Bad news, good news

from Helen

Today we celebrate candlemas, it is the day when we remember Jesus being presented in the temple. In our gospel reading (Luke 2:22-40) we heard that Simeon in the temple recognised Jesus as the One who would not just bring light but was light.

In thinking about this reading I thought about the fact that there are times in life when there are things that you just should not talk about. For example, Brexit. Well, that’s happened but for a very long time it was a bad topic of conversation. It wasn’t seen as polite to talk about anything that could start an argument, such as politics, sometimes religion. When I was born my Dad phoned my great-aunt to tell her the news. Her response … “well, Heather (that’s my Mum) could still die.” Just what you want to hear.

In our gospel reading today (Luke 2:22-40) we heard of things that new parents would not want to hear. Mary and Joseph did the correct thing by taking Jesus to the temple. I am sure it must have been quite an exciting time. Can you imagine the moment when Mary and Joseph passed Jesus to Simeon who would have prayed for Him and done all that was customary within the life of the temple ?

Then, Simeon said the most amazing things. He saw that Jesus was the chosen one, he could tell that Jesus was the Messiah,  the one who would bring salvation. This is a lot better than, “What a beautiful baby’. 

Mary and Joseph knew that there was nothing normal about the conception of Jesus, about His birth. They had been told the news that they were to have Jesus through angels, and dreams. They had this baby, they knew He was special. They knew that people could see who Jesus was, in the shepherds, in the magi, and now in Simeon they could see that people recognised that Jesus would bring salvation. 

The moment must have been incredible. The response of Simeon was amazing not just in recognising who Jesus was.  Simeon responded by showing that he had been waiting for the one who would bring salvation. He was so overjoyed that he felt that his time and years of waiting were done. 

I often picture Simeon as a much more mature man, to put it politely, a man who had waited, a man who had now seen God. 

I think the statement that Mary and Joseph were amazed is rather an understatement. 

Jesus had caused a stir, and this was only the beginning. 

In the temple there was a woman called Anna who had waited patiently. I always see her as the type of woman who had the most incredible faith. A faith  that God could and would do amazing things. Anna had been waiting patiently, she had fasted and she had prayed. She was the type of person who was so holy that you would have just seen a peace about her which came from all the time that she spent in prayer. Anna could see the stir that Jesus was causing and she recognised that He was the One who would bring salvation. We know this because she went and told everyone about Jesus, especially those who were looking for redemption.

Redemption means to be put right with God, to know His forgiveness. We are so blessed that we have come to know this redemption. We are here worshipping God, our saviour because we have heard about Him. Anna was not a spring chicken but she had gone and told people. We have met Jesus and with the patience of Anna and the excitement that she had to tell others about Jesus we should be doing the same. 

I have left out so far, the worst bit of things to say to people. Mary was there with her newborn child and Simeon told her that Jesus was going to have this role that would cause a stir in people’s hearts as they decided how they would respond to Him. Not only this, but Simeon explained that she would be hurt by the things that would happen to Jesus and also by the ways in which people spoke about Him. This is not the best news to hear.

I watched once the film, “The Passion of the Christ.” It is the one directed by Mel Gibson. It is a gruesome film as it shows the crucifixion. You can not fail but to be moved by the film. The bit I remember the most though is Mary seeing Jesus fall and having a memory of Him falling as a little boy and rushing to help Him. She couldn’t do that in this situation. Mary was warned by Simeon but she must have found it so difficult.

Simeon spoke about the type of thing that was not polite to discuss. He spoke about future pain. He also spoke about politics. 

Simeon would not have won any prizes for being a polite dinner guest. Can you imagine it ? But, Simeon could see who Jesus was and in seeing who Jesus was he knew that Jesus was going to make a difference.

Simeon could see that Jesus would turn the world upside down as He preached about repentance. He could see that those who were great would be told that they needed to humble themselves. Jesus was political, because He showed people that the right way to live was not about anyone’s own power, it was all about love. A love, that would change people. A love that would mean that people would accept one another, a love where those who are struggling are given the opportunity to have a better life. A love which treats everyone the same.

Simeon gave both exciting and bad news to Mary and Joseph. In the words of Simeon we can see that we are called into relationship with God, we have seen His glory. We are redeemed and so we have the best news ever to share with others. May we always be thankful that Jesus was political, because by being political He reminds us that the most important thing is Him and living as He would have us live. AMEN