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WHO’S TOUCHING THE BABY?
Leviticus 12:1-8
Luke 2:21-35
January 3, 2010
As brand new grandparents, Jackie and I have become very aware of how much people love babies. And, we’ve become aware that complete strangers feel entitled to touch your baby. People we have never met will reach into Avery’s carrier and touch her on the cheek and speak to her. They are not being malicious; it’s just that babies are so soft, and they’re fun to touch. Because our son and his wife are both nurses they are acutely aware of how easily disease and infection can be transferred from one person to another through touch; the recent H1N1 Swine Flu is an example. So, they have asked us to be careful when we have Avery in our care about letting people touch her. Which makes bringing her to church interesting, because we’re not strangers we’re family. It’s got to be OK for family to touch the baby, right? Keith and Ann were just a little tense the first time we brought the baby to church.
Today’s pericope is the first time Joseph and Mary bring baby Jesus to church, and they have no idea how things will change when Simeon touches the baby. Jesus is forty days old, and this is the first time since his birth that Mary has been allowed to come to the Temple. They are coming for two reasons: 1)so that Mary can be declared clean again by the priests, and 2) so that Jesus can be consecrated to God. Mary’s purification requires a burnt offering and a sin offering. The Law specifies a lamb and a dove, unless you are poor; then you can bring two doves instead. (Which is what Joseph and Mary bring.) This tells us that Jesus grew up in a poor family. But, don’t confuse poor with abject poverty. They weren’t starving. As a carpenter Joseph was a day laborer. Each day he worked he was paid enough for him and his family to get by for one more day. He wasn’t putting anything away for retirement, but he could provide his family with food and shelter. Jesus will grow up in an environment that values the working man.
Mary is there to be declared clean, Jesus is there to be consecrated to God. Every first born male, whether human or animal, is to be given to God (Exodus 13:2,12,15; Numbers 8:14-15). You had a choice, you could leave your son there at the Temple with the priests, or you could redeem him; you could purchase him back (which is obviously what everyone did). The price to buy your first born son back from God was a shekel, worth one day’s wage. We’ve talked before about the Roman denarius which was also worth one day’s pay. The Jews wouldn’t allow the Roman coins in the temple, so you had to trade a denarius and a half for one shekel (that’s a fifty percent interest rate), and then you could buy back your son.
By the time Jesus is born most families are refusing to consecrate their firstborn sons to God. They see this as nothing more than a money scam being run by the church. And, their proof of this accusation is that you don’t even have to bring your son to the Temple to perform the consecration. The priests have completely stopped doing the actual consecration ceremony. Instead they take the boy from you, take the money from you, give you back the boy, and move on to the next customer. If you show up without the boy and just hand them the money the priests are just as happy. Can you imagine baptizing a baby, without the baby there? Yet, Jesus’ family comes to the Temple to consecrate him anyway. The first thing we know about Jesus’ family is that they are poor. The second thing we know about Jesus’ family is that they respect God, and they honor God’s Law, even if they don’t respect the priests.
The third thing we know about Jesus’ family is that Joseph has taken this adoption very seriously, and he intends to be an involved father. The cleansing of the birth mother and the consecration of the son were women’s work. Men didn’t get involved with this; in fact they didn’t want any part of this. The modern equivalent would be for Joseph to say, “What are we shopping for? Nursing bras? That’s really between you and the boy. I’ll be down in electronics with the other guys.” Typically Joseph would have hung out in the men’s court of the Temple and waited for Mary and Jesus to get done with the priest stuff. Jesus is from a poor family. But, he is from a family that loves and respects God; and loves and respects each other.
When they arrive at the Temple they are immediately approached by Simeon who takes the baby Jesus into his arms. Now, this is important; Simeon is not a priest. Simeon is a just a regular guy. Now, I don’t know about you, but I would be a little concerned about who’s touching the baby? The Bible tells us that Simeon is righteous and devout, which puts him in good company. Other men who are described this way are Job (Job 1:1), Zechariah – John the Baptist’s father (Luke 1:6), and a Centurion named Cornelius (Acts 10:22). Simeon is a good guy; but Joseph and Mary don’t know that. As far as they know he’s just this old Grandpa looking guy who comes out of the crowd and takes their baby.
What’s more; he grabs Jesus into his arms, begins doing a happy dance, and starts singing, “Now I can die, now I can die, now I can die.” If we spoke Hebrew we would recognize that the Canticle of Simeon is a rhyming song, about being allowed to pass on to the next stage. The Bible says that Joseph and Mary are amazed. For the longest time I thought their amazement referred to Simeon declaring that Jesus was the Messiah. And, I always wondered how can they be amazed by that? They were both visited by angels; Mary became pregnant through a miracle. On the night of the birth angels sent shepherds to them to praise Jesus as the Holy Son of God. Why should they be amazed that Simeon says Jesus is the Messiah? More recently I’ve begun to think that freaked out, or creeped out, is a better translation than amazed. A strange old man darts out of the crowd and grabs your baby before you can give him to the priest. He holds the child high and begins dancing and singing about dieing. I would definitely be freaked out.
Of course, it turns out that there’s a misconception here. We are spring loaded to assume Simeon is ready to die because he has seen the Messiah. We believe that because a preceding verse tells us he had been promised he would not die until the Messiah arrived. But, when we look at how he refers to himself in the Canticle his wording is actually closer to describing a sentinel being released from duty. Large cities would often post a sentinel, a watchman, several miles outside the city gates. His job was to look for attacking armies. When he saw an army coming he blew his horn and warned everyone in the city. After that, his job was pretty much over. One guy isn’t going to stop an invading army; so he wasn’t asked to run down and get involved in the fight. After he blew his horn he could skedaddle off to safety and wait to see what happens next.
It turns out Simeon describes himself as a sentinel, waiting to see the arrival of the kingdom of God. Spurred by the Holy Spirit he arrives at the Temple that day and recognizes in Jesus the coming of the new age – the invading army. He lifts the child high and shouts his proclamation, the equivalent of blowing the warning horn. “My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” He says, “You now dismiss your servant in peace.” He can climb down his watchtower, and move on. His job is through. There is another man mentioned in the Gospels as a watchman, a sentinel waiting on the Kingdom of God; it is Joseph of Arimathea who buries Jesus after his crucifixion (Mark 15:43). A watchman to tell us when he is born; and a watchman to tell us when he dies.
It’s not surprising that most of the crowd would have disregarded Simeon’s warning. He says that salvation is for everyone, including the Gentiles. Of course, he is saying this in the most Holy Jewish place – the Temple; a place where Gentiles are not allowed to be. The Romans are in control of the city of Jerusalem. First they build a gymnasium right next to the Temple; it’s a place where men exercise and wrestle in the nude. That was horribly offensive to the Temple authorities. Next the Romans built the Antonia Fortress, an army barracks, up against a wall to the Temple. And, they built it high enough that they could look over the Temple wall and see what was going on in there. That also offended the priests.
And so, a small half wall had been built around the Temple. Every so often there were brass plaques on the wall that said, “No foreigner is to enter within the balustrade and embankment around the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his subsequent death.” The Holy Temple was a place free from the filthiness of the Gentiles. No one would want to hear a message about their redemption. Simeon’s message begins dividing people. That really wasn’t a surprise to him.
Simeon turns to Mary and says, “"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.” There are two groups of thought here. The first is that Simeon is talking about one group of people who will fall and rise. If that’s the case he is saying that first a person must be humbled into repentance before he can be saved. However, most academics believe Simeon is talking about two groups of people; one group falls and the other group rises. If that’s the case he is saying that some people won’t get it. They will hear the story of Jesus and laugh at how silly it is. But, there are others who will hear the story and give Jesus complete lordship of their lives. Jesus is only forty days old, and already he is forcing people to choose.
This is Epiphany Sunday. Some people have the epiphany – they get the revelation and they understand that Jesus is Lord. Some people will never have the epiphany, they will never get it. The Apostles saw this with their own eyes. In the book of Acts we read, “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed” (17:32-34). Some people get it, some people don’t. Regardless, when it comes to Jesus everyone has to make a decision.
Either you buy completely into Jesus; lock, stock and barrel. Or, you don’t. There is no middle ground; there is no sitting on the fence, there is no waiting to see what happens and then deciding. We don’t get to die, stand in judgment before Christ, and then decide that maybe atheism wasn’t our best choice, now we want to be Christians (Romans 14:10). In this life everyone must choose. No one else can make that decision for you; your mother’s piety will not save you. There will not be any bonus points for going to church every week even though you didn’t believe. Jesus said he would split families in half based on whether they believe or not (Luke 12:51-53).
I believe that from the moment of our birth our soul exists eternally. I believe that ten thousand years from now we will either be in the presence of God Almighty, or consigned to the blackness of hell. I want us all to be together in the presence of God. I pray that on this Epiphany Sunday you have a personal epiphany. I pray that you become the watchman who recognizes what no one else can see. I pray that you reach out with both hands, and grab the baby.
Kenneth L. Barker & John R. Kohlenberger III. Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary, Volume 2: New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 219.
Merrill C. Tenney, general editor, The New International Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987), 668.
Frederick M. Strickert, “The Presentation of Jesus: The Gospel of Inclusion: Luke 2:22-40”, Currents in Theology and Mission 22:1 (February 1995), 33-37.