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Context No. 268 of 4322 · Luke

Context · Reflection

Luke 2:33-38: in context

33Joseph and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him. 34Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against. 35Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” 36There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, 37and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day. 38Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.

Mary and Joseph have brought the infant Jesus to the temple, and an old man named Simeon has just taken the baby in his arms and praised God for finally seeing the one he had waited his whole life to see. This passage is what he says next, and it turns from song to something much harder, spoken straight to the mother.

He blesses them, and then he tells Mary the truth about her son without softening it. This child, he says, is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that will be spoken against. He will divide people and draw opposition, not only comfort. And then the line aimed at her alone: a sword will pierce through your own soul too. At the dedication of a newborn, in the middle of a joyful ritual, the mother is told plainly that loving this child will one day run her through. The joy and the grief are named in the same breath, neither one hidden behind the other.

Then an old woman appears, Anna, a widow of eighty-four who had not left the temple for decades, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. After a lifetime of waiting, she recognizes the child at once and begins telling everyone who was longing for redemption. The two people who see most clearly who this baby is are the ones who had waited longest and expected a cost. What love have I wanted only in its joy, hoping to keep the child and skip the sword that Simeon says comes with him?

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