The Presentation of the Lord (Lk 2:21-40)

Luke 2:21-40 brings together three distinct liturgical acts: the circumcision, the redemption of the firstborn, and the purification of the mother. Tradition tends to gather these under the single name of “Presentation.” Modern exegesis distinguishes them precisely: the circumcision on the eighth day (Lk 2:21), the purification of the woman after the forty days of Lev 12, and the redemption of the firstborn prescribed in Ex 13. The offering of the two young pigeons reveals, moreover, the legally poor condition of the family of Nazareth. It is within this legal and liturgical framework that Simeon utters the Nunc Dimittis and announces the sword that will pierce Mary’s soul (Lk 2:35), the first biblical announcement of the Passion and the patristic foundation of the devotion to the Seven Sorrows.

Luke’s account (Lk 2:21-40): Mary, Joseph, and the three juridical rites of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple

The circumcision of Jesus (Lk 2:21): the eighth day and the giving of the name indicated by the angel

In accordance with Jewish law, the precept of circumcision was fulfilled eight days after the birth, and on this occasion the child was given the name Jesus, already indicated by the angel Gabriel.

The redemption of the firstborn (Ex 13, Lk 2:23): the five shekels of silver and the Mosaic law

This was a regulation that applied to male firstborns among the Jews. Every firstborn son had to be consecrated to the Lord, in memory of the fact that God had struck down the firstborn of the Egyptians. In reality, only the Levites remained in the service of the Lord, while the firstborn of the other tribes were redeemed from one month of age by the payment of five shekels.

The ritual purification (Lev 12): the forty days and the offering of the two young pigeons

This concerned the woman exclusively. On giving birth to a boy, she contracted a legal impurity that lasted forty days, after which she was to present herself to the priest at the sanctuary to be declared clean through a rite of purification. On this occasion, the new mother offered a year-old lamb as a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering. Poor women could replace the lamb with a pair of turtledoves or pigeons.

Inaccuracies and narrative tension in Lk 2:22-24: the confusion between the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of the Lord in modern exegesis

In verse 22 of Luke, a few inaccuracies can be observed:

• it says: “when the time came for THEIR PURIFICATION,” which suggests that both parents were to undergo the rite, whereas in reality only the mother was required to do so.
• the offering of the pair of pigeons seems more closely related to the ceremony of redemption than to that of purification.
• no mention is made of the payment of the five shekels.

These inaccuracies suggest a superficial knowledge of Judaism and an ignorance of its details, which could hardly be attributed to an author raised in a Jewish environment in Palestine.
There may be various explanations. In Old Testament times, the norms may have been applied in practice according to ways of the living tradition unknown to us, in which, for practical convenience, the two ceremonies of redemption and purification could have been combined in popular practice.

According to some authors, Luke drew on the story of Samuel for his account, which yields the following parallels:

1. Elkanah and Hannah go to the sanctuary of Shiloh to dedicate the child to the service of the Lord, after having miraculously obtained his birth. Joseph and Mary go up to the Temple to present the child, miraculously conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit.
2. Eli blessed Samuel’s parents every year when they went up to the temple. Simeon blesses the father and mother of Jesus.
3. At Shiloh, some women served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. In Jerusalem, Anna never left the Temple.
4. Samuel grew in stature and in goodness before the Lord and before men. Jesus grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
5. One difference: while Samuel remains in the temple, Jesus returns home with His parents.

The word their refers to the whole people of Israel, whose purification, its liberation, is also celebrated by Anna and by the priest Zechariah. The sound reasons that lead us to this interpretation are:

1. the similarity and correlation that exist between the beginning of the pericope (v. 22) and its end (v. 38), where “their purification” seems to refer to Jerusalem, which is the symbol of the whole people of Israel.
2. at other times the Gospels use “their” to refer to the Jews, as for example: “in their synagogues.” (Mt 1:39; 4:23; 9:35; 10:27; 13:54)
3. Malachi, in one of his prophetic texts, speaks of purification in a similar way, referring to the sons of Levi (Mal 3:3).

If, therefore, the evangelist’s dominant interest is not the purification of Mary but that of the People, the inaccuracies lose the importance that might be attributed to them. Through his account, the evangelist wishes to show that by His journey to Jerusalem and His entry into the Temple, the symbol and ideal compendium of all Israel, and by His consecration to the Father, Jesus accomplishes the spiritual purification of the Jews foretold by the prophets.

The feast of the Presentation (February 2): from the Eastern hypapante to the Western Candlemas and the Roman calendar

The change of the feast’s original name from “Purification of Mary” to “Presentation of the Lord” is determined by the Gospel passage of Lk 2:22-40, where the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is recalled first and foremost, and the Purification of Mary only marginally.

The ritual purification of the woman after childbirth according to Lev 12: the forty days and the offering of the two young pigeons

Every woman who had given birth needed to be purified because, according to the mentality of the time, blood was the seat of life and belonged to God alone, the source of all life. Any loss of blood, including that of childbirth, made the woman impure, since she was then not in perfect communion with God. To restore this communion with God, the source of vital energy, the rite of purification was practiced. The woman remained impure for forty days after the birth of a male child and for eighty after that of a daughter. During this period, she could not touch anything sacred or enter places of worship.

The redemption of the firstborn according to Ex 13:2, 12-13 and Num 18:15-16: the five shekels of silver and the Mosaic law of the firstborn

The concept of the redemption of male firstborns has its roots in traditions and laws found in the Old Testament of the Bible. This custom is mainly associated with the nation of Israel and reflects the importance of the firstborn in Jewish culture and religion. It is an act that symbolizes the consecration and the recognition of the special role of the firstborn in the Jewish tradition. As biblical examples, we suggest reading Ex 13:1-2, 11-15; Num 3:40-51; 18:15-16.

The obedience of Mary and Joseph to the law of Moses: Lk 2:39 and fidelity to the Jewish halakha

In his account, Luke emphasizes the obedience of Mary and Joseph to the law and highlights the presentation of the Child. Twice he states that the Child was brought to Jerusalem to be offered to the Lord. The prophetic words of Simeon and Anna are addressed chiefly to the child, the Messiah of the Lord. The focus is not so much on the presentation as on the consecration of Jesus.

More than a firstborn to be redeemed, Jesus appears as an offering to be presented to the Father. This sacrificial reading is reinforced by several details:

1. No document records that the redemption of the firstborn had to take place in the Temple; rather, the parents could present themselves to any priest.
2. The reason Mary and Joseph brought the child to Jerusalem was “to offer him to the Lord,” an expression that echoes many Old Testament passages used to describe the offering of victims in sacrifices (Lev 16:7, 10) or persons dedicated to the service of the Lord, such as the Levites (Num 8:13; Deut 10:8). Paul will use similar terms to exhort Christians to offer their own bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, as spiritual worship (Rom 12:1).
3. Why does Luke make no mention at all of the price paid for the redemption? Because Jesus, although not of the tribe of Levi, did not pay the ransom for His release, but would remain forever consecrated to God, to whom He would offer His life in perpetual sacrifice.

Already on this visit to the Temple, Mary, who keeps all things and ponders them in her heart, begins to understand that her son does not belong to her but is given to God forever. Mary’s action has the value of a consecration of the Son, with which she associates herself, almost forming a single reality with Him. In this sense, one can speak of a purification-consecration that involved mother and son, and this is perhaps yet another reason why Luke speaks of “their” purification.

Simeon (Lk 2:25-32): the righteous man who awaited the consolation of Israel, and the Nunc Dimittis as a Christological prophecy

Luke describes Simeon with three qualifiers that place him in the finest tradition of the righteous men of the Old Testament: he is righteous, devout, and awaiting the consolation of Israel (Lk 2:25). The Holy Spirit rested upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die before seeing the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he goes up to the Temple on the day that Mary and Joseph enter with the Child. He takes Jesus in his arms and utters one of the most beautiful hymns of the New Testament, the Nunc Dimittis: “Now, Lord, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation” (Lk 2:29-30). In this brief hymn, Simeon sums up the entire messianic hope of Israel: salvation is an event already fulfilled, visible, concrete, incarnate in the Child he holds in his arms.

Simeon’s sword (Lk 2:35): the four patristic interpretations of its Mariological symbolism

After blessing the parents, Simeon addresses Mary specifically and utters the central prophecy of the entire pericope: “Behold, this child is destined to be the fall or the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign of contradiction. As for you, a sword will pierce your own soul” (Lk 2:34-35). The image of the sword is deliberately ambiguous, and its interpretation occupied patristic and medieval exegesis for centuries.

The most widespread interpretation in the tradition is that of Mary’s sorrow at the foot of the Cross: the sword is a mother’s suffering before the Passion and death of her Son. Origen, however, proposed a different reading: the sword would be the doubt or disturbance of Mary’s faith at the moment of the Passion, when the scandal of the Cross could shake even the Mother. Both readings, though distinct, converge on one point: Mary’s life will not be a path of tranquil glory, but one of participation in the redemptive destiny of her Son. Simeon’s prophecy is, in this sense, the announcement of the whole devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

The expression “sign of contradiction” refers to Jesus but also sheds light on Mary: she who bore Him and accompanied Him will inevitably be a sign of the same contradiction. To be the Mother of the Messiah is not a privilege lived on the margins of history, but a vocation that passes through the very flesh of history.

Anna the prophetess (Lk 2:36-38): the tribe of Asher, the eighty-four years of fasting, and the recognition of the Messiah

Luke adds a second prophetic figure: Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She had been widowed after seven years of marriage and, from then on, had not left the Temple: she served God night and day with fasting and prayer. She was eighty-four years old. Coming up at that very moment, she gives thanks to God and speaks of the Child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem (Lk 2:38). Anna is the first evangelizer of the Temple: she proclaims salvation not to one man alone, like Simeon, but to a community, to those in the holy city who were awaiting the fulfillment of the promises. Her presence in Luke’s account underlines that the recognition of the Messiah takes place in prayer, in silence, and in perseverance.

See also: The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2:22), a liturgical and Mariological analysis of the feast of Candlemas.

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