Psalm 24
1st Reading : Malachi 3.1-5
2nd Reading: Hebrews 2.14-end
Gospel : Luke 2.22-40
Text: This child is destined to be a sign (Luke 2.34).
Luke’s account of the presentation of Christ in the Temple adopts an ancient tradition. An elderly sage appears unannounced to utter tantalisingly obscure words of prophecy that whet our appetite for the story that is to follow, and hint at its meaning.
Mary and Joseph have come to the Temple rejoicing in the safe birth of their child Jesus. They have made the offering prescribed by law to give thanks for Mary’s post-natal recovery, but as they prepare to leave, they are accosted by an elderly stranger, who asks to hold the baby. At first his kindly old face is suffused with joy. Gazing in wonder at the child in his arms, he quietly thanks God for a promise fulfilled. He can go now. In this child he has seen the salvation promised in the Scriptures, the Lord’s Messiah, the one who would bring light to all peoples and glory to Israel. An old lady beside him chimes in with words about the redemption of Jerusalem.
Mary and Joseph are already aware that their child is a very special gift from God, but they hardly know what to say. In any case Simeon hasn’t quite finished. Turning to the young couple, he blesses them, but as he gives the baby back to Mary, he seems troubled as he adds:
“This child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
One of Rowan Williams most helpful hints about Bible reading is his suggestion that we should ask where we find ourselves in the story. This morning we may perhaps find ourselves with Mary and Joseph coming to church to do our duty, willingly enough, even gladly, but without expecting anything very much in return. Like them, we may receive something this morning which affirms us in whatever may be our special destiny in the world. Or we may find ourselves somewhere in the troubling words of Simeon’s prophecy.
This child is destined for the falling and rising of many. Luke presents the story of Jesus’ life as one of total identification with humanity in obedience to his Father’s will. As our new testament reading says, in order to help us in the manner of a priest, he had to become like us in every respect. In his humanity he would experience all the ups and downs of life, the falling and the rising, without ever being separated, in joy or in sorrow, from the love of his Heavenly Father. Perhaps that may help us to understand how his Spirit dwelling within us can keep us humble and grateful in times of happiness or success, as well as comforting and sustaining us when things go badly wrong. He has been there, he bears it with us, and he draws us through.
This child is destined to be a sign that will be opposed, so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed. Jesus did not go about provoking division. On the contrary, he demonstrated in his every action the compassion of his Father’s love. He championed the sick, the poor, the penitent, the outcast. He was the friend of women and children, of Samaritans and Gentiles – all the people who were normally despised or ignored in his society. But that got him into all kinds of trouble with the political and religious leaders of his day, who found his approach unconventional, embarrassing, an implicit challenge to their authority. He was a sign of a different way of doing things, and that sign was so disturbing that they did away with him.
I wonder how he would get on to-day. Just suppose he came as a woman. Would we take her seriously? If she came as a refugee, seeking asylum, would we even let her into the country? Harking back to Malachi, what would she have to say about those who to-day oppress the hired workers in their wages, or the widow and the orphan on benefit payments? What would she say about those who thrust aside the alien? The Church of England is absolutely right to hold our government to account, as we do from time to time, for the effects which policies have on the poor and those who have no one to speak out for them. But we need to remember with some humility that it is our government. In a democracy we are all responsible, especially when it comes to Election Day.
And a sword will pierce your own soul too. Simeon’s last word to Mary is deeply personal. She could perhaps be a little detached from the falling and rising of many in Israel. Until his life was threatened, she could even perhaps observe from a certain distance the opposition that her son’s ministry would provoke. But the sword that pierced Jesus as he hung from the cross must have felt as if it went straight through her soul. As his mother, the depth of Mary’s identification with the crucified Jesus is beyond our imagining.
As our Collect reminds us, God’s identification with us, symbolised by his Presentation in the Temple in substance of our flesh, is a two-way street. Insofar as we may be led to identify in the Spirit with those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ, sharing something of their pain and their joy, we should not be surprised if some in our society see us and our Church as a sign that has to be opposed.