After Jesus was born, how many people do you think walked right by Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, totally oblivious to the fact that this baby was in fact the Christ, the hope of Israel? Do you think you would have known? Be honest.
In Luke 2, Mary and Joseph bring a month and half old baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem (40 days, according to Torah custom). This is normal for newborn boys in Israel. Even though Mary and Joseph have by this point been through a dramatic ordeal concerning Jesus’ birth, to the rest of the world, this is just another newborn boy brought to the Temple for the 40th day rites. And yet, Luke tells us that in the Temple there is an old man named Simeon, and a prophet named Anna, who both look at Jesus and see him for what he really is. They use language like salvation, light, revelation, glory, redemption. It’s not like they’re stating the obvious. After all, Luke even tells us that “the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.”
Faith is vision. To be the people of God is to accept the difficult task of seeing God through all the fog and distraction. Our world offers plenty of things to be distracted by. Things to worry about. Things to be angry about. Things to argue about. And so Simeon and Anna encourage us: don’t take your eyes off of what’s really going on. Because we believe in salvation, light, revelation, glory, and redemption, we are afforded a faith that need not be burdened by worry, anger, and arguments. When the world offers panic, we respond with hope. When the world offers conflict, we respond with gentleness and love. Simply put, we see what so many are unable to see – a Lord who is our salvation and light, and a kingdom unscathed by all that would avert our eyes from him.
Simeon and Anna also remind us where to look for God’s salvation, light, revelation, glory, and redemption. In Luke’s story, God doesn’t tell Simeon to go climb a mountain or attend church service a certain number of times in order to achieve some kind of epiphany. Rather, it seems that God simply tells Simeon to sit tight, because the Messiah is coming to him. He and Anna don’t find Jesus. Jesus finds them. They’re patiently waiting in Jerusalem when God, in his faithfulness, brings the child Messiah right into their midst, and into their arms.
God may not be asking us to jump through some hoop in order to encounter him. Of course, God may have a journey for us, but not for sake of “finding” him. The Christmas story is the good news that God is to be found right here, right now. If and when God does invite us on a journey, he goes alongside us, not waiting at the end like a divine scavenger hunt. If we can challenge ourselves to have the awareness, we’ll realize that, whatever we’re doing, wherever we are, whoever we’re with, God is right here, right now, just waiting for us to wake up to his wonderful salvation, light, revelation, glory, and redemption.
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