Sunday

Dear friends: forty days ago we celebrated the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Candlemas marks the end of the Christmas season, now we recall the day on which he was presented in the Temple, when he was offered to the Father and shown to his people. As a sign of his coming among us, his mother was purified, as we now come to him for cleansing. In their old age Simeon and Anna recognised him as their Lord, as we today sing of his glory. 

Today we celebrate both the joy of his coming and his searching judgement, looking back to the day of his birth and forward to the coming days of his passion.

Meditation  This week we remember the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, an occasion we celebrate as Candlemas. It was the occasion when Simeon spoke the words of the Nunc Dimittis and the Prophetess Anna recognised Jesus and told people that he was God’s promised Messiah. Our painting this week is by Rembrandt and little needs to be said about the beauty of his masterpiece, but we don’t know for sure if Rembrandt intended for this to be a painting of The Prophetess Anna. The woman used as the model for this painting is thought to be his mother and she appears in another painting. However it has been generally agreed that it is indeed Anna and this is on the official recording by the Rijksmuseum as you wander around the amazing collection in Amsterdam.

We believe it to be Anna from details in the painting. The woman is reading Scripture and the letters on the pages are in Hebrew, although they cannot be read as text. One feature which has been remarked upon are her hands, they are wrinkled and carefully painted to make plain to the viewer that this woman is really old, and correspondingly full of wisdom. It is her hand which is illuminated and not her face, this is because the light falls directly upon the pages of scripture, this is where the significance lies, not in the portrait of the woman herself. She is drawing attention to the work of God, as any prophet should.

Remember from the Bible story that we are told Anna was in the Temple every day and night in prayer and she was 84 years old before she eventually saw the promise of God for which she prayed come to fulfilment. As we advance in age we inevitably live through the trials and tribulations of life. These can lead some folks to anger towards God and despair towards life itself. At 84 Anna is therefore an inspiration, for after only seven years of marriage she has suffered the death of her husband and lived for decades as a widow. In an age without medicine, state support or even a pension she has found the hope and resilience to remain faithful in her vigil and joyful in proclamation of a God who keeps his promises. May God give to us hearts equally full of joy to overcome the dark times and proclaim the light of Christ which has come into the world.

Additional Resources

Commentary

Today we focus on Luke's story of the meeting between the Child Jesus and the aged Simeon. In the Greek-speaking world the feast was called HYPAPANTI (the encounter). We have a juxtaposition of the baby Jesus and the old man Simeon. The optimistic words of Simeon could be expressing his hope for someone with a new determination to do better, but it is not just passing all of our hopes onto a new generation - we made a mess of it and we are sure that you will do better - they won't, they will be just as bad as we were. At Candlemas the Church sees the encounter between the world without Christ and the world with a new beginning in Christ, between the fading age of the Old Covenant embodied in the curse of Leviticus and the new era of the Church of all nations. Simeon calls Jesus "a light to enlighten the Gentiles." Accordingly this day was made into a feast of candles. The warm candlelight is meant to be a tangible reminder of that greater light which, for and beyond all time, radiates from the figure of Jesus. We ourselves are reminded of the need to be prepared to burn brightly ourselves in the midst of this dark world. We take a light, but it is not our own light, no light of our own would be bright enough, rather it is the light of Christ. The light which at the beginning of creation shined in the darkness and which no darkness, no blindness, could overcome, and this light was a light to lighten the gentiles, the nations, all the nations and races and culture of people. 

This special Sunday has been called by different names ‘The Presentation of Christ in the Temple’, ’The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary’, and ‘Candlemas.’ Candlemas celebrates the many themes of these events, presentation, purification and light for the world. The presentation of Jesus in the Temple took place 40 days after his birth. For us 40 days after Christmas Day falls on February 2, but it is celebrated in church on the Sunday nearest that date. Candlemas is a watershed in the church year, it marks the point at which we take a last look back at Christmas and then turn our minds firmly towards the Easter cross. We have been working through the Sundays of Epiphany, now we leave them behind and soon it will be Lent, for this reason it has been called a ‘bitter-sweet Sunday.’ This feast of Candlemas which we celebrate today can be traced to at least 543. The Feast of Lighted candles is mentioned by Bede and St. Eligius, who was bishop of Noyon from 640 to 648.

Let’s look at the history behind this festival 

So today we remember Jesus as just 40 days old and taken to the Temple by Mary, as ordered by the Jewish Law. Here is the commandment from Leviticus Chapter 12 and starting at verse 1. It is worth quoting in full because it puts our readings and the service today into historical perspective.

The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period. On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding. "'When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. He shall offer them before the LORD to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood. "'These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.'"

What this passage tells us is that according to Jewish law, women were considered unclean after the birth of a child and were not permitted to enter the Temple to worship. This state of uncleanness lasted 40 days after the birth of a son and 80 days after the birth of a daughter. At the end of the 40 or 80 days, the mother was brought to the Temple or synagogue and ritually purified. After this she could once again attend religious services and go out in public. 

Since Jesus was a boy, it was 40 days after Mary gave birth that she attended at the Temple to bring a sacrifice. Now we are led to understand from Luke, that Mary did not bring a year old lamb, the reading mentions ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons,’ one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. This implies that Mary presented the option for poorer people, so we may suppose that Joseph and Mary were not very wealthy. Nevertheless as faithful Jews they did their religious duty and observed the Law of Moses when it came to such things as childbirth, circumcision, and other rituals. 

Luke is careful to point out that Jesus was a Jew who had his roots in the Old Testament. But clearly in this passage we see that Luke makes the point that with Jesus there is more than just a following of the old order of law. Candlemas is a time when we remember the old recognised Jesus, who brings in the new. Luke shows that the story of Jesus was confirmed by two prophets, Simeon and Anna, who spoke of Jesus under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We have this marvellous story of Simeon to whom it had been revealed "that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord.’ Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and spoke the beautiful words which we know as the The Nunc Dimittis Luke 2:29. For me it has to be in the King James Version 

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.

Simeon says that God is setting him free as a slave is granted liberty. He is now free to die (for the Spirit's revelation to him is now fulfilled), and Israel is free of bondage. God has saved Israel, as he promised to "all peoples". God's salvation is for Gentiles as well as Israel. The old could pass away because the new had come and the future for us all would be safe in his hands. 

But, Simeon finishes with some disturbing words. This marvellous salvation through Jesus had a dark side. Not everyone will take kindly to Jesus, there will be a falling as well as a arising of many in Israel. Jesus will be a sign that will be spoken against, he will cause a crisis in Israel. Decisions will have to be made for him or against him. The sword of Jesus will divide, discriminate, and judge the thoughts, attitudes, and relationships of all people. Mary the mother of Jesus will go through the same crisis, everyone must decide what to do with Jesus. Simeon recognised something special in Jesus and he knew that he had indeed seen the Lord's Christ, and that young or old he could depart in peace, for the eyes of faith had seen God's salvation: perhaps not the salvation he was expecting, the vindication of a particular people: but something bigger and better, the salvation which God had prepared before the face of all people.

Commentary

I am sure that on several occasions over the past few months I have turned on the radio and heard them tell me 'today is the most depressing day of the year.' Are they just making this stuff up or are we getting worse and worse days? I would guess that it is not the most depressing day of the year, - it just feels like the most depressing day of the year.'

Well the good news is that winter is half way over! We are at candlemas, halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Groundhog day as they say. If it is sunny tomorrow we are all doomed– in for more bad weather, if it overcast then by some perverse twist of fate we we are out of the proverbial weather woods. 

Spiritually there is also good news as we come to candlemas. We have this beautiful story of the Aged Simeon and the aged Anna in the temple.

The background to the passage from Luke today is seen in the Book of Leviticus Chapter 12:1. This taught that

On the eight day after the birth of a boy, he was to be circumcised 

Then the woman was to wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. Here is the reading from Leviticus 12:1 if you find it helpful

The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period. On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding. 

"'When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. He shall offer them before the LORD to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood. 

"'These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.'"

It is worth noting that Mary and Joseph offer the poor sacrifice. This was a credit crunch time for Mary and Joseph too. Jesus does not grow up in a rich family. It is official they were poor. Their sacrifice was all they could afford. The Reverend Peter Owen Jones did a great series on the television called 'Around the World in 80 faiths?' Peter is one of those people who can join in with other faiths as he goes around. I am afraid I would just not be able to be quite so involved in the way that he does, he is really giving of himself and shares with the people in an honest and open way. But one of the things which Peter find difficult is the whole sacrifice thing. It becomes apparent just how intrinsic sacrifice is to so many religions still today. So many people believe that the way to God's heart is to kill things. 

Now of course this was once the way that things were in our faith. We need to be reminded that Mary and Joseph thought God wanted two little birds to be killed as an offering to God and to make atonement for sin so that God’s appetite for vengeance was satisfied. 

The really good news is that the passage from Hebrews today tells us that it is all over. The life of Jesus is God's way of telling us that he does not want the death of anything or anybody. The only death which matters to us now is the death of Jesus, and that was God's way of showing us his love and reassuring us that there is nothing which we can do which will make him love us less. 

At Wednesday Holy Communion this week we were looking at the passage from Hebrews where we are told that Jesus sat down. His work was finished. Jesus work was done, once and for all. That phrase Once and for All, really does some up the sacrifice of Jesus, his death was a one time event and it was for all people. 

But I want us to think today about Simeon and Anna. These were really old people. These were people who had rheumatism and arthritis and all the aches and pains that we have, without the medication. These were old people who knew how difficult it was being old. Poor old Anna was also a widow and had been for a long time. So they have much to teach us about being old. 

Now I receive contacts from lots of people of people complaining. There is a common theme to many of the complaints which I hear. People who are older tell me that things today are just not what they used to be. Once upon a time things were so much better. Now I myself have some sympathy for this line of thought because I can remember a time when my savings, my pension and my endowment mortgage were worth something. But as I listen I realise that for these people there is not just a looking back to specific times of well being. There is a general despair which has so drawn them into a harking back to some past bygone age when the roads were paved with gold, they have been so dragged backwards that they no longer have hope for the future. They have nothing to look forward to because everything back there was brilliant and everything going forward is rubbish. 

Well there are lessons to be learned today for all of us and especially to anybody who is all fed up and miserable about the future. Do not allow these people to imprison you in their dungeons of despair.

Remember first of all that when this episode took place, the Romans were occupying the land as a military force. We know from the stories of Jesus that taxation was an issue, they tried to trap Jesus with the question about paying taxes to Caesar. And we know from the life of Jesus also that if you stepped out of line you could end up being punished on a cross. It was when times were like this, so much worse than anything which we experience today, that Jesus was brought by Mary and Joseph, forty days after he had been born to the temple. 

Simeon and Anna, these old people greeted him. Now you would be forgiven for thinking that Mary and Joseph would find themselves hearing old Simeon and Anna moaning about how bad everything was. They could have harked back to the good old days. But they didn't. 

They were both old but they didn't live in the past. 

They both had lots to complain about but they were positive about the future. 

Neither of them were moaners.

We are told that the Holy Spirit rested on Simeon. The Holy Spirit leads us into the future with hope, because the future is God's. 

The challenge for each of us is to put our trust in God in the same complete way that Simeon and Anna did 

We must like Simeon have the faith to recognise God at work in his world. have the faith to trust that God has a plan for his world 

We must like Anna be able to look to the dawning of a new age. 

We do not know what lies around the corner. However we do know that God has not abandoned us in the dark 

The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear. 

Commentary 

In the shops the Christmas bits have been put in the box and we have moved on to Valentines Day and Easter already. However as faithful Christians taking note of our lectionary we come this week to Candlemas, a feast sadly not celebrated by many churches these days. I say sadly because it is presents to us so many helpful themes. 

The Feast of Candlemas is always February 2, 40 days from Christmas. but we celebrate it on the Sunday closest. It is on that date because in accordance with Leviticus 12:1 seven days after Christmas, January 1, we have the feast of our Lord's circumcision, then thirty three days after that, February 2 is the feast of his being offered in the Temple and the Purification of Mary after the birth. (See note at bottom of page)

I know this last week we had what is described as most depressing day of the year. Apparently the 27th is the time when bills arrive after Christmas, we haven’t yet been paid and the Inland revenue are causing people bother, apparently it all converges on this date. Well thank God for Candlemas then. It lies half way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, so it marks the day upon which winter is half over and we are moving towards brighter and better days. For that reason it has many pagan and rural associations, with practices such as groundhog day and predicting the weather. 

At this time we remember Simeon and Anna greeting the baby Jesus as he is presented in the Temple. 

And we have these marvellous words of Simeon 

"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou has prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel." Luke 2:25-32.

In these words, Simeon sort of wraps up the Old Testament. The promised salvation has arrived, the Messiah is here. We can now start looking to the new age. Now for the Jews this is not true, the Jews are still looking for someone else, whilst we as Christians assert that the "Coming One" has come. As Christians we say with Simeon: "Our eyes have seen His salvation." 

So Candlemas is a time of rejoicing that God has kept his promise and given his Messiah for the sake of the world. When we realise this we can understand how the group of Jews who believed in Jesus would have to move out away from the synagogue. The early believers were Jewish people, who had seen the fulfilment of the prophecies in Jesus and so now they were living in a new age inaugurated by the Messiah. Jews who did not acknowledge who Jesus was were left waiting for somebody who had been and gone. 

But there is another side to Candlemas and these words of Simeon to Jesus and Mary. In our reading Simeon goes on to speak some chilling words of prophecy

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too." Luke 2:34-35

Candlemas has been described as one foot in Christmas and one foot in Easter, it is a watershed when we look back at the birth of Jesus and we look forward to the cross of Easter. Candlemas reminds us that Christmas is not an event for one day, but an invitation to a new life.

What does it mean for us ?

Candlemas reminds us that whilst the baby Jesus might appear vulnerable and cuddly, yet there he brings a tough challenge for us which will lead him to the cross of Easter. 

Jesus preached a powerful and challenging message which we are called to follow in a life changing way today. We are called to be a holy people. That means taking seriously God’s call to what holiness means. Obviously this has implication in terms of personal piety and seeking to create lives suitable to be called Christian. Our reading today from Malachi calls upon those who worship God to put aside such things as adultery. More importantly there are imperatives placed upon us a Christian church concerning bigger issues. 

It is to our eternal shame that the Christian church has been involved in the oppression of people of other different faith positions, different faiths, different colour skin, different sexuality indeed just about any kind of difference has been picked upon and minority groups have been bullied. So we who wish to stand alongside Christ must share his path to the cross and be prepared to stand with him alongside those who are not welcomed by others. Jesus was seen to be prepared to be judged by the religious establishment by friendship with supposed sinners. 

So today for example our search for holiness must lead us to 

• concern for the oppressed and the poor
• refusing to be a part of systems which oppress minorities
• working for change in our world 

This might mean that we have to become involved in things which people say do not concern us. There are many Christians who are dualists, they believe that religion should be concerned with saying our prayers, asking God to stop injustice might be OK but getting involved, being God’s agents in our world is opposed. We are sometimes warned that religion and politics should not mix, what a good job great Christians reformers never took that seriously.

Recognising God’s salvation in Jesus means that we have to live different kinds of lives. We are a part of that salvation of which Simeon spoke. We are called to share in that great work. 

So we celebrate the light of Christ this Candlemas and we take the risk to stand out as lights in the darkness. We do this knowing the danger, that which took Jesus to the cross. This Candlemas, let us each ask God to challenge the meditations of our hearts and the actions of our lives. Charles Royden 

Churching of Women 

In Jewish tradition women were considered unclean after the birth of a child and were not permitted to enter the Temple to worship. This was 40 days after the birth of a son and 60 days after the birth of a daughter. At the end of the 40 or 60 days, the mother was brought to the Temple or synagogue and ritually purified. Now she can go to religious services again, and generally go out in public. So we celebrate the ritual Purification of the Virgin Mary, the specified forty days after she gave birth to Jesus. In more recent times people will remember the churching of women after the birth of a child. Women were frequently not allowed into other people's home and were treated as 'unclean' until churching had taken place.

Commentary

Luke is clear in telling us that Mary and Joseph conformed to the Torah and he mentions ‘their purification.’ The Torah declared that Mary, like all women was ritually impure following the birth of her child, Joseph was not unclean and neither was Jesus. According to Leviticus 12:2-6 the purification of a new mother takes place forty days after the birth of a son, it takes longer if you are unfortunate enough to have a girl. From time to time we hear Leviticus quoted to justify all manner of things from prohibition of opening shops on Sunday to prejudice against people of different sexual orientations. Leviticus is full of teaching which tells us that God considers some people temporarily or permanently horrible for different reasons. Here is the great irony of the Law of Leviticus, the birth of this holy Child is said to have made his virgin mother become ritually unclean under the Law. Thankfully, whilst Jesus is brought up a Jew, he is the Messiah and he brings in a new age. This is where Christianity and Judaism are different. The Jews still live under what the Apostle Paul called the curse of the law, (Gal 3:10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse) but for Christians a new age has come. Christianity sees itself as the fulfillment of all that had been promised in the old law.

Luke is careful to point out that Jesus had his roots in the Old Testament, but clearly in this passage we see that Jesus is not going to let things go unchallenged, Simeon speaks words of prediction about Jesus which startle his parents. Their son, it turns out, will not just observe the law; he will be its fulfillment. This does not mean that the Law continues, it means Jesus brings it to is conclusion, it is needed no more. That is why in passages such as Mark 7:1-23 we see Jesus attack the Levitical food and dietary laws and washing rituals. This is why Jesus must die.

We read that Mary and Joseph sacrifice two pigeons or turtle doves, the offerings made by the poor. To be clear small animals were killed because the Old Testament Law informed people that God demanded one bird for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. As faithful Jews Mary and Joseph did their religious duty and observed the Law of Moses when it came to such things as childbirth, circumcision, and other rituals. However as Christians we should question what it is inside human nature which makes us think that God finds his human children, which he has lovingly created, so abhorrent that he would take comfort from the killing of two little birds? Years of Christian teaching have drawn upon passages from Leviticus which tell us that almost everything a woman experiences in the natural process simply of being a woman renders her unclean. 

Perhaps Simeon saw in Jesus the Messiah who would put an end to all of this and in so doing recognised that Jesus would be for all people not just those who lived under the Mosaic law. Simeon is clear that salvation has come to Jew, Samaritan and gentiles, freedom from a law and religion which had tied people who worshipped God under its curse. Of course this meant that Jesus was a threat of the worst kind to the established religion of Israel. Simeon offers a specific warning to Mary that this child will not be welcomed by everybody. Jesus will be a sign that will be spoken against, he will cause a crisis in Israel. Decisions will have to be made for him or against him. The sword of Jesus will divide, discriminate, and judge the thoughts, attitudes, and relationships of all people. Mary the mother of Jesus will go through the same crisis, everyone must decide what to do with Jesus.

At Candlemas the Church sees the encounter between the world without Christ and the world with a new beginning in Christ, between the fading age of the Old Covenant embodied in the curse of Leviticus and the new era of the Church of all nations.   

The pagan roots of Candlemas

As well as being mentioned clearly in Leviticus and Luke, this date also lies half way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, so it marks the day upon which winter is half over! Like many Christians festivals, including Christmas itself, Candlemas has roots which lie deep in pagan roots and an understanding of nature. 

Imbolc was an important day in the Celtic calendar. (pronounced 'im'olk' also known as Oimelc) comes from an Irish word that was originally thought to mean 'in the belly' although many people translate it as 'ewe's milk' (oi-melc). As winter stores of food were getting low Imbolc rituals were performed to harness divine energy that would ensure a steady supply of food until the harvest six months later.

Like many Celtic festivals, the Imbolc celebrations centred around the lighting of fires. Fire was perhaps more important for this festival than others as it was also the holy day of Brigid (also known as Bride, Brigit, Brid), the Goddess of fire, healing and fertility. The lighting of fires celebrated the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months. For the Christian calendar, this holiday was reformed and renamed 'Candlemas' when candles are lit to remember the purification of the Virgin Mary. 

As Candlemas traditions evolved, many people embraced the legend that if the sun shone on the second day of February, an animal would see its shadow and there would be at least six more weeks of winter. Bears or badgers are watched in some European countries, but the German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania found an abundance of groundhogs and late in the 19th century a few residents in Punxsutawney began celebrating the groundhog as a weather prophet. So we have Groundhog Day.

If Candlemas be fair and bright, Come, winter, have another flight.

If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Go, winter, and come not again.