Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Biblical Text and Content

This event is recorded only in Luke 2:22-39. The preceding verse (Luke 2:21) records that the child was circumcised on the eighth day and named Jesus. The circumcision and the presentation in the Temple are separate events.

"When the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished," Mary and Joseph brought the child to the Temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. On this occasion they offered "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons" as a sacrifice (Luke 2:24).

In the Temple, Simeon, a just and devout man, took the child in his arms and praised God. He had been waiting for "the consolation of Israel," and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Simeon sang that this child was the salvation prepared before the face of all people and a light to lighten the Gentiles (Luke 2:29-32). He then told Mary that the child was set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign that would be spoken against, adding, "Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also."

Anna, a prophetess and the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher, was also present; she gave thanks to God and spoke of the child to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Both figures are treated separately in the article Simeon and Anna. When they had completed these things, the family returned to Nazareth in Galilee.

Background

Two provisions of the Law converge in this event.

• Purification of the mother: According to Leviticus 12, a woman who bore a son observed a period of purification of seven days, followed by a further thirty-three days. Afterward she was to offer a lamb and a pigeon or turtledove; if she could not afford a lamb, she could offer two birds instead (Leviticus 12:8). Because Luke mentions only the birds, this detail is commonly taken to indicate that Jesus' family was poor.
• Consecration of the firstborn son: Exodus 13:2, 12 commands that every firstborn male be set apart as holy to God. This provision is connected with the events of the Passover. Numbers 18:15-16 prescribes that a firstborn son be redeemed for five shekels of silver, but Luke records no payment of this price, stating only that they brought him "to present him to the Lord."

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In this scene Luke repeatedly uses the word "law," thereby showing that Jesus was born under the Law and observed its requirements (see Galatians 4:4). Simeon's song recalls the "light to the Gentiles" of Isaiah 49:6 and anticipates a theme that runs throughout Luke's Gospel: that the salvation brought by Jesus extends beyond Israel to the nations. Some interpreters also read the event as a fulfillment of Malachi 3:1, which says that the Lord "shall suddenly come to his temple."

Interpretations and Points of Discussion

• Observance as a feast: The Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, Lutheran churches, and others observe February 2, the fortieth day after Christmas, as the feast of this event. The Catholic Church calls it the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, and the feast is reported to have been observed in Jerusalem as early as the fourth century. Because of a tradition of blessing candles, which derives from Simeon's confession of the "light," the day is also known in the West as Candlemas. Most Protestant denominations in Korea do not observe the day.
• "A sword shall pierce through thy own soul": Catholic tradition meditates on this saying in connection with the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin. Protestants generally read it as a prophecy looking ahead to the crucifixion.
• "Their purification": Interpreters differ over whom "their" refers to in Luke 2:22 (rendered "her purification" in the KJV): Mary and the child, the couple, or the Jewish people in general.
• Details not found in the text: In art and tradition Simeon is often depicted as an old man or a priest, but the text states neither his age nor his office. As for Anna's "fourscore and four years" (Luke 2:37), the original text alone does not make clear whether she had been a widow for eighty-four years or was eighty-four years old.

In the Korean Church

The story of Simeon and Anna meeting the Messiah after long waiting is frequently used as a sermon text shortly after Christmas or around the turn of the year. In the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), it is the appointed Gospel reading for the First Sunday after Christmas in Year B. Simeon's song is said or sung at Evening Prayer in the Anglican tradition and at Night Prayer (Compline) in the Catholic Church. In addition, some churches that do not practice infant baptism, such as the Baptists, hold services of infant dedication in which a baby is presented to God, citing this passage and the account of Hannah presenting Samuel as their basis.