Presentation of Christ in the Temple
Candlemas
Malachi 3.1-5; Psalm 24 (or 24.7-end); Hebrews 2.14-end;
Luke 2.22-40
Almighty and ever-living God, clothed in majesty, whose
beloved Son was this day presented in the Temple, in substance of
our flesh: grant that we may be presented to you with pure and
clean hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple is also
known by other names - the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
and Candlemas. Three titles (with their hinterland of tradition,
and doctrinal development) gesture towards the complexity of the
event recorded in Luke's Gospel (Luke 2.22-40). Luke compresses
into the visit of Mary and Joseph to the Temple, with their baby
son, the statutory purification of the mother, the symbolic ransom
of the firstborn (Exodus 13.2), and the dedication of a child to
the Lord's service (echoes of Samuel are probably not accidental).
The luminous treatment of this dense material turns narrative into
prophecy, and dramatic irony.
So Mary and Joseph offer the sacrifice prescribed for those
unable to afford a lamb (Leviticus 12.8), but they have brought
with them the Lamb of God (John 1.29-30). For John, this is the
Passover lamb, whose blood marks God's people for liberation.
Luke's treatment will suggest that this firstborn child is offered
to ransom all of God's later children (Hebrews 1.2 and 1.6; also
Romans 8.29, Colossians 1.15 and 18). Simeon now makes his entry,
his greeting confirming that the child is a sign of salvation, "a
light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people
Israel" (Luke 2.32; Isaiah 49.5-6). Perhaps Luke allows himself a
little wordplay, associating Simeon's name (Greek: Sumeōn) with the
Greek word for "sign" (sēmeion).
Artistic representations fix Simeon in our imaginations as a
high-priestly figure, gorgeously robed and majestically bearded.
This is not what Luke tells us. All we know about Simeon, is that
he is an inhabitant of Jerusalem who exemplifies the faithfulness
of waiting. A lifetime of longing and praying for "the consolation
of Israel" (Luke 2.25) is being concluded as the Spirit guides him
to the Temple. Yet his words to Mary (Luke 2.35), still digesting
the testimony of the shepherds (Luke 2.8-19), are stark. It is left
to Anna, the model of devoted worship, to restore a note of joy,
praising God, and excitedly sharing the news of the child with
other visitors to the Temple (Luke 2.38). Once again, the
Evangelist seems to be at play, his earlier reference to the birth
of Samuel (Luke 1.46-55; 1 Samuel 2.1-10) completed here, with the
appearance of another [H]anna[h] to greet and encourage this mother
of a much greater son.
But greatness is necessarily deferred. The writer of the Letter
to the Hebrews explains that Christ did not come "to help angels
but the descendants of Abraham" (Hebrews 2.16) and, for that
reason, "had to become like his brothers and sisters in every
respect" (Hebrews 2.17). The "Lord" who will "suddenly come to his
temple" and purify the corruption of the priestly order (Malachi
3.1) learns first to be human, before assuming the role of high
priest and judge. And this has given generations of Christians
confidence to pray that, as God's "beloved Son was this day
presented in the Temple, in substance of our flesh", so they also
"may be presented to [God] with pure and clean hearts" (Collect of
the Day).
This great movement from humility to glory, from humanity to
divinity, is captured exquisitely by the 19th-century hymnographer,
John Ellerton (1826-93) in his Candlemas hymn, "Hail to the Lord
who comes, comes to his temple gate" (see Psalm 24.7-10). The hymn
draws on all the human emotion in the presentation scene: the young
mother with her first child; Joseph overawed; Simeon holding
up the baby to proclaim him "the glory of all lands" as they stand
by, anxious in case the old man drops him. The fourth verse hails
"the great First-born" and hints that Ellerton had recognised
another connection. Later in Luke's Gospel, the newborn Lord
returns to his Temple city (Luke 19.28-40; see also Matthew
21.1-11, Mark 11.1-10, John 12.12-19). This time, he is acclaimed
by shouting crowds, but he has come to die. The liturgical
provision for the Presentation marks this eloquently, as candles
are extinguished, and the Church prepares for Lent and Passiontide
(Common Worship: Times and Seasons):
Hail to the great First-born,
Whose ransom-price they pay!
The Son before all worlds,
The Child of man to-day,
That he might ransom us
Who still in bondage lay.