship and pray and prophesy. We know she saw the baby Jesus and immediately began to tell everyone about him. So Luke tells us that Anna was a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, and completely devoted to worship by fasting and prayer. 

One commentator (David Guzik) says, “Anna was a remarkable woman. As a widow she knew pain and loss but had not become bitter. As an elderly woman she had not lost hope. Perhaps it was because she was a woman of worship and a woman of prayer.”

Diane has a beautiful way in which she self-identifies, “I am a follower of Jesus who worships in a Lutheran community.” I like to make the point – whenever it is true – that I am the oldest one in the room. That was true recently at a pastoral installation I attended. Better I should take a clue from Diane, and say, “I am a servant of Jesus, and I serve in the context of Lutheran congregations.” Better, however, might I be known as a sinner, redeemed by God and, a faithful servant of Jesus, and one who rejoices in the grace of God in Jesus. 

How would you be known? 

For your personal meditation and reflection on this Lord’s Day.

Psalm 9:1-2

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
    I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Psalm 39:7-8

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
    My hope is in you.
Deliver me from all my transgressions.
    Do not make me the scorn of the fool!

Psalm 69:30-31

I will praise the name of God with a song;
    I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
³¹ This will please the Lord more than an ox
    or a bull with horns and hoofs.

Psalm 99:1-3

The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!
    He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
² The Lord is great in Zion;
    he is exalted over all the peoples.
³ Let them praise your great and awesome name!
    Holy is he!

Psalm 129:4

The Lord is righteous;
    he has cut the cords of the wicked.

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And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” ²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

²⁹ “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation
³¹ that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

³³ And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed ³⁵ (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” – Luke 2:22-35

It used to be said that the most segregated hour of the week was Sunday morning. White folks when to their churches. Black folks went to their churches. Hispanic, Asian, Indian, Native Americans: each went to their own worship services. And each had their own unique way of worshiping. There are exceptions to this today. Some churches have broken the ethnic/cultural barriers. Some have managed to gather a diverse group of people around the Word of God in worship of the One who came for Jew and Gentile alike. For slave and free, male and female, red and yellow, black and white as the song goes. 

But it’s easy to overlook just how radical this notion really is: Jesus came not just for this small and insignificant, beleaguered and oppressed nation of people. And that out of that nation came the Savior of the world. And the Savior of the world, coming from the Jewish people came for gentiles as well as Jews. 

So radical was this idea that there is an entire chapter devoted to the issue in Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. This was radical. That a nation would share its god with other nations! That the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be the God of Greeks and Jews alike, not to mention people from all over the world. Nearly unthinkable. 

Two things come to my mind in light of this. First of all, I need to remember that I have no claim on God, on the Christian faith, or a prominent or favored place in the warp and woof of the Church of God, the Communion of Saints, the one holy Christian [little c-catholic] church, the sum total of all true believers in Christ in heaven and on earth. I am one of many, and I need to be quite aware of the privilege of being part of that fellowship – more so than I need to be sitting in judgment on others’ place in the kingdom of God. 

Secondly, I need no other credential than faith in Jesus to have a place in the Church of God, the Communion of Saints, the one holy Christian [little c-catholic] church, the sum total of all true believers in Christ in heaven and on earth. Jesus is the light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of God’s people Israel. And I’m with him. He came for me and all sinners. 

Sometimes this truth is more precious than others. Right now, it is a precious bit of good news for me. I belong to Jesus. I’m part of his church. And I thank God for that and rejoice in the fellowship of all the redeemed – including you, dear reader. 

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[Simeon] came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

²⁹ “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation
³¹ that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

³³ And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed ³⁵ (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” – Luke 2:27-35

I find the movie Bruce Almighty to be irreverent and enlightening. When Bruce answers all the prayers, “Yes,” chaos ensues. So true. It’s a good thing that God does not always answer every prayer by saying yes. We too often don’t really know what’s best for us. Another scene in the movie is enlightening. Before Bruce becomes Bruce Almighty, he is praying, asking God for a sign. He passes a CAUTION DANGER AHEAD sign, and a truck pulls in front of him with all manner of “STOP, TURN AROUND, WRONG WAY” signs. And he passes it by. Looking and praying, he finally runs into a lamp post. He ignored the signs. Clear as they were.

The trouble with signs is most often the reader not the sign. I know there are some funny ones out there. Bulletin bloopers and silly sign memes are everywhere to be found on the Internet. But we too often make signs say what we want, and reject the challenging truths that God would have us believe when he sends signs our way.

First and foremost of the false-beliefs is hinted at here. When Simeon tells Mary that Jesus is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, he is delivering a hard truth. Then he adds that Jesus will be a sign that is opposed and tells her that her heart will be broken by what transpires around and through her son.

We’d like to think that if we are aligned with God’s will, all will go well for us. Life will be good. Success will give way to further success. We’d like to believe that if people just got to know Jesus better, they would more easily believe in him. 

Alas, that’s not true. Jesus came to his own and his own did not receive him. He was rejected by the most religious people of his day. And the ungodly and impenitent immoral folks wanted nothing to do with him. He was a sign spoken against. He brought down the high and mighty.

A well-loved and ordered life is not a sign of God’s favor. It may be a gift of his kindness and grace. It may be a hint of a better and even more full goodness to be experienced in the life of the world to come. But it is not a sign. 

Debbie Boone was not right when she sang, “It can’t be wrong when it feels so right.” Wrong. Why else would temptation work? Why would sin be so appealing? Why would we want to hang on to things that are not good for us? 

Martin Luther said, “A theologian of glory calls evil good and good evil. A theologian of the cross calls the thing what it actually is. This is clear: He who does not know Christ does not know God hidden in suffering.”

Something very good is happening here. Jesus has come to redeem and save us. But it will not be happy all the time. There are moments. There are foretastes of pure joy and delightful bliss this side of heaven. But these are mud puddles of distractions compared to oceans of joy that awaits the redeemed of God. 

I realize this seems heavy today. So let me end by saying, also, that Jesus will cause the rising of many. In fact the broken-hearted are especially precious to God. He binds them up and holds them in love.

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Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

²⁹ “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation
³¹ that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.” – Luke 2:25-32

Wait. Hope. Trust. These make up the trinity of faith. I’m not speaking of the Holy Trinity, the three-in-one nature of God here. I am speaking of a beautifully-woven working of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a believer. The three are truly inseparable. If we trust, we will wait. As we wait we will hope. We hope because we trust God’s promises, goodness, and power to be at work for our good. 

And when it comes to consolation, oh my do we need that these days! There are the obvious ways in which the consolation of God is so needed. A loved-one dies. A job opportunity evaporates. A friend catches COVID. A dream must be discarded. Loss is all around. 

But there are other ways in which our hearts ache. We yearn for a good thing we cannot have. We long for a relief to the stress of life in a fallen world. We wish for an end to a painful illness. We see loved ones making shipwreck of their faith. We watch as people ignore God and believe the lies of the devil. Our flesh beguiles us toward unhealthy and even ungodly pursuits. 

Even if these do not intrude in your life, Blaise Pascal said it well: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through Jesus Christ.”

Simeon knew that need. And he waited, hoped, and trusted in God to fill that void. He recognized, also, that this was not his need alone. He looked for the consolation of Israel. His people. His countrymen. His kith and kin needed this consolation. And now it is before his eyes. 

We live in the afterglow of that vision. Jesus has appeared. And we are the richer for it. We can look back on what God has done in Jesus to save us. Yet we, too, must wait, hope, and trust. For although we have been saved by Jesus, we are yet being saved day-by-day through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. And yet we look forward to the time when we will be saved on the Great Last Day. Then all of God’s promises will be fully fulfilled. Then we will be fully consoled. Then our hearts will have no rival god to woo us from the True God and his salvation.

Powered by the Holy Spirit, we wait. Secured in Jesus we hope. Emboldened by God’s promises we trust. That’s the trinity of faith we must all embrace until we see it ourselves, and we see Him face to face.  

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And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” ²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

²⁹ “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation
³¹ that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

³³ And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed ³⁵ (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” – Luke 2:22-35

Luke includes some seemingly inconsequential facts in this portion of his account of Jesus’ presentation and circumcision. For some reason he needs us to know that this was done in obedience to the Law of Moses, including the need to offer a sacrifice of two turtledoves or two young pigeons. I suppose those details are there in order to give us some context for what is about to happen.

It seems more significant that Simeon is a righteous man who was waiting for the consolation of Israel. These are more obviously important. Three times Luke mentions the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. That’s important to be sure. All this is coming together as a ballet of God’s grace. 

God is not aloof, nor is he content to act and leave it at that. He desires that we know him. He desires that we perceive his work. He desires that we believe in him. He desires that we find joy in his grace. All that comes together here.

God has acted. He has taken on human flesh. He has revealed this to shepherds in the fields. He has announced it with the praise of angels. The shepherds have told everyone they met of the message of the angels and birth of the Savior. Now he is letting Simeon know that he can depart in peace. He has fulfilled his promise. Jesus is God’s salvation, and Simeon has seen it with his own eyes. 

But what about that Law of Moses and Law of the Lord comments? Here is something to learn. God often sets the table for extraordinary things with ordinary tableware. Shepherds and stables. Turtledoves and temple visits. Daily devotions and an afternoon walk. Morning coffee and a phone call or text with a friend. Add the Holy Spirit and you have the makings of God at work. 

Our response may not be as significant as Simeon’s. For his was truly a once-in-all-of-history event. But whenever the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see his ballet of grace in our lives, we surely must also sing his praise.