Today’s Scripture Readings

Gospel Reading

NRSV

— 22 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’ Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’ And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the 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.’

Jesus’ presentation at the temple gives us a rare insight into his early life, and from it we learn that the Holy Family was poor: the offering that they make for Mary’s purification is two turtledoves. The prescribed offering in Leviticus 12 was a yearling lamb, unless the family “cannot afford a sheep”, in which case the turtledoves were acceptable.

This was a very public kind of class distinction, imposed by the law itself. Probably the poorer families who made these offerings would have been moved through the process without much attention—with so many sacrifices happening in the temple, it’s unlikely that the priests and Levites would have wasted a second glance on one more small, poor family.

And yet, someone did pay attention. Simeon, moved by the Holy Spirit, comes to the temple and announces that Jesus is the one who will bring salvation to Israel and the whole world. We might imagine that he saw a kind of ethereal light bathing the infant in a holy glow: but I doubt it. God doesn’t work that way, usually. Simeon had to choose to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and thus be enabled to see the truth: to look with a sense of hope and expectation that saw beyond the externalities of a poor couple with a baby, dusty and worn out from travel, waiting in line for their turn to sacrifice.

How often do we really see the people we meet during the humdrum of everyday activities? How easily do we overlook a message of truth from those on the lower end of the social scale? The presentation of Jesus reminds us to look with hopeful expectation: for our salvation is each day being presented to each one of us, in humble disguise.