For three Sundays now, we listened to Gospel accounts of Jesus' life as a grown-up. This Sunday though, we take a look at one more account of Jesus as a baby. We hear about two more people who get to see Jesus. Not shepherds, not wise men, but two very good old Jewish people, Anna and Simeon.
The meeting takes place at the Temple. The Temple is the most holy place in the great city of Jerusalem. It is holy because it is God's place, and so it is very right and good that Mary and Joseph should bring Jesus there. It almost seems like Jesus comes home, does it not?
The Temple is a very busy place. Each day, people come from all over the city of Jerusalem to pray at the Temple. Travellers from all over Israel and from far away countries come to Jerusalem just to visit the Temple. Mary and Joseph and their baby are only one family among many hundreds of families who visit the Temple. Even so, somehow both Anna and Simeon—two people Mary and Joseph have never met before—recognize their baby son. How do they do this? And what do they know about him?
Simeon is an old man. He is very good 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.
Now listen: no angel comes to tell Simeon that Jesus is born, and no star moves in the night sky for Simeon to follow. So how does Simeon know to go to the Temple exactly at that time on that day? How does he know who Jesus is?
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
Who showed him Jesus? The Holy Spirit!
And what does he know about this baby? Simeon says,
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.
A light! A light for the peoples! A light for Israel!
When he is all grown up, Jesus says,
“I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)
And salvation—everything for a full life with God. Abundant life.
When he teaches about the Good Shepherd, Jesus says,
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10b)
Simeon knows these things about Jesus now, before Jesus grows up to say them about himself! How can he know?
This must be what the Holy Spirit does. The same Holy Spirit who comes to us at our baptism. So we have to wonder, does the Holy Spirit show us Jesus today? Does the Holy Spirit help us to know things about Jesus today?
The Holy Spirit helps someone else know Jesus, too:
There was also a prophet, Anna... She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
When Anna comes and sees Jesus, she praises God. Praising God means saying how good God is. We remember that Simeon praises God, too. Both people, when they find Jesus, when they know who he is, praise God.
We know who Jesus is, too. We know he is the Light of the World. We know he comes to bring abdundant life. Can we praise God, too? Can we praise God like Anna and Simeon? Of course we can. We can say how God good is, how much we love Jesus, how the Holy Spirit helps us.
How shall we begin?
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