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Morning Devotion for the Season of Epiphany

February 2, 2024

Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple

The Invitatory

I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading: Luke 2:22-32

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant 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 for revelation to the Gentiles

  and for glory to your people Israel.’

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

Simeon’s journey to meet the one for whom Israel had been waiting is neither simple nor superficial. We know little of him in terms of a physical description. We know a great deal more about this man’s character. He is righteous and devout. His has been a life of rapt attention in worship and listening to Scripture. He expects Israel’s redemption, though he does not know how that will come about. Simeon’s devotion has led him to witness a disclosure of a new and different world. He will see the Lord’s Messiah, the one for whom he and Israel have longed.

I always thrill at the words Simeon speaks when he takes the infant Jesus in his arms and says, ”‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant* 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 for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’”

His years of attention and worship have greatly prepared him for this moment, this encounter with the one promised to redeem Israel. He has lived his entire life in a state of expectation. He has carefully studied with his teachers, observed their conduct closely and committed himself to live in the same manner as his teachers. It is no surprise, therefore, that Simeon’s response is enthusiastic, clear and reverent, even worshipful. What is extraordinary is that despite his advanced years, his attentiveness and his senses have not been diminished in the least; if anything they have only been deepened and grown more acute. I imagine that because of his close attentiveness to Scripture and worship their cumulative effect upon him has heightened his awareness of the Holy and kindled and sustained his expectation. Indeed, it is an expectation that he has sustained without the slightest assurance that it would be realized. Yet it has. The word has come alive in this baby. Such a seeming reversal in roles, at least those roles that are defined solely by age. But Simeon recognizes that it is he who must submit for authority here does not rest on age at all. Simeon does not hesitate to acknowledge this revelation to him. Both his joy and reverence seem to lift themselves out of the very words that he speaks. He has come to the place and time where he has undergone a seminal change in his life. From this moment forward the way in his he sees and experiences the whole world necessarily changes.

Simeon serves as an example par excellence for the life and undertaking of a disciple. He is an example of a lifetime of preparation, study, listening, worship, keen attention and patience. For his lifetime practice of all of these have yielded to him the greatest of joys and rewards.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy Name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,

for ever and ever. Amen.