Br. Lain Wilson

The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple

Luke 2:22-40

Today we commemorate a feast of many names: the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple, the Purification of the Saint Mary the Virgin, Candlemas, and the Hypapante, or “meeting.” But set amid other scenes of angels and miraculous pregnancies and wise men and voices from heaven, the events celebrated today can easily get lost.

These events are, on one level, commonplace. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus would’ve been just one family of many who made the same journey to fulfill the same religious obligations, even that same day. They could’ve been just one among many who could only afford a pair of turtledoves for sacrifice. This story could be the story of any number of young boys in first-century Israel-Palestine.

But of course, this isn’t the story of any number of young boys, but of one particular boy. It’s his story because of what happens when he arrives at the temple. This particular infant boy, who has been announced by angels and hailed by wise men, this particular infant, on this particular day, is not met by heavenly choirs or exotic gifts, but by aged human hands.

I try to imagine what life must have been like for Simeon and Anna. Simeon was told that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. How long must he have waited? I imagine that in his long wait his own imagination ran free: who was this Messiah? What did he look like? How would he appear to him? What must Simeon, living under political occupation, have dreamed of when he though of the Messiah? Was he surprised that the Messiah came to him as an infant, surrounded by others just like him, in this commonplace scene?

I’m not immune to fantastic imaginings, of expectations of how Jesus will come to me, of all the ills that he will cure. I imagine the same may be true of you. What hopes and expectations do you carry with you today that lead you to look past the Jesus who comes?

And Anna. “She never left the temple,” we are told, “but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37). Day after day. Even the most devout will experience times of dryness and fatigue, as we Brothers say in our Rule. Many, if not most, days were filled with grace, but how many, over so many years, were instead gray days of drudgery and routine? How might this have cultivated a hardened resistance to encounter?

I’m not immune to those gray days of drudgery and routine and dryness and fatigue. I imagine the same may be true of you. Where does this lead to your own hardened resistance to encounter with the Jesus who comes?

This day of meeting, of encounter amid the commonplace, can so easily get lost among so many more “miraculous” days. The faithful testimony of Simeon and Anna, though, reminds us of one truth: Jesus comes to meet us, whether we’re ready or not. Jesus, the Light of the World, comes when we may least expect him. Jesus comes, banishing the fantasies of our own imaginings and expectations and softening our callused resistance.

Jesus comes to meet us, even here, even now. May we, like blessed Simeon and Anna, meet him with clear eyes, open hands, and ready hearts.

Amen.