On Friday I
was buying cards for two new babies who have recently arrived amongst our
circle of friends. One of the new arrivals was very straightforward – a fourth
baby for some old friends of ours. Mum was in and out of hospital on the same
afternoon. But babies can be unpredictable and the other Mum had a much more
difficult time followed by a whole week in hospital to recover.
All cultures
have their ways of marking the birth of a child. For us the round of midwife
visits and weight checks is followed by the six week check which marks the end
of the post natal period and a re-entry into something like normal life. Later
on, for some families, there will be a christening – a chance to show the baby
off to the wider family and community and to thank God for his good gifts.
At the time
that Jesus was born, the Jewish people also had their rituals which needed to
be marked when a new baby was born. This morning we are celebrating the feast
of Candlemas which is also known as the Presentation in the Temple. In our
reading this morning we’ve heard that Jesus’ parents took their traditional
obligations seriously. We are told that “the time came for their purification according
to the law”. The purification in this case was Mary’s. All Jewish women had to
come to the temple forty days after the birth to offer a sacrifice of 2
turtledoves. This was a sign of thanksgiving for a safe delivery. After forty
days it was considered safe for the mother to leave the house without risk of
infection and so the visit to the temple marks a re-entry into the rhythm of
everyday life after the period of time set aside for recovery from childbirth.
That is why traditionally, Candlemas is celebrated on February 2nd –
forty days on from the celebration of Christmas.
Like all
small Jewish boys, Jesus’ entry to the covenant community would have been
marked by his circumcision on the eighth day of his life. But for first born
sons there was another ritual. Since the time of Moses and the exodus from
Egypt all first born sons were considered to belong to God in a special way. So
Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple for this reason too; to present
Jesus to God and to offer a sacrifice on behalf of their son.
But as they
arrive at the temple, the unexpected happens as the very young – the teenage
Mary and her new baby – encounter the very old. Simeon has been waiting for
many years to see the Lord’s Messiah. We see a picture of a very elderly man,
grey and stooped who has been waiting for so long for this day that he has
almost lost hope. Yet we are told “the holy spirit rested on him”, and so it
was on this day that he hurried as fast as he could manage into the temple,
knowing that something important is happening there. Simeon takes the child and
says the words that we now know as the Nunc Dimittis. “Master you are
dismissing your servant in peace…..” Simeon may well be nearing death, but he
has been watching and waiting for this moment when the new light breaks into
the world. This is a light for the Jews, but for the Gentiles as well. Simeon
makes it clear that Jesus will be a light for the whole of humanity.
And yet this
light does not come without pain. Simeon predicts that Jesus will face
opposition and turning to Mary tells her that a sword will pierce her soul too.
Simeon comes
to the temple as a visitor, but there is another person who is there all the
time. Anna is described as a prophet – a widow who may have spent as long as
sixty years in the temple, never leaving but praying and fasting for the redemption
of Israel. She also comes and praises God, telling anyone who will listen that
this isn’t just any baby – this arrival of this baby is the start of God’s
answer to her heartfelt prayers over many years for the redemption of
Jerusalem.
After
fulfilling their obligations, the holy family return to Nazareth. Jesus
continues to thrive in the family chosen for him by God and to grow in wisdom
as well as stature.
So on one
level, this story has a happy ending. All the obligations have been dealt with
and Jesus has met Simeon and Anna, who take on the role of spiritual great
grandparents.
But at the
same time, the shadow of something darker is already apparent within the story.
At the time that Luke was writing his gospel, the temple in Jerusalem had
already been destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD after an unsuccessful Jewish
rebellion against Roman rule. So the traditions described in the story which
seem so permanent were in fact nearing the end of their time. And Simeon and
Anna’s predictions also suggest that whilst Jesus arrival is a sign of God’s
great blessing, there will be painful and difficult times ahead.
And the
central player in the story – Jesus himself – is a tiny helpless baby who says
and does nothing. This is a contrast that Luke relishes. At the nativity, Jesus
is described as the saviour of the world, born in a stable whilst another
saviour – it was one of the titles favoured by Caesar, the Roman Emperor – sits
in splendour on a golden throne. Jesus parents cannot afford to sacrifice a
sheep or a goat. Instead they bring the offering of the poor – two turtledoves.
It is the child born in poverty who offers the greatest gift of all. We are
left anticipating what is to come as the child grows in strength and in wisdom.
At Candlemas
we stand at the point where Christmas and Easter can both be seen. We look back
to the birth in the manger, to the delight and joy of the angels and the
shepherds and forward to the cross, to the pain and suffering of Holy Week. We
stand with Mary as she looks back to the marvellous way in which God has
blessed her – and with some trepidation in her heart as she remembers Simeon’s
words – forward to a future in which a sword will pierce her heart.
No one gets
to go through life without experiencing pain as well as joy, without times of
great weariness of spirit as well as those of hope. Yet it is through all these
different experiences that we are called to let God’s light shine. At Candlemas
we realise that we are all called to shine with the light of Christ. As
Christians we are called to be salt and light in the world. As we celebrate
Candlemas today, let’s remember the words of the baptism service, which are
used as the newly baptised, receive a lighted candle: “Shine as a light in the
world, to the glory of God the Father.”
Amen
