Presentation of Our Lord

A statement of a spiritual (if not physical) emancipation that foreshadows the very abolitionist ministry of Jesus

Presentation of Christ in the Temple
Eeckhout, Gerbrand van den. Presentation of Christ in the Temple, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, Tenn. Original source.

February 2, 2025

Gospel
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Commentary on Luke 2:22-40



All the male children in a Jewish household, enslaved and freeborn, are circumcised at eight days old as is Jesus (2:21–24; Genesis 17:10–12). Also, 33 days after giving birth to a male child, the birth mother is expected to participate in the rite of purification. Thus, Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the Temple to present him to YHWH and sacrifice two turtledoves or two pigeons for Mary’s purification, which constitute a poor person’s offering; they could not afford to offer a sheep (Exodus 13:1–2; Leviticus 12:1–8).

In the temple, the lives of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and Simeon intersect. Mary and Joseph are fulfilling what the Torah expects of them (Luke 2:25–32). Simeon is expecting or anticipating (prosdechomenos) the comfort of Israel (paraklēsin tou Israel; 2:25). One expectation has been fulfilled (the birth of Jesus), and two others are about to be (the purification rite and the seeing/meeting the comfort of Israel in the baby Jesus). Simeon is described as a just (dikaios) and devout or religious (eulabēs) human being (anthrōpos). The Spirit is upon him and reveals to him that he will see the Lord’s Messiah (Israel’s comfort) before he dies. Thus, in the Spirit, Simeon enters the temple; sees Mary, Joseph, and Jesus; receives the baby Jesus in his arms; and praises God with these words:

Now, Master (despota),
you have liberated your slave (apolueis ton doulon sou)
in peace, according to your word (rhēma sou).
For my eyes saw your salvation,
which you prepared
in the presence of all the peoples,
a light for revelation of nations
and for glory of your people Israel. (2:29–32; my translation)

I have proposed that this is a statement of a spiritual (if not physical) manumission/emancipation that foreshadows the very abolitionist ministry that Jesus announces during his synagogue proclamation in which he declares the purpose or function of the Spirit’s anointing upon him (4:16–19). We find commonalities and similarities between the characterization and words of Simeon and Jesus’ sermon in Luke 4:

  1. Release or liberation from enslavement, captivity, and oppression.
  2. Ability to see what one could not see before: Simeon sees God’s comfort to Israel, the nations can see light/revelation, and there is recovery of sight for the blind.
  3. Prior to speaking words of praise to God, the Spirit is on Simeon, and similarly on Jesus.
  4. Jesus brings good news to the poor, and Mary and Joseph bring a poor man’s offering to the temple. The liberating word of the Master/Lord is good news to Simeon and to Jesus’ parents.

Mary and Joseph are amazed (2:33). While still holding the baby, Simeon blesses the family. Then he warns Mary of her child’s future impact on many Israelites: Many will rise and fall, he will be an opposed sign, and Mary herself will suffer (2:34; see also 1:51–53; 4:28–29; 6:11). Later in Luke, Jesus seems to have distanced himself from his mother and siblings (8:19–21; 14:26). Good news does not mean the absence of suffering; the two coexist. And what is good news to some could be viewed as bad news by others. It is good news that communities in Springfield, Ohio, welcomed Haitian immigrants as their neighbors, but for others this type of diversity feels threatening and may be demonized.

Anna enters the narrative as Simeon finishes praising God (2:38a). He doesn’t exit, but we are abruptly introduced to Anna, a prophētis (woman prophet; 2:36–38). This is the only appearance of prophētis in Luke.1 Yet we find similarities between Luke’s Anna and Anna in the apocryphal text The Protoevangelium of James (hereafter PJ).2

In PJ, Anna is identified as a widow and as the wife of Joachim. Anna had never birthed a child. The angel of the Lord visits her and announces that she will conceive and birth a child who will be world-renowned. God answers Joachim’s prayer, not Anna’s, which is similar to the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1. Anna tells Joachim that she is no longer a widow and has conceived.

Anna gives birth to a girl and sings, “My soul is magnified today” (reminiscent of the Magnificat in Luke), and she names the baby Mary. Mary’s parents give her to the care of the priests at three years old, and she lives in the temple until she turns 12, when she is entrusted to Joseph’s care. In his care she becomes pregnant at 16, having been overshadowed by God. Joseph marries her to avoid a scandal, and she gives birth to Jesus in a cave with the aid of a midwife who pronounces her still a virgin after the birth.

Luke’s Anna, of the tribe of Asher, bears similarities to PJ’s Anna. She is an 84-year-old widow who had been married for seven years. Anna resides in the temple, where she worships God 24 hours a day, day and night (I’m not sure how that is possible!). Like Simeon, Anna praises God, testifying about the child. Different from Simeon, Anna speaks/prophesies to all those (in the temple, presumably) anticipating or expecting (prosdechomenois) Jerusalem’s redemption.

Most scholars date PJ in the second century CE; it could be an expansion and interpretation of Luke’s birth narratives. PJ belongs to the Catholic canon, and Anna is celebrated as the mother of the virgin Mary (and thus the grandmother of Jesus) among Catholic Christians.

At home and at the temple, Mary and Joseph fulfill all the requirements of the Torah for their son Jesus and for Mary as the birth mother, and they return home to Nazareth of Galilee, where Jesus will begin his public ministry (2:39–40). Despite their poverty, Jesus grew to become a healthy and strong young man, full of wisdom (sophia), and who experienced God’s grace (charis). At Luke 2:52, Jesus knew both human and divine/Godly grace (2:52).

All humans need grace (sometimes translated as “favor”) from other humans, precisely because we are human (absolutely and necessarily imperfect and not God). God’s grace should not be treated like a commodity we claim for ourselves to distinguish ourselves as better than others. But too often we work hard and earn a raise or buy a new car and we characterize it as God’s favor or grace. Grace is not something we merit or earn by being strong, persistent, smart, resourceful, or lucky enough to be born in a developed country versus a developing colonized country or into a middle-class or wealthy household versus into poverty. Grace is freely given by God and humans, to humans, not because we are perfect but because we all need it in very tangible ways.


Notes

  1. The only other occurrence in the New Testament is at Revelation 2:20, referring to Jezebel.
  2. Also known as the Infancy Gospel or The First Gospel of James (the brother of Jesus).