Today, the Temple receives Him whom heaven cannot contain.
Today, the Lawgiver submits Himself to the Law.
Today, the Ancient of Days is carried in the arms of the aged,
And the Light unapproachable enters the shadowed courts of the Temple.
Forty days after His ineffable birth from the Virgin, Christ our God is brought to Jerusalem, not because He has need of purification, but because He comes to purify all creation. He who is Himself the Offering is offered; He who sanctifies the womb submits to the rite of the Law; He who is the true Temple enters the temple made with hands.
Behold the mystery: the Mother who knew no corruption brings forth the Incorrupt One, and yet she humbly obeys the commandment. The Child who is free of all defilement is presented as though subject to it. Thus humility precedes glory, and obedience prepares the way for salvation.
Simeon the God-receiver stands before us today as the herald of fulfilled promise. Having waited long in hope, sustained by the Spirit, he now beholds with his own eyes the Consolation of Israel. He takes the Child into his arms—and in truth, it is the Child who takes Simeon, lifting him from the bondage of death into the freedom of eternal life.
“Now let Your servant depart in peace,” he cries,
For the eyes of faith see what kings and prophets longed to behold.
Peace is granted, not because death is avoided,
But because death has been overcome.
This Child is revealed as the Light of the nations and the glory of Israel. He shines not with a light that dazzles the eyes, but with a light that pierces the heart. He illumines not only the righteous, but also the Gentiles who sat in darkness. The Temple becomes the meeting place of promise and fulfillment, of Law and Grace, of old age and new life.
Yet Simeon also speaks of the Cross. The Child is set for the fall and rising of many, and a sword will pierce the soul of His Mother. Even here, at the threshold of His earthly life, the shadow of Golgotha is already present. For Christ is not received without cost; light exposes darkness, and truth provokes resistance.
Anna the prophetess joins the testimony, proclaiming redemption to all who await deliverance. The aged recognize what the wise of this world overlook. For the Kingdom is revealed not to pride, but to patience; not to haste, but to hope.
Beloved in Christ, today we too are brought into the Temple—not of stone, but of the heart. Each of us must ask: Will we receive Him as Simeon did, with faith and surrender? Will we allow His light to expose and heal us? Will we carry Christ within us into the world, as the Theotokos carried Him into the Temple?
The candles we bless today are a sign of this calling. As Christ is the Light of the world, so we are called to bear His light—not hidden, not diminished, but shining through lives of obedience, humility, and love.
Let us therefore present ourselves to God, just as Christ was presented for our sake. Let us offer not doves or turtledoves, but hearts purified by repentance and illumined by grace. And having received Christ, may we depart—not into death, but into peace, glorifying Him who came for our salvation.
To Him be glory, together with His eternal Father and the all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.
Amen.
