Fr. Lino Moreira According to the Law of Moses, if a woman gave birth to a child she became unclean on account of her bleeding. If the child was a boy she was excluded from taking part in worship for forty days (cf. Lv 12:1-4), at the end of which sacrifices of atonement had to be offered (cf. Lv 12:6-7). Saint Luke relates that for her purification after the birth of Jesus, Mary availed herself of a concession made to the poor and offered only ‘a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons’ (Lk 2:24, cf. Lv 12:8).
The evangelist also quotes another law namely: ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated holy to the Lord’ (Lk 2:23, cf. Ex 13:2). But, surprisingly, instead of mentioning that Mary and Joseph paid the prescribed five shekels for the redemption of their firstborn (cf. Nb 3:46-48; 18:15-16) he writes: they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (Lk 2:22). This means that, in the temple at Jerusalem, the place where God met his people, Jesus was offered to his heavenly Father. He was not redeemed and restored to his earthly parents, but rather he was completely given over to God, to whom he unreservedly belonged. And in this way, the oracle of the prophet Malachi was fulfilled: ‘Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come’ (Ml 3:1).
When Jesus – the Lord Christ (cf. Lk 2:26) – entered the temple for the first time, he was greeted by Simeon and Anna as representatives of faithful Israel. Filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, Simeon praised God, saying: ‘Now, Lord, you are letting your servant go 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 of revelation for the gentiles and glory for your people Israel’ (Lk 2:29-32).
In these verses, sung daily by the Church at night prayer, Jesus is identified with the mysterious figure of the Suffering Servant, whom the prophet Isaiah calls a light to the nations (cf. Is 42:6; 49:6). Indeed, the son of Mary and Joseph was chosen from all eternity to bring the light of God to the Gentiles and to fulfil the promise that the Lord had made to his chosen people in the days of their exile: ‘I will grant salvation to Zion, to Israel my glory’ (Is 46:13). But in order to carry out his universal mission as God’s Servant, and gather Jews and Gentiles alike into a single people of descendants of Abraham by faith, Jesus had to be made perfect through suffering (cf. Hb 2:10) and offer his own life on the cross as a sacrifice of atonement for sins (cf. Hb 2:17; Is 53:10).
Simeon did not elaborate on this last point, but he hinted at the reality of the cross when he said to Mary, the mother of Jesus: ‘This child is destined for the falling and 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’ (Lk 2:34-35).
All through his earthly life Jesus had to face the antagonism of those who did not recognise him as the Messiah. Such relentless opposition culminated in his death on the cross, whereby he became the clearest sign of God’s love for the entire creation. That sign can never be blotted out or destroyed, but it will continue to be opposed, contradicted and even despised throughout the centuries. The light of God’s love shining from the cross is so radically at odds with human self-love that many perceive it as the greatest obstacle to their happiness and prosperity. And yet it is only by looking at the cross of Christ that we can uncover the mysteries of God’s wisdom, and that we can learn to imitate God’s love for the work of his hands. We were created in God’s image and likeness, and we can only be truly ourselves and live to the full if we become love as God is love (cf. 1 Jn 4:16).