Presentation in the Temple

There’s an old joke about a little boy called Johnny meeting his new baby brother who was screaming. He asked his mum, “Where did we get him?” 

His mother replied, “He came from heaven, Johnny,” to which Johnny replied, “Wow! I can see why they threw him out!”

I think most of us have a fair idea of what not to say to a new mother – I heard of one baby being described as looking like a skinned rabbit, and another mother being told how dark the child’s skin was compared to either the mother or father – with the person leaving a delicate little pause just in case some bombshell was about to be dropped about the parenthood of the baby !

This morning as we think about the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, sometimes known as Candlemas, we heard in the gospel (Luke 2:22-40) of Jesus being taken to the Temple 40 days after his birth as was the custom under the Jewish law. At the Temple Mary and Joseph met Simeon. Simeon was a remarkable character – a devoted elderly Jew who had clearly spent time listening to God, something we can all learn from, and God had promised SImeon that he wouldn’t die until he saw the Messiah. 

When he saw Jesus, Simeon immediately knew he was the one he’d been waiting for. He spoke the words we know as the Nunc Dimittis that are sung as part of the evensong service. 

The Message Bible quotes Simeon as saying, ‘God you can now release your servant: release me in peace as you promised. With my own eyes I have seen your salvation. It’s now out in the open for all to see: A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations and of glory for your people Israel.’

In those words Simeon spoke of Jesus as the light for all people, and it is these words we symbolise in the candle of candlemas – Jesus as the light of the world. It was going pretty well for Mary and Joseph at this point but it was then that Simeon launched in with some things that you wouldn’t really expect someone to say to a new parent...! 

First he said the child was destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel... As Mary and Joseph already knew but were probably still trying to understand, theirs was no ordinary child – the child was the Messiah and what that meant for him or for them they maybe wouldn’t have known. From the words of Simeon they would know though that their journey may not be easy. 

And that is what was prophesied – Isaiah (8:14) had said the ‘Lord would be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’ In his earthly life Jesus brought about the downfall of many who refused to listen to him and who refused to accept his offer of unconditional love and a transformed life... 

When he spoke for justice, it was inevitable that those who were unjust wouldn’t like it. When he spoke of corruption, some wouldn’t like it. When he spoke of the need to love our neighbour, some wouldn’t find themselves able to even try and do that, when he told the religious authorities they were more interested in their own power than God, they were never going to like it... and the list can go on. 

And yet, he was also destined for the rising of many people – he championed the rights of those who were often pushed out of respectable society, he spoke for those who lived with illness or disease, for the widows so often abandoned... and he spoke of people being given chance after chance in spite of their failings... 

And of course Jesus didn’t just speak these things – he showed them in his life, whatever it cost him... 

But these weren’t great words to hear for Mary and Joseph I’m sure, and there was more as Simeon went on to tell Mary that a sword would pierce her soul too... It wouldn’t just be Jesus that would feel the pain and rejection, Mary too would know that pain as she watched her son loving those who hated him... 

Some of you may have scene the film ‘Shadowlands’ about the author C S Lewis. In that there’s a scene after his wife has been diagnosed with an incurable illness where she says to him, ‘The joy now is part of the pain then.’ 

The illness had brought them closer together as they recognised the need to get on and enjoy the time they had as a couple, but the joy they were having would simply deepen the pain when they were parted... 

There is a real pain in human love but it is a pain that I don’t think anyone who has experienced that love would ever want to give up in exchange for never having enjoyed the love in the first place... 

Jesus felt the pain of human love – and Mary would too, but that was part of his ministry and her ministry... Mary, who had recently given birth must have been concerned by the confusion of her role – Jesus was special. How would he be used ?What would his life be like ? I wonder what she made of those warnings of Simeon. 

Meeting Simeon must have left Mary and Joseph with huge questions to ponder as they reflected on the bitter/ sweet words he offered... Contrasts are all around us... Just as C S Lewis and his wife experienced joy and pain, and Mary the joy of a new baby and the fear of the future, we will all know something of the contrasts of life – of happiness and sadness...

And in the Bible we are often given the contrast of light and darkness – and at this time we again reflect on those words of Simeon... Jesus is a light for all the world, and light can never fail to conquer darkness. 

Today we look back once again to Christmas and we celebrate the birth of a child born to transform history, and to transform each one of us. But we also look forward, and perhaps it’s good sometimes to think of the warnings of Simeon as we begin to look forward to the days Jesus spent in the wilderness, we think of the rejection of his teaching by so many people, we think of the betrayal, of the torture and of course, the cross... We think of our part in his rejection and betrayal... 

In our church calendar we look forward to Lent and Holy Week and Good Friday and we contrast those days with the days of Christmas, but of course we do all of this with the knowledge of a day that changed everything – that first Easter Day... 

Joy and sadness and joy again, and that is actually life for so many people – but in Jesus, however we’re feeling we have consistency... He loves us whatever... He is the light of the world who shines through any pain, and who shines through the darkness that we see all too often in the world today... He is the light shining out hope, comfort, peace and love for all... 

He is the light we can cling to and trust always... He is the one who allows us to live confident that we are special, that we are loved, that we are known personally by God himself... 

I’ll finish with a short meditation from the author Max Lucado It says, 

‘God chose to reveal himself through a human body. The tongue that called forth the dead was a human one. The hand that touched the leper had dirt under its nails. The feet upon which the woman wept were dusty. 

And his tears… oh don’t miss the tears… they came from a heart as broken as yours or mine has ever been. So people came to him. How they came to him !

They came at night, they touched him as he walked down the street; they followed him around the sea; they invited him into their homes and placed their children at his feet. Why ?...

Because he refused to be a statue in a cathedral – He chose instead to be a touchable, approachable, reachable Jesus…’

That is our invitation - to just rest simply in the arms of Jesus, the touchable, approachable, reachable Jesus....