The Meeting of the Lord in the Temple - Fr. Hopko/ Feb. 2nd

[Nick Cobb]

The Meeting of the Lord in the Temple

The Christmas-Epiphany season comes to an end with the feast of the
Meeting of the Lord in the
Temple on the second of February, forty days after the feast of the
Savior's birth. Like most major
festivals of the Church, the feast of the Lord's Meeting is kept with an
eight-day postfeast
celebration. The conclusion of this festival brings to a close the
liturgical cycle which began at the
beginning of the Christmas fast.
According to the Gospel of Saint Luke, Jesus was brought to the temple
on the fortieth day after
His birth in obedience to the Mosaic law which He as the Messiah had
come to fulfill.

And when the time came for their purification accord-mg to the law of
Moses, they brought him up
to Jeru-salem 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 turtledoves, or two young pigeons."

The liturgy of the Church is clear about why this act of submission to
the law of Moses was
performed. We have already seen it in the act of Jesus' circumcision.
The Lord had to do all things
according to God's law so that in Him the law might be literally
fulfilled in all of its details, and that
this fulfillment might be given to all who accept Him.

Today He who once gave the law to Moses on Sinai
Submits Himself to the ordinances of the law,
For our sake becoming as we are, in His compassion. Now the God of
purity as a holy Child has
opened
a pure womb,
And as God is brought as an offering to Himself, Setting us free from
the curse of the law, And
granting light to our souls.1

When the Lord Jesus is brought by His parents to the temple, He is met
there by the old man
Simeon and the old woman Anna. It is from this meeting in the temple
that the festival gets its name
in the Orthodox Church.2 This meeting is spiritually and theologically
significant. It tells us that the
Old is over and that the New has come. It tells us that the two
covenants have now met: Israel has
accomplished its God-given task in producing the Messiah. The promises
made to Abraham in the
beginning of the nation's calling have now been fulfilled. Israel's
glory has dawned in the person of
Christ who is now encountered in the world as the "light of revela-tion
to the Gentiles." In Him the
whole world is illumined and saved. The New Testament has come. God's
final cove-nant
community is established on earth. In Abraham's seed all the families of
the world have been
blessed. The old man and the old woman who meet Jesus in the temple and
recog-nize Him for
who He is symbolize in their oldness the passing away of the ancient
customs, rituals and laws which were "but a shadow of the good things to
come instead of the true form of these realities." (Heb 10:1) For, as
the apostle Paul has said in another place, the ancient laws were "only
a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ" who
has brought to the whole world a "new creation." (Col 2:17, 1 Cor 5:17,
Gal 6:15)

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man
was righteous and
devout, look-ing 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

1Vespers of the feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple.
21n the Christian west this feast is called the Purification of Mary.

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 lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace, according to
thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared
in the presence of all
peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy
people Israel."
(. . .) 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, worshipping 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. (Lk 2:25-38)

The old testament readings for the feast of the Meeting tell how the
children born to the people of
Israel, male and female, were to be offered in the temple, with
sacrifices and prayers. They also
tell how the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord in a vision, enthroned in the
Jerusalem temple, and
prophesied that this same Lord would be worshipped by none other than
the Egyptians, the very
symbol of the hostile Gentiles who violently opposed the people of
israel and their God.3

In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land
of Egypt, and a pillar to the
Lord at its borders. It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of
hosts in the land of Egypt; when
they cry to the Lord because of oppressors he will send them a savior,
and will defend and deliver
them. And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians and the
Egyptians will know the
Lord in that day and worship~

3The old testamental readings for the feast are a combination reading
from exodus, Leviticus and
Numbers; and two readings from Isaiah from chapters 6 and 19.
and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. (Isaiah 19:19-21)

Not only Egypt, but the whole world has received a Savior in the person
of the Lord's Messiah;
the Messiah who is 1-urn-self the Lord in human flesh. This is the
astounding proclama-tion of the
Meeting of the Lord in the temple. It is the reason for the great
celebration which concludes the
Winter Pascha.

He who is borne on high by the cherubim,
And praised in hymns by the seraphim,
Is brought today to the temple according to the law.
He rests on the arms of the old man as on a throne.
He receives from Joseph gifts befitting God:
A pair of doves which symbolize the spotless Church
And the newly-chosen people from among the Gentiles,
And two young pigeons, for He Who is presented is the originator of the
two covenants, both old
and new.
Simeon has now been granted the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning
himself,
And he blesses Mary, the Virgin and Theotokos,
Foretelling in figures the passion of her Son.
>From Him he begs release from this life, crying aloud:
Now let me depart in peace, 0 Master,
As You have promised me,
For I have seen the pre-eternal Light!'

Rejoice, 0 Virgin Theotokos, full of grace!
>From you shone the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God!
Enlightening those who sat in darkness.
Rejoice, and be glad, 0 righteous Elder,
You accepted in your arms the Redeemer of our souls,
Who grants us the resurrection !~

'Vespers of the feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple.
5Troparion of the feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple.

[Taken from, "The Winter Pascha" by Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko,
SVS Press, Available at: 800-204-book.]