There’s a lot we’re not told about this event. There is a lack of accommodation – no room at the inn. The story of the presentation of the child Jesus in the Temple points forward to the death Jesus will face, the knowledge of which – Simeon says to Jesus’ mother Mary – will be a sword that will pierce Mary’s own soul too. This story is about parents with a new baby who are anxious to do what their tradition, their religion, requires following the birth of the first male child. In fact, this is related to an ancient custom in the Law of the Lord – the dedication of the firstborn male child of every family to God.
There is a depth to this narrative which is not immediately apparent. We have Simeon’s prophetic words of recognition that the child brought by Mary and Joseph is none other than the light to enlighten all nations that the prophets had foretold. We may be familiar with the detail in this story, but oddly there is a feature that is often missed. Jesus is presented to God by His parents at a very young age – forty days old, to be precise. The child Jesus will grow to be the light for all nations. In the presentation of the barely one-month-old Jesus in the Temple, we have more than a ritual performed by new parents, dedicating their child to God. Jesus’ presentation in the Temple is a first. People spoke of this being the place where God lived among humans. Here Israelites felt closer to God than anywhere else. When Jesus is brought to the Temple, God enters the religious world of humans for the first time: Jesus is presented to God – and God is presented to humans.