Narrative Lectionary Program Year – Simeon and Anna
Luke 2:21-38
Free Additional Resources for Study & Sermon Preparation
Furthering the Power of God’s Story – Narrative Lectionary Commentary
Scripture reference link: Luke 2:21-38
by Daniel D. Maurer
At this sections’ onset, we move past the circumcision and naming of Jesus just as quickly as an actual circumcision takes. Snip, bris completed. Name? Jesus. Good. Onward and upwards.
Whether the details were simply irrelevant or TMI (I’m going with the second option) is not stated. However, it’s a bit puzzling that Luke didn’t go into more detail given that the author assumed primarily a gentile audience for this gospel. One coincidence that I find personally fascinating is that Romans from classical antiquity also waited 8 days before naming a child. The rationale behind this practice seems obvious: infant mortality for newborns was high, and it would not do to name a child immediately, as we practice today. Jesus’ name, too, seems an obvious choice. Yesh-ua (Joshua) implies Jesus’ mission just as it will be. God saved, God saves, and God will save. A person’s name was a big deal, both in Old Testament and New Testament times. In any rate, most parents today I’d assume choose a child’s name for reasons other than the great deeds a kid might or might not achieve in his or her lifetime.
The circumcision and naming ceremony past, we get to the core of this story, a look at two people, Simeon and Anna.
After 40 days had passed, Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the temple to offer sacrifice. Jews regarded the firstborn son as holy unto Yahweh. Most people today do not realize the origin of this practice and its much darker past. But this is more than I want to get into today, and is fraught with much debate among scholars anyway. If the topic interests you, visit the links above and make your own conclusions.
At the Temple in Jerusalem, they meet Simeon, who we are told “was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him” (v. 25). These two facts are important. First, Simeon was both devout and righteous to boot. The point is that people could trust him.
The same point is true for us today: a person’s reputation really does matter in whether we can trust them. If, for example, a person in an office of leadership states time and time again that a deadly plague spreading through the world is no big deal, is harmless, and doesn’t take preventative measures, despite thousands of scientists and medical doctors (and other leaders) stating otherwise, then that person probably shouldn’t be trusted. When—as a hypothetical example—that leader who had denied the risk in the past then suddenly claimed it was he who provided the lifesaving treatments all along for the deadly plague and that, oops, I guess it was a big deal . . . then again, a person probably shouldn’t trust that leader.
That’s common sense.
I’m bringing this point up, because it bears mentioning not only concerning the magnitude of Simeon’s proclamation, but also because it’s important that leaders today actually care about the laws they enforce and the people they represent. Leadership needs to be held accountable. Great leaders all throughout history weren’t perfect human beings, but they were like Simeon, righteous, that is, they held themselves accountable to a power greater than themselves.
We can trust Simeon today, because his reputation was beyond reproach. We can also trust the words he spoke in Jerusalem, so long ago.
“‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant* in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.’”
Once again, the case for Luke writing his Gospel for the sake of people other than Jews comes through clearly. The light would shed a revelation, ἀποκάλυψιν, an “apocalypse” which as much as some would like to be is neither a movie that took years to produce in the 1970s nor is it a harbinger of the world’s end. (Quick personal note for you. Yes. I am totally reading through that last Buzzfeed link I totally cannot believe I placed here.)
With Simeon’s task now done and out of the way we turn to Anna (Hannah). And, by the way, don’t worry, we’ll remember it for years and years to come through our liturgy as the Nunc Dimittis. <- Also, this Wikipedia link is just super as a resource.
Hannah (the English translations today reflect the traditional Anna, but her name was no doubt Hannah with a “hard h” (ch) in Hebrew) comes on stage after Simeon’s piece is said and done. Surprisingly, it’s shorter, but she’s not just there for window dressing or a simple confirmation of Simeon’s proclamation.
Her contribution shows how important widows and orphans would become for the early Christian church. What’s important today is that widows (and orphans, I suppose, to a much lesser extent) still give witness to God’s saving power.
I remember countless times when I was a pastor in western North Dakota heading to my church out in the country to preside at someone’s funeral. When I got to the church, despite snowstorms and miles of gravel roads, I instantly could smell the freshly cooked food for the dinner following the service. After the funeral, when people walked downstairs in a cramped, poorly-lit basement, we ate the meal that four widows in the congregation had prepared. A few others would pitch in to help in the kitchen. However, the widows were the ones to have organized it all, and did the lion’s share of work.
Hannah’s prayers and spreading the good news were, perhaps, the greatest public proclamation that God had heard all the Jews’ prayers. A messiah was imminent. “God saves” was “coming into the world.”
Menu for Additional Resources
The following links and resources are not produced or maintained by Clergy Stuff. However, at the time of this posting, the links were active and considered to be good source material for this weeks’ reading. Please scroll down or click on the quick jump menu you find below.
Other Resources
Exegetical Links
A Christmas pandemic like no other? They thought that in 1918. The Guardian. Michael Bresalier, writer.
Ancient primary texts (Pseudepigrapha, Targum, Midrash, Targum) about Messainic Expectation from (Rutgers University Department of Religion) Mahlon H. Smith, Editor Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus.
Pulpit Fiction Reflections. Robb Mc Coy and Eric Fistler, 2014.
"Love," "Simeon," sermon discussion from Frederick Buechner, Frederick Buechner Blog. Just superb.
Good News From Israel-Verse Commentary on Luke 2:21-35, Jirair Tashjian, Christian Resource Institute.
"Holy Prepuce," "Nunc Dimittis," Wikipedia links. Really good stuff!
Great Quotes
“Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.”
“We can always be sure of one thing—that the messengers of discomfort and sacrifice will be stoned and pelted by those who wish to preserve at all costs their own contentment. This is not a lesson that is confined to the Testaments”
A Good Read
Kant and the Platypus: Essays on Language and Cognition
by Umberto Eco
Editorial note: You might find it odd I’d suggest this book, but it relates directly and correlates brilliantly to the question behind what makes words (and ideas) powerful.
How do we know a cat is a cat? And why do we call it a cat? How much of our perception of things is based on cognitive ability, and how much on linguistic resources? Here, in six remarkable essays, Umberto Eco explores in depth questions of reality, perception, and experience. Basing his ideas on common sense, Eco shares a vast wealth of literary and historical knowledge, touching on issues that affect us every day. At once philosophical and amusing, Kant and the Platypus is a tour of the world of our senses, told by a master of knowing what is real and what is not.
Video Resources
Christmas Organ Music for the Continued Celebration of Christ’s Birth
Daily Devotional Feed
Free Dramatic Reading For This Text (NRSV)
Readers: Narrator, Lord, Simeon
Narrator: After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Lord: Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord),
Narrator: and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord,
Lord: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
Narrator: Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
Simeon: Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.
Narrator: And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary,
Simeon: This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.
Narrator: There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.