The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of Jesus

The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus – February 2, 2025

Psalm 48; Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18

St. Luke 2:22-32

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Forty days after the birth of our Lord, Mary and Joseph bring Him to the Temple to be redeemed. At the same time, Mary presents a sacrifice for her purification. Both are according to the Laws of the Old Testament wherein the firstborn male of both humans and animals were to be given to the Lord and women who have given birth must be purified from the uncleanness inherent in giving birth.

In the case of some beasts, the firstborn could be redeemed with the sacrifice of a lamb in its place. In the case of the firstborn child, God commanded they always be redeemed. The redemption price of a son or daughter was a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering and either a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering.^[1] If a lamb was too expensive, two pigeons or two turtledoves would suffice.

To be redeemed means to be substituted. It means giving one thing in place of another so that you might receive back the first possession. Redemption is not quite the same as making a purchase. Giving the checker money in exchange for groceries isn’t the same as redemption because the groceries did not belong to you in the first place. Rather, if you’ve ever been to a wedding reception or banquet with a coat check, you have experienced redemption. You gave the clerk your coat in exchange for a ticket. At the end of the night, you redeemed your coat by giving the clerk your ticket. The coat is your property, and you willfully gave it to the clerk. You then “bought back” your coat at the price of the ticket. This is redemption.

The redemption of the firstborn is connected with the forgiveness of sins. God instituted the redemption of the firstborn in relation to the final plague of Egypt, wherein the firstborn sons of Egypt were killed by the Angel of the Lord but those of Israel were spared by the blood of a lamb placed on the doorposts. The boys of Israel were redeemed from the plague by the blood of a lamb. Their sins were passed over by the Angel, forgiven in the shedding of the blood of a lamb.

The purification of Mary is an acknowledgment of sin. Giving birth is a bloody business and coming into contact with blood makes one unclean in the Levitical law. This is because there is life in blood and if you are in contact with blood, it means that life has been poured out. Life being poured out is a sign of death and death is the wage of sin. Being truly a man, even the birth of our Lord was attended by the usual events of giving birth. Therefore, the Blessed Mother of Christ needed to be purified. She, too, required the forgiveness of sins.

If these rituals pertained to the forgiveness of sins, why did Christ, who is without sin, submit to them? Why did Christ need to be redeemed? There are at least two ways to answer this question. First, it is not Christ’s sins that need to be forgiven but ours. Much like His baptism in the Jordan River, Christ’s redemption at the Temple places Him into our redemption. Rather than forgiving His sins, it is placing our sins on Him. He is being “bought back” by the human race, that His holiness would be given to man and our sins would be given to Him.

Secondly, submitting to this ritual is part of Christ’s active obedience to the Law of God. When the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on our flesh, He humbled Himself to be like us in every way but without sin. That means that He also humbled Himself to be placed under the same Law of God that had been placed on all mankind. He did not need to be redeemed from His sins, He didn’t have any, but He humbly submitted Himself to the same rigors and rituals that all mankind was expected to observe.

The significant difference is that all mankind fails in some aspect of the Law. St. James tells us that to fail in one tiny aspect of the Law is to fail in the whole Law, “Whoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”[2] And even this tiniest of stumbles in the Law is worthy of eternal condemnation. And since the Law of God is eternal, it is necessary that the Law be kept perfectly. With man this is impossible. With God, nothing is impossible. Thus the necessity of the Law required that Christ not only submit Himself passively to death on the cross but that He actively keep the Law perfectly His entire life. Submitting to circumcision, the presentation, and the rest of the rituals commanded in the Law is Christ actively keeping the Law of God on our behalf.

When the rituals of the presentation and purification had been completed, an old priest approached the Holy Family and took the Christ child into his arms. Simeon did not need to be told who this child was. Like the magi, he immediately recognized his Lord. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had beheld the Christ, the Savior. Led by the same Spirit, he went up to the Temple and found the Lord’s Christ returning from fulfilling His obligation to the Law. Taking up the child in his arms, Simeon said,

“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 peoples.
A light to lighten the Gentiles,
And the glory of Thy people Israel.”[3]

Simeon’s prayer is a prayer for death. The Holy Spirit had promised that Simeon would not die until he had seen the Christ. Since he was now holding the Christ in his arms, Simeon told God that he was ready to die. There was nothing left in this world for him to do; nothing to experience, nothing to long for. He had all in all. He had the Lord’s Christ in his arms and there is nothing more needful.

We sing this song of Simeon every Sunday after receiving the Holy Communion and we ought to sing it with the same vigor and intention of Simeon. What you receive in your hand or on your tongue is the same Christ that Simeon held in his hands. It is the same body of Christ, the same God become man who would forgive all your sins. So too, we ought to recognize that having received the very Body and Blood of Christ, we, like Simeon, are prepared for death. We have all in all, the thing most needful, and there is nothing left for us to do, experience, or receive in this world.

That is a radical thought. You might piously share it, realizing that the forgiveness of sins is the most important thing in this life. But at the same time, none of us is longing for death. You want to see your granddaughter’s dance recital and your son’s basketball game. You don’t expect to die on your way home today and I’m sure that you aren’t hoping to die today.

On the one hand, those thoughts are bad or sinful in themselves. You want to make use of the blessings and gifts that God has given you. You ought to enjoy the many gifts God has given you in this world.

On the other hand, you ought to be prepared at all times for death. To live is Christ and to die is gain, St. Paul says to the Philippians.[4] To live in this world is to be the Body of Christ, to enjoy the things of this creation, and to be stewards of God’s good gifts. It is to bear the light of Christ to the nations and His glory to His people.

And yet to die is gain. It is gain because it means freedom from the sin which clings to the flesh and the joy of the nearer presence of Christ. We are sojourners in this world, it is not our home, our final destination. For the Christian, to die is great gain because it is one step closer to the resurrection of all flesh.

Therefore, every time we sing the Nunc Dimittis, you ought to realize that you are prepared to die. At any moment, should the good Lord call you home, you are prepared. Your sins are forgiven, and Christ is prepared to receive you into His open arms. Will your loved ones mourn your death? Absolutely. Death is separation and separation is painful. But when a Christian dies, the Christians who mourn him do not do so without hope. We mourn the pain of separation and the loss of the presence of our loved one, but we also rejoice that they have conquered this world of sin. The victory of Christ on the cross has been made complete for our loved one and we now look forward to the reunion in the resurrection.

The Nunc Dimittis is a hymn of supreme confidence that the Body of Christ is the one thing most needful. It is a hymn of confidence that what Christ says is true and He has said that the death of a Christian is little more than sleep. Sing it boldly and confidently, believing that the words are true.

Should you find yourself doubting, fearing death, then turn toward the promises of Christ. One difference between us and Simeon is that he only had the word of promise from the Holy Spirit that he would see the Christ. You have so much more. You have the Word of God, like Simeon, but you also have Holy Baptism. You have the Holy Communion. You have the Word of Absolution spoken by your pastor with his hands placed on your head. You have God’s Word and His Word tied to physical means that the promises of Christ are true. Make use of these means of grace for the strengthening of your faith and the emboldening of your confidence that you are prepared to die.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Leviticus 12:6-8.

[2] James 2:10.

[3] St. Luke 2:29-32, The Nunc Dimittis.

[4] Philippians 1:21.

The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity – September 1, 2024

Psalm 84; Proverbs 4:10-23; Galatians 5:16-24

St. Luke 17:11-19

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the collect for today, we asked that God would keep His Church with His perpetual mercy.[1] This wording connects us with the lepers who cry out to Jesus for His mercy. However, the original wording of this collect would have us ask God to keep His Church with His perpetual propitiation. Propitiation is the act of Jesus to appease, or satisfy, or resolve, the anger of the Father.[2] It is the aspect of the atonement that is directed toward God. Jesus’ death on the cross satisfied the punishment for sin. It satisfied God’s wrath toward sinful man.

A prayer for God to keep His Church through or by His perpetual propitiation is asking for God to continue to smile upon His people; that the propitiation of the wrath of God would last forever. How can God continue to smile upon His people? Only through the Body given and Blood shed of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t mean that Jesus’ Body and Blood are constantly re-sacrificed or constantly in a state of being sacrificed. Rather, that the Body and Blood of Jesus that were once crucified for the forgiveness of sins endures forever.[3] The crucifixion happened once. The effects of this sacrifice are perpetual, that is, they last forever.[4] They endure. The satisfaction of God’s anger toward sin is an everlasting state because Jesus is forever the Crucified One; crucified as adjective not verb.[5]

How might a return to this earlier collect be appropriate for this Gospel reading? The ten lepers cry out to Jesus to have mercy on them. They do not announce their leprosy, as commanded in the law. They do not beg for healing. They ask Jesus for mercy. They lift up their voices, a phrase commonly used for prayer. Jesus has mercy on them. All ten are cleansed. All ten are healed. But only one returns. Only the Samaritan returns to glorify God, that is, to give thanks to Jesus.

Did you catch that? What you might think of as two distinct actions are in fact one. The Samaritan leper glorifies God with a loud voice, that is, he falls on his face before Jesus’ feet and give Him thanks. The falling on his face is an act of worship. It is the word for worship. He bows before Jesus because he has realized that Jesus is the God of all creation. He is the Alpha and the Omega. The courts of the Lord, the Holy Habitation of the Almighty is the presence of Jesus.[6] The Samaritan knows this by faith and his faith guides his actions. Better to be in the presence of the Body and Blood of Jesus than to spend a thousand days anywhere else.

Last Sunday, Jesus identified Himself as a Samaritan, as the Good Samaritan. The Samaritans and the Israelites were once the same people. But 700 or so years before the birth of Jesus, the Assyrians invaded Israel and cast many of the northern tribes into exile.[7] The Assyrians then imported hundreds of foreigners into the region and these intermarried with the native Israelites. Soon, the importation of foreigners led to a mixing not only of peoples but of religion. It began as continued worship of their foreign, pagan gods but soon this worship was placed on top of the worship of the true God. The Samaritans are the result of this mixing. They accepted the first five books of the bible but rejected all others. They centered their worship on Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem.

Once the Kingdom of Judah returned from exile in Babylon, the tide turned, and the Judeans began to persecute the Samaritans. In 172 BC, the Judeans destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim. There are hundreds of years of bad blood between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans are mixed blood heretics in the eyes of the Judeans. By the time of our text, the Samaritans are a tiny community, barely hanging on to existence.

And yet it is a Samaritan who can recognize the Messiah. It is a Samaritan who sees the True God in the flesh and knows to worship Him. It is a Samaritan to whom our Lord compares Himself in the parable of last week.

The Pharisees, and by consequence the most people living in the Near East, considered leprosy to be the consequence of sin. Since leprosy can refer to several different diseases in the Bible, it is entirely possible that in some cases it is the result of sin. There are actions and behaviors that lead directly to life altering diseases. At the same time, there are some who contract these diseases by chance. They have done nothing wrong. As they ask Jesus regarding the blind man, “Whose sin caused this disease, this man’s or his parents?’”

In either case, whether one’s behavior causes the disease or one is simply a victim of the disease, the Christian response is (in the first place) the same: repentance. In falling on is face before the feet of Jesus, the Samaritan is doing exactly that. He is glorifying God by recognizing his own unworthiness. “Lord, Jesus Christ, thank you for having had mercy upon me, a sinner!”

This is how we know that the Samaritan gave thanks to God for His perpetual propitiation. The Samaritan recognizes his sorry state. It was plainly obvious in his condition! The wrath of God was seen in the oozing sores of his flesh, a constant and painful reminder of his sin. This man, as all men, was in need of the mercy of God, something that could only be achieved through reconciliation with the Father.

And how might the wrath of God be satisfied? How might the anger of God be turned away from the Samaritan? The breaking of the Body and shedding of the Blood of Jesus. The very same Body and Blood which still effects your salvation. You are in every bit as much need of salvation as the Samaritan with oozing sores. Your sins are more hidden; the effects of your sins are likely more secret. But they are just as deadly as the Samaritan’s disease. The remedy is repentance, acknowledgment of your sins and an appeal to God for His mercy, which He has promised to all who believe, all who are baptized, all who trust in the saving Blood of Jesus.

Now, when I said that repentance was the Christian response to sin, whether sin suffered or sin outwardly committed, I said this response was the same in the first place. That is because a sin which is suffered must be responded to with repentance and faith. However, a sin that is outwardly committed must likewise be met with repentance and faith but also the fruits of repentance, namely, the putting away of that sin. After being healed and falling at the feet of Jesus, the Samaritan is not free to return to worshiping on Mount Gerizim. He is not free to return to rejecting all but the first five books of Moses. His freedom is now found in Jesus Christ. His freedom is from the sins which burdened him. He is now free to live as a child of the Heavenly Father, a child according to promise.

The Samaritan was a heretic by birth. He did not worship the True God from his youth. He worshiped a false god who went by the same name. He did not worship in truth and sincerity. But the presence of the Body and Blood of Jesus, the healing of this man’s body and soul, turns his worship toward that True God. He is turned by the words of Jesus to worship in truth and sincerity. He knows where salvation is to be found. If someone asked him the meaning of Isaiah 53, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities…”[8] the Samaritan is unlikely to have an answer. But he gets it. He knows where salvation is to be found. He knows Jesus is the great high priest and salvation is found in His body alone.

Keep, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy Church with Thy perpetual propitiation; and because the frailty of man without Thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by Thy help from all things hurtful and lead us to all things profitable for our salvation; through the Holy Body and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who livest and reignest with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] The change in this collect was brought to my attention via Rev. William Weedon’s blog post at https://www.gottesdienst.org/gottesblog/2020/9/13/thoughts-on-the-collect-trinity-xiv?rq=Trinity%20XIV.

[2] Hebrews 2:17.

[3] Psalm 118.

[4] Hebrews 7:24-25; 9:11-15.

[5] St. Matthew 28:5.

[6] Psalm 84:10.

[7] 2 Kings 17.

[8] Isaiah 53:5.

The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of Jesus

 The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus – February 2, 2023

Psalm 48; Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18

St. Luke 2:22-32

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

At the culmination of the Plagues in Egypt, God commanded the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb and use its blood to paint the doorposts and lintels as a sign that the Angel of Death should pass them over. This Angel was sent by God to collect the lives of all the firstborn in Egypt—the firstborn of both man and beast. The firstborn of the Sons of Israel were spared this fate. They were spared by the blood of the lamb. However, once God had delivered the Israelites from Egypt and met with Moses on Mount Sinai, He made a new covenant with them. This covenant declared that all the firstborn of the Israelites belonged to the Lord.[1] The firstborn beasts were given to the priests to be sacrificed. The firstborn sons would be given to serve the priests.

In the case of some beasts, the firstborn could be redeemed with the sacrifice of a lamb in its place. In the case of the firstborn child, God commanded they should always be redeemed. The redemption price of a son or daughter was a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering and either a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering.[2] If a lamb was too expensive, two pigeons or two turtledoves would suffice.

First, what does it mean to be redeemed? It is quite simple. To be redeemed means to be substituted. It means to give one thing in place of another so that you might receive back the first possession. Redemption is not quite the same as making a purchase. Giving the checker money in exchange for groceries isn’t the same as redemption because the groceries did not belong to you in the first place. Rather, if you’ve ever been to a wedding reception or banquet with a coat check, you have experienced redemption. You gave the clerk your coat in exchange for a ticket. At the end of the night, you redeemed your coat by giving the clerk your ticket. The coat is your property, and you willfully gave it to the clerk. You then “bought back” your coat at the price of the ticket. This is redemption.

Second, it is important to note who is commanded by God to perform this redemption for the firstborn child. It is always the mother. The redemption of the child is tied up with the purification of the mother after giving birth. In this, we see the beauty of the office given to women. The curse of pain in childbearing is balanced with the joy of a new life brought into the world.[3] Under the Law of Moses, a woman must then spend 40 days alone if she bore a son. If she bore a daughter, the time was doubled.[4] She must spend this time alone because everything she touches becomes unclean. It is tainted by the uncleanness of her giving birth.

But on the final day of her solitude, the mother brings her firstborn to the temple and make the offering both for her purification and the redemption of her child. Such an arduous task is born by the woman and testifies to her fortitude and willingness to love and protect the child God has given to her.

Returning to the Gospel at hand, we must note that the laws I’ve described in no way apply either to Mary or Jesus. The Holy Spirit spoke clearly through Moses, that purification was required of all who had given birth on account of conception by a man. Mary did not know a man. The child she held so dear was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And, according to the pious opinions of some, was born in such a miraculous way as to spare Mary of the unclean flow of blood.

So too, the redemption of the child was required on behalf of sin, just as the blood of the lamb at the Passover was on account of the sinfulness of man. Certainly, Mary received the inheritance of original sin, but the Christ Child did not. And yet, Mary submitted herself and her child to both tenants of the law. Why?

It is first an act of love. Mary would be free to ignore this Law of Moses but she submits herself to it out of love for her neighbor and to give glory to God alone. The events of the Book of Exodus are initiated when a Pharaoh, who had forgotten Joseph, was afraid of the prosperous Hebrews. The Israelites were great in number and posed a legitimate military threat. With the right leadership and foresight, the Israelites could’ve mounted a coup against the Pharaoh and stolen the land of Egypt.

If they had, it would’ve been to their own glory. The cunning of generals and the might of valiant soldiers would’ve won the day. As history would have it, God acted to deliver the Israelites. They were His people to redeem, and their deliverance brought glory to the name of the Lord.

In the same way, Mary and Jesus submit to the Law of Moses that all glory would be given to God alone, lest anyone think that Mary herself was without sin or without need for purification.

The more difficult question is why did Jesus submit to redemption? He is, after all, the one to redeem all mankind. He is our Redeemer. Why then, does He submit to redemption by two pigeons? In one sense, the redemption of Jesus is like His baptism. Where our Baptism washes our sins away, Jesus’ baptism draws our sins upon Himself. His baptism institutes our own. In like manner, Jesus’ redemption institutes our own. Rather than the pigeons dying for Jesus’ sins, they are a foretaste of His own death.

In another sense, Jesus submits to redemption because He is truly the Firstborn of all creation.[5] Submitting to this law in love and without compulsion is the sign that He is the Firstborn among many brethren. He is indicating that we shall all follow in His likeness, that is, when His blood is shed, we shall be redeemed. We shall be purchased from the mouth of hell and returned to the holy habitation of the house of God.

What then of this idea that it is the mother who redeems the child? Where else do we receive the redemption of the blood of Christ than in Holy Mother Church? The Church is our loving mother, who brings us to the sanctuary—the Temple—to receive the redemption at the cost of the blood of the Lamb.

Which brings us to a final comment on the godly Simeon. When our Lord is presented at the Temple, after the purification and redemption according to the Law of Moses, Simeon takes up the Christ child in his arms and praises the Lord for fulfilling His word. Tonight’s feast is sometimes called “Candlemas,” a reference to the historic practice of blessing the candles for use in the Church and the distribution of candles to the congregation for use at two important parts of the service. Such candles would be lit during the reading of the Holy Gospel and during the consecration. They signify the “Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.”[6]

This Light, the Light of Christ, comes to you in the proclamation of God’s Word and in the Holy Eucharist. As Simeon reached out his arms to behold his Lord, so too you will come forward to hold the Lord. Just as God’s word was fulfilled for Simeon, so too God’s word is fulfilled for you this evening. Tonight is the culmination of everything that has happened since Christmas Eve: the Incarnation of our Lord, the Adoration of the Magi on the Epiphany, the miracles of Jesus, His glorious Transfiguration, and finally the entering of Christ into the Temple. Tonight, He is entering the sanctuary of this Church precisely so that you might take and eat; take and drink. With this Body and Blood, your redemption price was paid and your glory awaits.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Exodus 34:19ff.

[2] Leviticus 12:6-8.

[3] St. John 16:21.

[4] “If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean. ³ And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴ She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled. ⁵ ‘But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.” Leviticus 12:2-5

 [5] Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:15, 18; Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 1:5.

[6] St. Luke 2:32.