The Presentation of Our Lord: The Message of Candlemas
If you’ve been following the Church Calendar, you may feel some dรฉjร vu right now. Having just celebrated Christmastide, you might have recently spent some time in Luke 2. So why does the Church return to Jesusโ infancy every February 2 for the Feast of the Presentation, often called Candlemas? The reason is both chronological and theological.
First, February 2 is 40 days from Christmas Day. Jesusโ Presentation happened 40 days after his birth. Easy enough. Second, the Presentation can be thought of as the final epiphany of Jesusโ infancy. As Ashley Tumlin Wallace notes, โIt is the final epiphany where Jesus is revealed as the โlight for revelation to the Gentilesโ and our Savior.โ All this happening at the Temple in Jerusalem is profoundly significant.
The Presentation
However, many of us may not understand the what and why of the Presentation. What exactly is happening here? Why is this so important? Well, the answer is that this is an Old Testament practice that ultimately points to Jesus himself (note that Luke 2:39 says explicitly that Mary and Joseph did these things to fulfill โthe Law of the Lordโ). In the Presentation of Jesus, three things are happening:
- The Purification for the mother after childbirth.
- The Presentation of the child himself.
- The Redemption of the firstborn son.
The Purification
First, the Purification. Under the Old Covenant, distinctions between โcleanโ and โuncleanโ were paramount. Childbearing was no exception:
On the eighth day [after birth], the flesh of the boyโs foreskin shall be circumcised, and then she [the mother] shall spend thirty-three days more in a state of blood purity; she shall not touch anything sacred nor enter the sanctuary till the days of her purification are fulfilledโ (Leviticus 12:3-4).
Let us not misunderstand the Law of Moses here and chalk this up to some demeaning โpatriarchy.โ As author Scott Hahn argues here,
This does not mean that the law considered… womanhood or childbirth to be “dirty” or sinful. No, just as the priest had to purify the holy vessels every time they were used in the Temple liturgy… so a woman who gave birth also had to be purified following the holy use of her sacred body.
Scott Hahn, Joy to the World (Image, 2014) 132-133
Thatโs especially compelling when you consider who Mary bore in her womb.
The Presentation and Redemption
Next, the Presentation of the child himself and Redemption of the firstborn son, again drawn from Exodus 13:
When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb… Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. And when in time to come your son asks you, “What does this mean?” you shall say to him, “By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.”
Exodus 13:11-15
So, the Presentation was established to remember Godโs redemptive work during that first Passover in Egypt. Some odd things are going on with Jesusโ Presentation, however.
First, the sacrifice to be offered at the temple for purification was either a lamb, a pair of turtledoves, or a pair of pigeons (Luke 2:24). That Mary and Joseph could not offer the lamb shows that they were relatively poor. But perhaps there is a deeper meaning here. Perhaps it signifies that they already had the Lamb with them.
Second, when the firstborn son is presented to the Lord at the temple, he is redeemed and returned to the family. But that redemption never happens here. Jesus is permanently given over to the Lord as his own. This makes sense of what follows in Luke 2. When Jesus gets left behind at the Temple as a twelve-year-old, he will quite naturally say to his parents, โDidnโt you know I had to be in my Fatherโs house?โ This is because, in a sense, he never left. Jesus is coming back to his true homeโthe house he, in fact, built to point to himself. In Jesus, the new Temple, too grand to grasp, comes to the house of the Lord.
So, thatโs the framework for understanding the Presentation. But here, God also provides witnesses to his work. Just as the angels sang his praises and the shepherds spread his fame, so Simeon and Anna come to testify to Jesus the Messiah.
The Witnesses to the Presentation: Simeon & Anna
Simeon Blesses God for Jesus
“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
Luke 2:29-32
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
First, Simeon blesses God. His song, the Nunc Dimittis, is, in Lukeโs Gospel, already in liturgical form, meaning that without a doubt, the early Christians prayed it (and probably sang it) together. Throughout the ages, Christians have treasured this scripture song, or canticle, for what it proclaims. Our Anglican heritage makes this prayer an essential part of daily Evening Prayer and Compline. Perhaps you might end your celebration of the Presentation today by praying this prayer tonight.
What can we glean here?
First, see Simeon himself.
We know nothing about Simeon except that he faithfully waited for Jesus. Itโs assumed that he is quite aged here. Simeon is content to depart โnowโ that he has seen the Christ. The meaning of his life is complete in this momentโeverything else is, as they say, gravy.
In many ways, our culture tells us that, in our lives, we are moving from light to darkness, from the morning of youth to the twilight of old age. However, Christians know that is backward. This prayer, and Simeonโs life with it, is a model for Christians as we walk through each season of life, especially what the world would call the โtwilightโ of life.
Second, see what Simeon says about Jesus.
He will be light for the nations and glory for Israel. Now, those two groups could not have been further apart in the first century. Simeon boldly prophesies in the Spirit that this child will bring them together.
First, light for the nations. Indeed, because of the light Simeon sees in Jesus, churches have often blessed candles on the Feast of the Presentation, begetting the name Candlemas. Every time we pray this prayer after Simeon, we celebrate the fact that the Gospel still does this for people today. The Church is what she is because it is in her that sinners can be united under Jesus Christ. Not in politics, not in a party, not in ethnicity, not in common interests, but in this child. What an ever-timely message for our world.
Next, glory to Israel. That means that not only is there a universal message here for all, but one that fulfills the hopes of Godโs Old Testament people. This is so important to understand. As Christians, we read the whole Bible. We hold together the Old and New Testaments with Jesus at the center.
In the Presentation, the hopes of the Old and the fulfillment of the New come together. Itโs the continuation of a story already underway, and the climax will not make sense without what came before it. Simeon would never have imagined that he needed to โunhitchโ his faith from the Old Testament. Instead, in the maxim of St. Augustine,
The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is the New revealed.
Augustine of Hippo, Questions on the Heptateuch 2.73.
Simeon Blesses the Holy Family
And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
Luke 2:34-35
But Simeonโs not done! He turns and blesses Mary and Joseph. Weโre told that, although he will bring peace, this child will also cause many to fall and rise and be a sign that is opposed. What does this mean?
The Scandalous Gospel
First, it means that the Gospel of Christ will be a scandal in every age. The significance of Jesusโ death and resurrection is still being disputed, downplayed, written against, and explained away even today! That God should come as a child to die for and redeem people sounds to the world like utter foolishness and requires humility.
We need to hear this word and take courage from it. We hear so much about our cultural moment and how it is set against God. But this passage reminds us that there have always been challenges from day one! The Gospel confronts the idols of every age, not just our age. And yet, God has shown himself to be perfectly capable of raising up sons and daughters for himself through the proclamation of the Good News.
A Costly Grace
Second, it means that although grace is free, itโs never cheap.
This word spoken to Mary is a word to reflect deeply on: โA sword will pierce your own soul.โ Bearing the grace of God would be costly in Maryโs life. It would bring immense and eternal blessings, but it would also cause misunderstanding and grief. Jesus, and Mary with him, would bear the suspicion of illegitimacy for the rest of his life (see John 8:19, for instance). And Mary will stand by the Cross of her son as the salvation of the world is accomplished, but also unleashing the last arrow of her sorrows.
In a strange and spiritual way, Mary, like the rest of the Church, shares Christ’s sufferings. We know Jesusโ goodness and mercy, and yet we share in his rejected and misunderstood life. We know the power of his resurrection at work in us personally, even as weโre called to die with him. Paul said it was worth everything to him to โknow [Christ] and the power of his resurrection, [but he also shared with him in his sufferings], becoming like him in his deathโ (Philippians 3:10-11).
Anna Blesses Others
And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:38
Out of nowhere comes Anna, an aged widow and prophetess from the tribe of Asherโone of the lost tribes of Israel. She lives continually in the temple, a life of adoration before God. So, it is fitting that when the Templeโs true Architect arrives, she greets him.
Being from the lost tribe of Asher, Anna is among the first signs that many outcasts will be gathered in through Jesus, far beyond any border. She starts it herselfโin verse 38, no sooner had she met Jesus than she had to proclaim the news. Through Lukeโs Gospel, she still tells others today.
Throughout Lukeโs Gospel runs a constant theme of eyes being opened and shut. Some eyes are opened to behold Jesus, and others remain tightly closed. Annaโs and Simeonโs eyes were mercifully opened by God.
Our last insight from the Presentation is this: one of the greatest joys of the Christian life is realizing that God is already preparing other people to meet his Son. At the Presentation, God prepared the witnesses he had in mind! He is always way ahead of us! Thatโs true in all aspects of life. The Gospel will bring blessing to the world around us because it is empowered by God, not us.
Ultimately, weโre talking about this today because Jesus, Godโs everlasting temple, never stopped opening eyes to behold him, welcome him in, and be made part of his new templeโthe body of Christโfilled with the Holy Spirit.
Almighty and everliving God, we humbly pray that, as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the substance of our flesh, so we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts by Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Collect for The Presentation of Our Lord, Book of Common Prayer (2019)
Image: Simeon and Anna Recognize the Lord in Jesus by Rembrandt (1627), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Digitally edited by Jacob Davis.