Context No. 670 of 4322 · Luke
Context · Reflection
Luke 2:21-32: in context
21When eight days were fulfilled for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law, 28then he received him into his arms and blessed God, and said, 29“Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace; 30for my eyes have seen your salvation, 31which you have prepared before the face of all peoples; 32a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.”
Luke follows the newborn Jesus through the rites of a devout Jewish family. On the eighth day he is circumcised and given the name the angel had chosen. Then his parents bring him up to the temple, for Mary's purification and to present the child to the Lord, and they offer what the law allowed the poor to bring, a pair of doves rather than a lamb. It is an ordinary observance by people of small means, and it is where the scene's weight is hidden.
Waiting in the temple is an old man named Simeon, righteous and devout, who has been promised he will not die until he has seen the Lord's Christ. He takes the child into his arms and sings. Now you are letting your servant go in peace, he says, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared before all peoples, a light for revelation to the nations and the glory of your people Israel. The Church has prayed his words every night since, at the close of the day. He is not asking to be spared death. He is saying he can go now, because the one thing he stayed alive to see has come, and it came as a poor couple's baby.
Simeon could be released in peace because he had finally seen what he waited for. What am I still waiting to see before I could say I am ready to go?
Sources
- Leviticus 12:6-8: the purification offering, the two doves marking the family as poor
- Isaiah 49:6: a light to the nations, the promise Simeon's song takes up
- The Nunc Dimittis, Simeon's canticle, prayed at Compline as the Church's night prayer