
Luke 2. 22-40
At that time, the parents brought the child Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Symeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; and Symeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
The Gospels give us few details of our Lord’s childhood and upbringing. We know, for example, of His virginal conception, the circumstances of His birth; His circumcision and how as an infant He was present in the Temple for the purification of His Mother; how the family had to flee to Egypt after the visit of the Magi; how, when they returned to the Holy Land, they used to visit Jerusalem annually for the great feast of Passover; and how, on one occasion, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem and was later found by Mary and Joseph in the Temple conversing with the teachers.
Much of what we know, as the Fathers point out, serves to emphasise how Jesus had truly come in the flesh. Hence the evangelists tell us of not only of how He was conceived and born of a virgin, but also that He had a normal period of gestation, as all men do, in His Blessed Mother’s womb. Once born, how, being an infant, He needed to be wrapped in swaddling cloths. How, like all Jewish baby boys, He was circumcised on the eighth day. And we hear in today’s reading how after His Mother’s purification in the Temple, He ‘grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon Him.’
The first part of this last point might seem somewhat obvious. Of course He grew. All babies grow. He was at one point a baby and later was a man, therefore he had to have grown. Why mention it at all? And yet, St Luke does; and since he gives us so few details of our Lord’s early life, we should not underestimate the importance of all the details he gives us, including this one.
As I already mentioned, the Fathers tell us how this speaks to how our Lord was truly a human being. But the Fathers also go on to talk about what is meant by His being ‘filled with wisdom.’ It would seem that this phrase troubled some, who wondered how it was that God, who is all knowing, could be filled with wisdom? In answer to this that St Cyril of Alexandria points out that as God, who is perfect in all ways, Jesus needed no further wisdom added; what is being referred to here is that as Jesus grew physically, so His wisdom was increasingly manifested to the world.
St Cyril goes on to say else about this. He says of our Lord that ‘the body then advances in stature, and the soul’ but clarifies that ‘the divine nature is capable of increase in neither one, seeing that the Word of God is all perfect.’ What he is saying here is that what St Luke describes happens to the humanity, not the divinity. As God he neither grows physically nor spiritually; but as a man he must.
And this, I would suggest, has important implications for us; it indicates that God considers it part of the normal development of all men to grow spiritually. And not just in just in our childhood or youth, but throughout all our days. If this were not so, why would Jesus have spent so much of His ministry preaching and teaching adults, calling them to hear His Good News and repent? Christ was fully human; and by His life He shows us that being fully human means to grow spiritually all the days of our life, until that day when our life in this world ends, and our life in the next begins. Amen.
The Holy Orthodox Order of St George the Great Martyr works tirelessly to help those in need. We focus particularly on our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in the Holy Land and those who suffer because of their Christian faith. However, we strive to help all in need. Funds are desperately needed at this time to help those facing the horrors of war in Gaza and Lebanon. Please help if you can by making a donation to the Order. And please keep all those who suffer in your prayers. Thank you and may God bless you.