Lord, and to offer the prescribed sacrifice for herself.1 Now our Lord's birth being a supernatural one, unlike every other, "without spot of sin,' "2 what need that He should be thus presented, and His holy Mother purified? But if even in such a case the Law was magnified, how dare any of us think ourselves above the ordinances of Christ's Church? In the Churching of Women, and in the Baptism of Children, we cannot but be acting according to the mind of Him who came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it.3 XXIII. THE SONG OF SIMEON. St. Luke ii. 25-32. And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. The aged Simeon is another of those portraits which stand out from the canvas of St. Luke. He is drawn to the life in a few touches. "Just and devout," doing his duty 1 Ex. xiii. 1, 2; Num. xviii. 15, 16; Lev. xii. 6, 8. 2 Proper Preface upon ChristmasDay and seven days after. 3 The poverty of the Parents, as they were popularly called and considered, in this case is touchingly shewn, in their being unable to provide a lamb, and so being obliged to content themselves with the less costly offering. It was an ancient tradition that St. Luke was a Painter. Painter he might have been as well as Physician. towards God, and his duty towards his neighbour; faithful in all dealings between man and man, as well as attentive to all the ordinances of religion; and patiently waiting for the coming of the Christ, in whom alone true consolation is to be found. He was a partaker of the prophetic spirit, recipient of Divine revelations, subject in a special sense to the influences of the Holy Ghost. What a sight must that have been, the departing saint taking up the Saviour into his arms; thus representing to us "the Law, now worn out with age, ready to embrace the Gospel." Simeon, we are told, took up the Child Jesus, took Him up in his arms, whom the piety of His parents (as was supposed) had brought into the Temple, to do for Him after the custom of the Law; and Jesus Himself, He takes up our children into His holy arms, and puts His hands upon them and blesses them, when we bring them into His Temple, the Church, to do for them after the custom of the Gospel. Simeon, we are told, came by the Spirit into the Temple. They who would see Christ must seek Him when and where He is to be found. He will make us joyful in His House of Prayer. Day after day, through a long life, had Simeon thus come to the Temple, and seemed to come in vain. This day he comes, and he receives the end of his faith. He who so long had waited for the Consoler of Israel, beholds at last the Saviour2 of the world. He sees Him with his eyes. He folds Him in his arms. His hands handle the Word of Life. Whereupon he bursts forth into that short, sublime Psalm which is heard daily in the Church's even-song, with which she soothes her children to sleep, and so assures us of peace in the "nightly images of death." of life and fear of death." 1 Bp. Wordsworth, who refers to Heb. viii. 13. 2 In vv. 25, 30, we have instances of what Grammarians call the abstract for the concrete; the thing that the Person is or does put for the Person himself; consolation consoler, salvation = Saviour. Is. xlix. 6; 1x. 3; Acts xiii. 47. Now "he rises above the love Now he is ready to depart like The order in which Gentile and Jew Henry. This same Song of Simeon, D a good and faithful servant, his term of service expired, with that comfortable dismissal, "Go in peace." have seen Christ can welcome death." "They that XXIV. SIMEON AND ANNA. St. Luke ii. 33-38. And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. "And Joseph and His Mother "for the same Evangelist who uses the popular phrase,' takes care to give them also the correct designation-" marvelled" at this further testimony to the mysterious Child. "And Simeon blessed them." Who now shall make light of a Priest or Prophet's blessing? And addressing himself to Mary, whom it most concerned, he describes, in words which recall ancient prophecies,2 her Child's future. He is placed or appointed as a stone, at which some shall stumble as St. Paul, but to rise again. He is a mark at which evil tongues shall shoot out their arrows, even bitter words. The sign of His Cross shall be spoken 1 v. 27 above. 33; Eze. xxi. 26; St. Luke xiv. 11; Is. viii. 14, 15, 18; Rom. ix. 32, xviii. 14; Heb. xii. 3. against. She too herself shall have her inward struggles.1 The iron shall enter into her soul as she sees at last the spear that pierces His side. He shall be, as it were, a moral touchstone, whereby an improving Nicodemus,3 or a degenerating Judas, shall come out in their true colours, and show what manner of spirit they are of. Yet one more picture. Anna, that "widow indeed." Here is her life and eulogy, drawn with the pencil of the Holy Ghost, "to preserve her memory to the end of the world, and to show how grateful to Him this kind of life is."5 So continually was she in the Temple, that she might be said not to depart from it; serving God not only in the accustomed hours of public prayer, and on the ordinary days of abstinence, but with extraordinary devotion. And in that "same place where she had for so many years poured out her heart to God, God poured forth His heart to her." What a glimpse too is here given us of faithful, expectant hearts even in the careless city. They were not all formalists. "Contemptuous things are sometimes said of a congregation consisting of an old man and woman; a poor man and his wife. Yet this was the very congregation here assembled, and Christ was among them! "8 XXV. THE VISIT OF THE MAGI. St. Matthew ii. 1-6. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. "God, who is the Universal Father of all men, at the Nativity of the Messias, gave notice of it to all the world, as they were represented by the grand division of Jews and Gentiles; to the Jewish shepherds by an angel, to the Eastern Magi by a star." Thus was He made known to "learned and unlearned, rich and poor. These Magi were the wise men of that part of the world. They were given in particular to the study of the stars. In the course of their studies they see a strange appearance in the sky, which seemed to point to that ancient prophecy," There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel."3 Instantly these Persian sages set out to seek Him, the new born King of the Jews. Observe that "title which attended our Blessed Lord from the cradle to the grave." * All the way from the East they went to Jerusalem, thinking no trouble too great in such a search. Shall not these honest, earnest Magi, who heard God's voice in prophecy, or saw His glory in the stars, rise up in judgment against those who will scarcely go a few yards to their Parish Church to worship Him? It was in the days of Herod. He was an usurper. The throne was not his by right. So he was troubled, looking for some rival. The people too were troubled with him. They were sick of 1 Bp. Taylor: Life of Christ, ad. Sect. iv. 2 It has been a constant tradition that the Magi were three in number, and that they were Kings, or at least of royal race. All who have visited the Cathedral at Cologne have heard of the three Kings of the East, Gas par, Melchior, and Balthazar. Blunt A Plain Commentary. |