When eight days had passed, the baby was circumcised. He was given the name JESUS, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
When the time for purification according to the law of Moses had ended, they
brought the baby to Jerusalem to present him to God, (as written in the Law of
the Sovereign, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Sovereign” (Ex.
13:2, 12)), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with the Law: “a pair of doves
or two young pigeons.” (Lev. 12:8))
(Luke 2:21-24)
According to his promise at the beginning of this gospel, Luke provides an orderly accounting of how Jesus was brought up in accordance with Jewish religion, customs, rituals and practices. In keeping with Genesis 17:12, Jesus was circumcised when He was eight days old. During the ritual, He received His Name.
Now, when a woman gave birth she was considered unclean for seven days if it was a boy, and for fourteen days if it was a girl. Then she was required to wait an additional thirty-three days for a boy, or sixty-six days for a girl, as a time of purification, during which she was not permitted to enter the Temple, nor share in any religious ceremony. (Lev. 12:1-5)
When she was finally purified, she was to bring to the priest a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. However, if she could not afford a lamb, she could bring two doves or two young pigeons, instead. (Lev. 12:6, 8) Since Luke indicated the pair of doves or pigeons, that informs us that Mary and Joseph were poor.
According to Exodus 13:2 and 13:12, every firstborn male, human or animal, was to be consecrated, or given over to God. In actuality, the Hebrew term for the consecration meant the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to God, often by destroying them. However, there was an interesting quirk in the law. Except for oxen, sheep or goats, Numbers 18:15 & 16 commanded that after the consecration the first-borns were not to be destroyed, but were to be redeemed–that is, bought back from God for about 2 ounces of silver.
He was named Jesus, which means Savior, or He will Save. The Hebrew form of the name is Joshua, which means Yahweh saves.
Now, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, who was righteous and
devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was in
him. The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen
the Sovereign’s Christ. Urged by the Spirit, he went into the temple. When the
parents brought in the child, Jesus, to do for him in keeping with the custom of
the Law, Simeon took him up in his arms, praised God and said,
“Sovereign, as you have promised,
now dismiss your servant in peace,
for my eyes have seen your Salvation,
which you have prepared before all the people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and a glory to your people Israel.”
(Luke 2:25-32)
While Mary and Joseph were at the temple, a man named Simeon came up to them. Luke tells us that he was a good person and very devoted to God. For a long time he had been praying to God that he be allowed to live long enough to witness the arrival of the Messiah. The term consolation of Israel appears to have been a common term for the Messiah, perhaps taken from Isaiah 40:1. He may or may not have been an elderly man, but he had lived long enough to develop a close, personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, who had let him know that he indeed would not die before he had seen the Messiah (the Sovereign’s Christ). In fact, he had come to the temple that day, following what he believed to be the Spirit’s lead.
He took Jesus in his arms, and with one look into the baby’s eyes, he knew that the Spirit’s promise had been fulfilled. He was elated to know that all he had longed for in his life had come to fruition. He didn’t need anything more. His life was complete. He could die a happy man. (The original word for dismiss is apolyo and means allow to die.)
Mary and Joseph were surprised at what was said about Jesus. Then Simeon blessed
them and said to Mary, his mother, “This child will be the cause for the fall
and rise of many in Israel, and will be a sign which will be met with much
opposition. And a sword will pierce your soul, that the inner thoughts of many
hearts will be revealed.
(Luke 2:33-35)
Mary and Joseph were amazed at Simeon’s words–not that they did not know that Jesus was special, but that Simeon knew. Too, they surely became fearful of Simeon’s prophesy of the great opposition Jesus would encounter in his life, and of the upheavals His life would bring. Simeon also warned that Jesus’ life would bring pain and heartache to Mary and Joseph. We know that not long afterwards King Herod was the first to attempt to destroy Jesus, when he ordered the murder of all the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and the surrounding area (Matthew 2:16). Even though they received ample warning from an angel in a dream telling Joseph to flee to Egypt, certainly they must have fled in fear and panic (Matthew 2:13).
In telling Simeon’s story, Luke connects Jesus’ birth to God’s covenant promises of a Savior to Israel, repeated many times in the Hebrew scriptures, going all the way back to Genesis 3:15. Luke reaches back to the beginning of human history, then reaches forward through the future. Jesus would be the offered salvation to the whole world, to both Jews and Gentiles (all persons who were not Jewish). Jesus would bring revelation of God’s covenant relationship with Israel and make that relationship also available to Gentiles. Israel’s gift of Jesus to the world would bring glory and honor to Israel.
There was also an elderly prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the
tribe of Asher. She had been married for seven years, then was a widow until she
was eighty-four. She never left the temple but spent her days and nights
worshipping, fasting and praying. Just then, she came up to them, praised God,
and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of
Jerusalem.
(Luke 2:36-38)
Anna was from the tribe of Asher, which was noted for its beautiful and intelligent women. Translations differ in attempting to ascertain her age. While some indicate that she was approximately eighty-four years old, others read that she was a widow some eighty-four years after her seven-year marriage. That would have made her over one hundred.
Either way, she was rather elderly, and also a prophet (or prophetess). That designation was of primary importance in scripture. Somewhere in the neighborhood of four hundred years had passed since the last prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures had testified. Though John the Baptist often is referred to as the last Old Testament prophet and the first New Testament prophet, Luke seems to indicate that the honor belonged equally to two people: a man named Simeon, and a woman named Anna. Though Luke does not call Simeon a prophet, because Simeon described Jesus’ future to Mary and Joseph, it appears that he was.
The word prophet has a double meaning. It can mean someone who can predict the future, but even more so, in biblical times it meant someone who speaks for God. Anna was just such a person. She spent all of her time in the temple, day and night, Luke says, praying, worshipping and fasting. Apparently, she had a following–people who, like Simeon, had been waiting–for the consolation of Israel and the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke tells us that when she came up to Mary and Joseph and saw Jesus she turned to those who were with her, praised God, and then told her followers that their waiting was over.
The word consolation in Greek is paraklesis, which means comforter, intercessor, encourager, and is akin to parakletos, which is the word Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit who was to come (John 14:16, 15:26, 16:7).
When Mary and Joseph had fulfilled the requirements of God’s Law, they
returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.
(Luke 2:39)
Luke takes another opportunity to clarify that Jesus was of Jewish birth, and that his mother and stepfather were faithful to the Jewish Law.
This ends our study for today.
Points to Ponder