besquared.org Blog

Today’s Text

We have talked a lot about the portents of discontinuity so far in this text. (I haven’t used that language so if you are thinking, “No we haven’t.” then you are right.) We have seen that in the context of the first chapter, Luke prepares us for a radically new thing that is happening. We are warned that the politcal and social world is being turned upside down. In my post this morning, NT Wright opened the Christmas story in a new light that reminded us that it is a politcally subversive text. So far, Luke’s story is one of stark and in some ways even threatening discontinuity with the status quo.

In light of this , it is good to pause on this beautiful scene of Jesus’ naming and blessing. Here we see that although Jesus may represent a threat to the politcal establishment and that his ministry is radically discontinuous with the status quo, it stands in remarkable continuity with one thing: The purposes of God.

Verse 21 serves as a transition verse. It wraps up the story of the birth with the naming and introduces the stories of the childhood and then three times in the next two verese we are reminded that Jesus is being blessed and sacrifices are being made in accordance with God’s law.

Simeon and Anna come forward and represent all the fathful of Israel hoping for the fulfillment of God’s promises. They both see in Jesus that God’s promises have now been fulfilled. Look back again at the details that Luke shares. The are old and have been waiting for a long time. They are people of hope who now can rest because the hope has been completed. The hope is not just their hope but the hope of the nation. It is an ancient hope. Luke intentionally provides narrative details to demonstrate that Jesus (”YHWH saves”) is precisely the salvation that God’s people have always been waiting for.

Luke tells us that they leave, when they have done “everything required by the law of the Lord.” On a narrative level this just means that they killed the right number of pigeons. (See Lev. 12 for more infor on the pigeons.) But more importantly the wraps up the biggger point that Luke wants us to see. This thing that will happen, that will overturn oppresion,(mary’s song) that will complete the work fo the prophets and the temple (Zechariah’s song), that will defy the empires of the world, will also fulfill that hope of Israel and the Law of Moses.

Joy to the World, the Lord is Come.

-Ethan

Ps. I hope that you have noticed all the times that is has been made clear that this Israelite Messiah is for all nations. We take that for granted of course, but that was still a debated question in Luke’s day.