Reading the Gospel of Luke 2:22-40

“…the inner thoughts of many will be revealed’

This passage from Luke 2: 22-40 is included in the revised common lectionary provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.

Hear a recording of this passage here.

Reading the Gospel aloud invites the audience to experience human encounters with the divine as revealed in the Bible. We can leave interpretation and meaning to members of the clergy and other scholars. What we are most interested in as lay readers is the human experience found in the narrative.

 First Impressions:

We begin by contrasting ritual with engagement.  What is holy to the Lord?

The fulfillment of the specifics of prescribed ritual, or their presence in the Temple and the experience of those who are encountered there?

A man – who came to the Temple that day guided by the Holy Spirit – peremptorily takes the child in his arms. Is that a little scary for Mary and Joseph? Who is this man?  He has a name, Simon.

Then a second person: Anna. An old woman, a daughter of the Tribe of Asher and a widow, who is always present in the Temple, fasting and praying, begins to speak about the child.

These are not religious leaders of high office. There is no Rabbi or Bishop or Pope named who is there to welcome Jesus. No one of high office is mentioned in this reading: only two common people of vision, enveloped in the Holy Spirit: one male, one female.

It’s engagement that is important and truly sanctifies this event in the sight of the Lord.

The event seems peaceful, but it will in fact be cataclysmic.

“The inner thoughts of many will be revealed.”  We are in for something new and exciting.  We have not had a great deal of insight into the thoughts of those we encounter in the Old Testament. Inner thoughts. We know of their trouble, their struggle, their emotional responses to key events, their choices, but not so much of their inner thoughts.

By the time we get to the letters of Paul and Peter we will become intimately familiar with the most personal inner thoughts of those who encounter, and whose lives are changed, by Jesus of Nazareth. This event will ultimately “pierce your own soul.”

Jesus has not only fulfilled the requirements of the law, he has been met with literally open arms and caused excitement among the men and women who understand the true significance of his being. People whose lives are fulfilled by the coming of the Lord.

But we will have to wait a bit while the child grows and becomes strong.

Text Analysis

Here we are looking for are words or actions and key phrases that give us clues as to what Jesus and those he encounters are experiencing at this moment.

LAW: The family of Jesus are present to fulfill the Law of Moses as it is written in the Law of the Lord. This is all expected, orderly, well and good.

HOLY SPIRIT:  But everything is about to be changed by the Holy Spirit rushing in, embodied by Simon.  The Holy Spirit creates an undercurrent of excitement.

“…you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation” – an idea that spans two verses, but that can be clearly heard as one when read aloud. What is about to experienced is exceptional.

PROPHET:  One who is prepared, who understands, is able to recognize and is fearless to proclaim.

Praise God and speak about the child. Presumably in a louder voice that Simon. Anna, may have been waiting for this moment – in the Temple – for the last 60 years. Simon feels that he is now dismissed – released from his watch — as his eyes have seen the Messiah. The two are physically experiencing the “consolation of Israel” and the “redemption of Jerusalem.”  These are not intellectual conceits. These are life fulfilling experiences.

The parents are AMAZED at what is being said.

Reading this passage aloud

 

What clues does the text offer as to how we are to read this passage aloud?

Jesus and his parents come dutifully to the Temple this day. Things begin in the ordinary. The reading takes off with “Now, there was a man…” Simon comes to the Temple swept in by the Holy Spirit. It is in this encounter that reading takes off from common solemnity to unusual destiny. So, we begin with a measure pace and then experience a rush of energy in this encounter. It becomes a moment of revelation and the piercing of souls.

The energy is heightened by the arrival of Anna: a Prophet.

The words that Simon and Anna speak are presented in much greater detail and take on much more significance than the specific actions of fulfilling the requirements for purification under the law.

The passage ends quickly, but with the sense that the Holy Spirit, come into the Temple with Simon, is now following the little family home to Galilee.

And we are left with expectations for great things to come.

 

What do you hear in this passage?

It is what you hear, experience and how you respond as the reader that invites the audience in and serves as the catalyst for their own engagement with the text.