Seeing His Glory

Jesus was 40 days old, the time for Mary to come to the Temple and offer the sacrifices of purification. Women who gave birth to a son were purified by offering a lamb as a burnt offering and a pigeon as a sin offering 40 days after the baby was born. Luke tells us that Mary offered a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

This detail tells us that Jesus didn’t just have a humble birth; he also lived a humble childhood. Mary and Joseph were poor. We know because they brought two birds to sacrifice. The law called for a lamb as a burnt offering and a pigeon for a sin offering. They couldn’t afford a lamb. So she brought 2 pigeons, it was allowable, known as “The Offering of the Poor.”

So, there was no great fanfare as Mary and Joseph walked in carrying Jesus. I wonder, was he tightly swaddled, or was his hand free to explore his new ability to grasp – to wrap his fingers around his world and bring it to him? Just as he wanted to bring the world to him, Mary and Joseph sought to draw close to God. They came to the Temple to do what the law required to remove the uncleanness that separated Mary from God. They had just enough to sacrifice. Little did they know that the 40 day old baby, not even 6 weeks old yet, lying in their arms would himself be the lamb for all the world.

They didn’t know, but his glory was revealed to two in the Temple, who were some of a few people known as the “Quiet in the Land,” Simeon and Anna. We do not know how old Simeon was, but we know that God promised that he would see the Messiah before his death, and when Mary nestled Jesus into his arms, he exclaimed, “Lord, now you are dismissing your servant in peace.” He was ready to die now. Anna, we are told by Luke, was married seven years before she was widowed. So, she was about 20 when she was widowed. Then, the Greek is unclear, she had either lived as a widow another 84 years or until she was now 84 years old. So, she was either 84 or about 104 when she approached Mary and Joseph with their newborn in the Temple.

The point is, Simeon and Anna had lived long lives. They had known disappointment and grief. But, still, they waited patiently, prayerfully, faithfully. They still went to the Temple to seek God because they had hope – expectant hope – that they would see God fulfill God’s promises.

The Quiet in the Land did not expect the Jewish nation to become masters of the world through military force. They waited for God to come, to break into human history somehow. Biblical scholar William Barclay reminds us that “there was no Jew who did not regard his own nation as the chosen people….[that] they were bound some day to become masters of the world and lords of all nations.” How would that happen, though? Some thought that “some great, celestial champion would descend upon the earth,” others expected a king to arise from David’s line and Israel to be restored, “some believed that God Himself would break directly into history by supernatural means.” Then, there were the Quiet in the Land, who “had no dreams of violence and of power and of armies with banners; they believed in a life of constant prayer and quiet watchfulness until God should come.”

And there in the Temple, God revealed that the time had come to them. Simeon and Anna’s hopes were realized. With an Offering of the Poor, Mary and Joseph came with God’s Messiah, the anointed one, who would save his people from even their own sinfulness. Simeon and Anna saw his glory. It was a moment of epiphany, of revelation.

As he held the baby named Jesus in his arms, Simeon looked into his eyes, “My eyes have seen your salvation.” He turned to his parents, “This child is destined for the rising and falling of many in Israel.” Anna bustled about, telling all who were among the Quiet in the Land, looking for the redemption of Israel, about this child.

And Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, mom and dad, were amazed at what was being said about him. The hopes and expectations of Israel were being fulfilled. God Himself had broken into human history by supernatural means. He was of the line and lineage of King David. And even the celestial orbs pronounced his birth. Because already, a star had arisen and was guiding wisemen, philosophers who studied the stars, to him.

Ephiphany comes from Greek and means “reveal.” The Holy Spirit revealed Jesus as the Messiah to specific people, but it wasn’t just their hopes and expectations that were fulfilled, it was the hopes and expectations of all the years, of all the world. And it was ours, too.

The passage from Ephesians that we read this morning is a prayer of blessing celebrating this revelation. New Testament scholar, NT Wright say of this passage, “Only by understanding and celebrating the larger story of God’s relationship to humankind can we hope to understand everything that is going on in our own smaller stories, and so observe God at work in and through our own lives.”

From the foundation of the world, God chose Christ to be holy and blameless before him in love and chose us for adoption as children through Christ. It is universal, before the foundation of the world, and specific, you were chosen to be God’s own. Your story is a part of God’s larger story.

Simeon and Anna understood what God was doing in their midst because they knew the larger story. In fact, Simeon quotes the prophet Isaiah in his exclamation as he realizes that this baby is God’s own Anointed One. The wise men studied the night sky and sought to understand how the world works.

Faith – seeking understanding. Study – seeking truth. Expectation – receiving revelation. And they saw his glory. Through faith, study, and expectation – may we see his glory too.