Peter Carruthers
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him (Luke 2:25).
There was a prophetess, Anna… She was advanced in years… She did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day (Luke 2:36-37).
This is the third of my articles on the significance of the 2nd of February, and gets to the heart of the matter - the Feast of the Purification and Presentation. If Midwinter spring and Groundhog Day left matters of temporality and eternity, of mortality and redemption, somewhat in the air, then they are resolved in this feast.
And the day before yesterday was indeed the 2nd of February! At least, it was if you observe the Julian calendar, as did most of Christendom until relatively recently (Great Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752), and as do many Orthodox churches today.1
In any event, in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the 2nd of February is forty days after the celebration of the birth of Jesus, and commemorates the events recorded in Luke 2:22-38. And yesterday, the 3rd/16th of February, Orthodox churches celebrated the feast day of Simeon and Anna, central figures in this story.
The Feast has many names. Based on the biblical account, it is known as the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin (Luke 2:22a), the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Luke 2:22b), and the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord (ie “with His people Israel, in the persons of the Prophet Simeon and the Prophetess Anna”, Luke 2:25-38) and (many) variations on these titles. By the 5th century the observing of the event by lighting candles had been introduced and the feast became known as Candlemas. In the mediaeval Western church, it became customary for people to donate candles to the church and to have their candles blessed on Candlemas.
The biblical account
As Luke records (Luke 2:21-39), in accordance with the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph take the infant Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to complete Mary’s ritual purification (Leviticus 12:1-8) and present the child to the Lord (Exodus 13:12-15). Their arrival coincides with that of Simeon, who had been prompted by the Holy Spirit to go to the temple. Simeon takes the baby Jesus in his arms, whom he knows, by the Spirit, is the promised Messiah, blesses God and prophesies. As he does this, they are joined by the widow, Anna. This closes Luke’s account of the nativity and infancy of Jesus, but alone among the Evangelists, he adds a postscript describing Jesus’ visit to the temple at His coming of age and His subsequent return to, and life in, Nazareth (Luke 2:41-52).
Whole books could be written, and I am sure have, on the meaning of this account. In this and two more articles, I will restrict myself to three aspects of the story - the people, the place and the prophecy. This article is about the ‘people’; two more to follow will consider the ‘place’ and the ‘prophecy’. I had originally planned to cover all three at once, but there is a lot to say and three instalments will make for an easier read!
A family gathering
The prologue to Luke’s corpus (ie Luke and Acts), ie the account of the birth of John the Baptist and the nativity, infancy and childhood of Jesus, revolves around three ‘couples’ - Zechariah and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary, and Simeon and Anna. The latter are not a married couple, but, as temple ‘regulars’, they are clearly acquainted and ‘co-workers’ in prayer and prophecy. They are one of many ‘gender pairs’, which are a particular characteristic of Luke’s gospel.2
And in this final scene of Luke’s nativity and infancy account, I suggest that all three couples are gathered together. Although Luke’s account only tells us that Mary and Joseph and Anna and Simeon were present in the temple, there is a good case that Elizabeth and Zechariah were there also (maybe even with their infant son, John). This was an important family rite of passage (equivalent, perhaps, to a Christening or Dedication today), they were close relatives of Mary and Joseph, lived somewhere between Bethlehem and Jerusalem (tradition sites their home at Ein Kerem, about 5 miles south-west of Jerusalem), and, as a priest, Zechariah did regular shifts in the temple (Luke 1:8).
The four gospel writers have different aims and audiences, as reflected in their different styles and in the material they include. Of all the gospels, Luke’s has the most personal touch. He gives us the most detail about the characters and personalities in Jesus’ life and ministry.3 And here he paints a vivid and heartwarming picture of an ordinary family ceremony, yet one with extraordinary significance.
Elizabeth and Zechariah
The three ‘couples’ were, in some ways, very different. Zechariah and Elizabeth were what today we might call ‘late-middle aged’. Luke describes them as “both well advanced in years” (Luke 1:7), which, according to some commentators, suggests they were over sixty. Like Sarah, Elizabeth was, therefore, both barren and past childbearing age, and, like Sarah, she becomes pregnant after the visit of a messenger from the Lord (Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7; Luke 1:5-25).
Zechariah was a priest, and his wife the daughter of a priest, hence of the tribe of Levi, and of a distinctive and in some sense ‘privileged’ class. He did two one-week stints in the temple per year, but they lived in a village in a rural area (the “hill country”, Luke 1:39) some miles out of Jerusalem.
Mary and Joseph
The Bible does not tell us Mary’s and Joseph’s age. Again, from the biblical text and the customs of the time, we can conclude that Mary was a young women, possibly a teenager, a virgin, betrothed, but not yet married, to the older Joseph. As with Elizabeth and Sarah, her becoming with child was announced by an angel from the Lord. But in her case, the miracle was not the opening of the womb of a barren, post-menopausal woman; rather, it was a virgin conceiving by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:1-38). Joseph was a carpenter (tektōn, so a woodworker and/or stonemason), so maybe a small businessman.
Anna and Simeon
Both Simeon and Anna were (very) elderly: Simeon’s great age is inferred from the text (although some early Christian traditions make him several hundred years old); Anna was either eighty-four or had been a widow for eighty-four years having been married for seven years, making her at least 105.
We are told nothing about their social status or background. What we are told is that is that Simeon was a ‘man of Jerusalem’ suggesting he was either a priest or Levite, or of the tribe of Judah or Benjamin. Anna was “of the tribe of Asher”. Moses prophesied that (the tribe of) Asher’s ‘strength will equal his days’ (Deuteronomy 33:24), so maybe her great age went with her ancesstry!
The tribal allegiances of hardly anyone else in the New Testament are mentioned or evident: apart from the Levites and priests, and the lineage of Jesus in the tribe of Judah, we only know that Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1; Philippians 3:5) and Joseph (aka Barnabas) was a “Levite from Cyprus” (Acts 4:36).
There is, therefore, a reason why we are told Anna’s tribe and why Simeon’s is implied. That both Simeon (representing the southern kingdom of Judah) and Anna (of the tribe of Asher, representing the ‘lost’ northern kingdom of Israel) should both together see the Lord’s salvation, the promised Messiah, speaks of the re-gathering and re-uniting of all Israel under the descendant of David as their shepherd king. It is a foretaste of the fulfilment of Ezekiel’s vision of the two sticks becoming one in the Lord’s hand, of the divided nations and kingdoms becoming one nation and one kingdom, restored to their own land forever, with the Lord God dwelling in their midst. (Ezekiel 37:15-28).
The righteous and devout of Israel
What the three couples have in common is they are all righteous and devout. As Kinzer & Resnik put it, “the infancy narrative is populated by a rich cast of Jews that Luke calls ‘righteous’. Indeed,” they continue “Luke informs us” (ie throughout Luke and Acts) “that the Jewish world of the time included numerous people who were truly righteous”.
Zechariah and Elizabeth were “both righteous before God, walking blameless in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord” (Luke 1:6).4
Joseph was a “just man” (Matthew 1:19), to whom the angel of the Lord appears three times in dreams. Most translations refer to “their purification” (Luke 21:22), which could mean that Joseph underwent a non-obligatory purification rite at the same time as Mary’s obligatory purification, suggestive of his devotion to the Law (cp Acts 21:22-27). Mary’s righteousness is evident in her conversation with the angel Gabriel and her response, “behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
Simeon was “just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him” (Luke 25:25). According to Kinzer & Resnik,5 “‘devout’ is a term that indicates reverence or proper awe of God, and also implies the careful fulfilment of religious duties. It describes a right posture toward God and a way of life that conforms to the standards of the Torah”. Anna was a “prophetess” (the NT’s only named female prophetess), who “did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day” (Luke 2:37).
Further, eschatological hope is also central to righteousness and devoutness.
The ‘righteous’ and ‘devout’ Jews of the infancy narrative also hope in the Torah’s promises to Israel. They are model Jews, ‘waiting for the consolation of Israel’, and ‘waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem’ (Luke 2:25,38), who prefigure other ‘righteous’ and ‘devout’ people that will appear later.6
Holy families
Throughout history, God has chosen and deployed righteous and devout couples and families to be instruments and agents of His redemptive purposes and plan. These three are part of a long line that includes Noah’s family, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and his wives, Moses’ parents and sister, Manoah and his wife, Naomi, Ruth and Boaz, Elkanah and Hannah, Priscilla and Aquila, and many more across the centuries up to today. And maybe He has called some of us to join them!
How to ‘age well’
As one approaching my ‘by-reason-of-strength’ decade, I am particularly heartened by Simeon and Anna as role models of how to ‘age well’ and be useful in the Lord’s service well into one’s latter years.
As well as being righteous and devout, Simeon was also a man of great faith who held on to God’s promises and believed His word: he had clearly been waiting patiently for the consolation of Israel for a very long time. And he was a faithful prophet, who both heard from the Lord (his name means ‘man of hearing’ or ‘he who hears’) and spoke His word.
Robin Gallaher Branch describes Anna as an idiorhythmic “worship workaholic”, who spent her days in worship, prayer and fasting in the temple.
“Luke indicates that her habits of worship, prayer and fasting represent a routine, probably one of decades. Evidently she resides within the Temple or on its premises. A precedent in earlier centuries could have been the presence of Levite musicians and heads of families “who stayed in the rooms of the temple and were exempt from other duties because they were responsible for the work day and night” (1 Chronicles 9:33). So perhaps this behaviour was not so unusual during the first century because of the full-time work of worship the Levites undertook.”
Anna’s dedication to worship is an especially important facet of her lifestyle as a model for ageing well in our time. We shall spend eternity in worship so it is surely a good thing to start now, and more so as we approach the close of this life. In addition, I have felt for some while now that the Lord is calling us to a new depth of worship as part of our response to our present, turbulent times.
Anna was also a prophetess, with great spiritual acuity (ie she knew immediately who Jesus was), and an energetic, but ‘selective', evangelist, who “spoke of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).
Both Simeon and Anna, despite their great ages, therefore, had much to do in the Lord’s service. And, as I suggested in my ‘Eleventh Hour’ article a while ago, perhaps the Lord has a particular interest in and task for those who might be tempted to feel their days of service are over or even never really started?
‘In the spirit and power of Isaiah’
There is an early Christian tradition that Simeon was several hundred years old (as above), and that he was one of the translators of the Septuagint. As I also mentioned above, Simeon was honoured as a saint yesterday by the Orthodox Church. ‘Orthodox Wiki’ tells the story as follows.
“The Righteous Simeon was one of the seventy scholars who came to Alexandria to translate the Holy Scriptures into Greek. The completed work was called "The Septuagint…. St Simeon was translating a book of the Prophet Isaiah, and read the words: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a Son" (Isaiah 7:14). He thought that ‘virgin’ was inaccurate, and he wanted to correct the text to read ‘woman’. At that moment an angel appeared to him and held back his hand saying, "You shall see these words fulfilled. You shall not die until you behold Christ the Lord born of a pure and spotless Virgin." Tradition says he died at the great age of 360.”
“St Jerome argues that only the Pentateuch were translated in the late 3rd century BC and the rest including Simeon's translation of Isaiah might be written later in the late 1st century BC” (Biblical Hermeneutics), meaning Simeon might not have been quite so old!
Rather than dismissing this as mere fantasy, maybe it is better to understand it not so much as historical fact, but as a story to convey a biblical truth. For there is, indeed, a strong connection between Simeon and Isaiah.
If John the Baptist was ‘Elijah’ (Luke 1:17; Matthew 11:7-14), Simeon was ‘Isaiah’. If John the Baptist was the last of the ‘wilderness’ prophets of ancient Israel, in Elijah’s tradition, then Simeon was the last of the Jerusalem prophets, in Isaiah’s tradition. Like Elijah, John challenged the powers and called the people to repentance. Like Isaiah, Simeon announced God’s salvation and His coming among us.
Isaiah is the most Messianic of the OT prophets. Quoting the OT scholar, J Alec Motyer, Andrew Menkis summarises this aspect of Isaiah as follows.
Isaiah paints three distinct “portraits” of the Messiah: the King (1-37), the Servant (38-55), and the Anointed Conqueror (56-66). Each unique portrait shares significant characteristics which will be fulfilled in one Messiah. For example, in each portrait, the Messiah has the Spirit and word of God and is characterized by righteousness. Each is of the line of David, includes the Gentiles as well as Jews in their mission, and has the“Messianic enigma.” In other words, each portrait hints at the human and divine nature of the Messiah.
Simeon was informed by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is this very Messiah (Luke 2:26-27).
Isaiah’s name means ‘Yahweh is salvation’ and his book is a vision of how the Lord’s salvation will be revealed through His Messiah. Simeon announced that in seeing Jesus the Messiah, he had seen the Lord’s salvation.
Isaiah prophesied that a “virgin shall conceive and bear a Son” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). Simeon met the virgin and took that Son, who is “God with us”, in His arms (Luke 2:28).
Isaiah encountered the Lord God in the temple in His glory and power (Isaiah 6:1-6). Simeon beheld the Lord God in His glory in the temple, but He was, as Charles Wesley wrote, “veiled in flesh” (John 1:14), He had “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7), indeed, as Simeon intimates, a “suffering servant” (Isaiah 52:13-53:12).
Simeon announced the Messiah’s twofold mission to Israel and the Gentiles, using Isaiah’s words, except, significantly, he reversed the order (Isaiah 49:5-6; Luke 2:32).
We shall return to these themes in the next two articles in this series.
Songs of salvation
There is one more thing our three couples have in common. One member of all three pairs sings a song, ie Mary (Luke 1:46-55), Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79) and Simeon (Luke 2:29-32). All three songs have been used in liturgical worship for centuries, and been the subject of many musical settings. I imagine many of us will know their words by heart. With words I am sure you also know by heart, I will leave the last word to another, more recent, writer of songs.
Christ, by highest Heaven adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man, with man to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel. (Charles Wesley)
Hence, the Christian feast only coincides with astronomical midwinter or the Celtic first day of spring and the pagan festivals associated with it (eg Imbolc) in the (modern) Gregorian calendar, which rather weakens the case for the church adopting an ancient pagan festival!
Luke’s gospel is in fact replete with ‘gender pairs’, in the historical accounts of Jesus life and ministry (as well as our three couples here, see Luke 4:31-39, where Jesus heals a possessed man, followed by Simon’s mother-in-law, and 7:1-17 where Jesus heals/raises from the dead first the Centurion’s servant then the widow’s son), at his death and resurrection (ie Luke is careful to report both as witnessed by both men and women), in Jesus’ parables (eg Luke 11:5-8 & 18:1-8; 13:18-19 & 20-21; 15:3-7 & 8-10), and in other contexts (eg Luke 17:34-35; 29-32) (read more here and here).
Arguably, Luke is also the most ‘inclusive’. More than the other gospel writers, Luke reveals Jesus concern for the poor and marginalised, for Samaritans and Gentiles. In particular, women play a particularly prominent role in Luke’s gospel: as well as featuring Mary, Elizabeth and Anna in the first two chapters, his genealogy of Jesus includes Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba; from Luke, we learn about Jesus’ women disciples, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, Martha and Mary; above all, Luke tells us the most about Jesus’ mother, Mary. We have already seen above Luke’s particular interest in ‘gender pairs’.
Kinzer. M S & Resnik, R L. 2021. Besorah: The resurrection of Jerusalem and the healing of a fractured gospel. Cascade Books.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Fascinating! Thank you Peter