Eyes to See: A Reflection on Simeon, Anna, and the Christ Child
by Rev. Leah Wall
This is adapted from an article featured in the Winter 2021-2022 edition of The Table magazine. If you’d like to see this article as it originally appeared in the magazine, you can find it here.
Simeon and the Christ Child
It would have been easy on that busy, normal day at Temple to miss them: a young family with their only child. A common sight: I’m sure they weren’t the only ones. In the past 40 days, Mary had given birth to her first child. She and Joseph had packed up their belongings and traveled the dusty road to Jerusalem. Somewhere, they had found new lodgings, and hopefully a friend or two, while navigating the busy tax season in the big city. They must have traveled soon after the birth because they had come to the temple exactly 8 days after their son’s birth. They were coming to fulfill the law and also to worship, presenting their child for circumcision and bestowing on him the name that had been commanded by the angel: Jesus. Understandably, at this time, they had arrived at the temple without much. Newborn life is hard. Traveling with a child is exhausting. And can you even imagine how they could have spoken together of the visit from the shepherds just a few weeks earlier?
The temple was a stunning place to worship. For over 1,000 years it had stood as a visible sign of God’s faithfulness to His people. It was law and custom for a woman who had given birth to present herself there. Chapter 12 of Leviticus tells us what is required at this time: “And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering” (see Exodus 13 and Numbers 18). While this ceremony was mostly for the re-integration of the mother into the community, it was also a time of worship. It was a reminder that the children of the faithful belong to God. In a special way, the Jewish people dedicated their first-born. Mary and Joseph, likely anxious and weary, took what they had to offer to the place God had commanded them to gather. They could not afford a lamb. They wrapped up their son and carried him to the temple with their two-bird offering.
Mary proceeded through the purification rites and then, something surprising happened. What was a common event was made luminous with revelation. In the presence of the Christ child, a light began to shine in Simeon, the priest’s eyes—a light he had never seen. Sometime before, God had promised that he would see It and when he does—this very special day—he chants or sings out:
“Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all people; To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).
A brief song of true peace! Luke 2 :27 tells us that it was the Holy Spirit that brought Simeon there at that moment. And by keeping in step with the Spirit of God, Simeon sees His light in the face of this child. So much of what happened in the temple-- the prophecies, sacrifices, rituals, promises, even the architecture, all the works of God--pointed to the day that the Messiah would come. Simeon sees the fulfillment of it!
It is disappointing in some ways, when we read the story of this significant revelation! It seems as though barely anything happened at that moment. Yes – Simeon sees and rejoices! A prophetess, Anna, who is usually praying and fasting, comes up to them at this time as well. She is also enlightened by a mere glimpse of this child and the light of God turns to strength in her. It overflows into a proclamation of the truth of God in thanksgiving. Blessing! Peace! Light! Revelation! Redemption! Anna sees and gives thanks! Simeon has also seen, but where is the crowd? Why are there not many others seeing the light and being moved to rejoice in it?
In the face of these parents and their young child, Simeon and Anna had eyes to see the promise and hope of the ages. They saw the hope of the world. And, yet, in that Holy place of worship, even where all things pointed to the coming Messiah, only a few had eyes to see. My own experiences in parenthood remind me of this. With faithful looking, we can see the supernatural in the faces of those whom God has made, and with prayerful awareness, glimpse the fulfillment of God’s promises in the lives of children as Simeon and Anna did in the Christ child: A thing of innocence and vulnerability, yet bursting with God’s light.
“What are we missing when we close our eyes or turn our faces from the small, the poor, the unexpected, the young? The wise leadership and incalculable value of such would be easy to miss.”
How was the presence of God-in-flesh known only to two of the faithful people in the temple that day? It seems so obvious to us as we read the passage in our time, but if present in that moment, would we have counted ourselves among those who had eyes to see the Christ child? Isaiah 11:6 says that a little child will lead us. This is a poignant reminder not only for Christmastime. Jesus’ own treatment of and words about children echo this same prophetic word. They will show you the way to the kingdom of God, he teaches in Luke 18, along with a sober warning about dismissing the child’s perspective. What are we missing when we close our eyes or turn our faces from the small, the poor, the unexpected, the young? The wise leadership and incalculable value of such would be easy to miss.
How, like Simeon, can I be at truest peace, following the lead of the Spirit of God more closely? How, like Anna, can my hope and openness to the presence of God grow through the years? How, like Mary and Joseph, can I continue in faithfulness even when I am exhausted and have little to offer? Where do my own expectations of where to find God’s presence or promises actually keep me from seeing the face of God? What can I do to prepare my mind and my sight so that I do not miss the light of God when it is shining right before me?
