Suffering Servant

The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas A-1

Entrance Antiphon Jn 3: 16 God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.

Collect Almighty and invisible God, who dispersed the darkness of this world by the coming of your light, look, we pray, with serene countenance upon us, that we may acclaim with fitting praise the greatness of the Nativity of your Only Begotten Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: 1 John 2:3-11; Psalm 96:1-3, 5b-6; Luke 2:22-35

When the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord in accord with the law of the Lord, “Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord” and also to offer a sacrifice, in accord with the law of the Lord, of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. There was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, a just and devout man, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death till he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He was led by the Spirit into the temple. When the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to do for him according to the requirement of the law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God, saying, “Now, O Lord, dismiss your servant in peace according to your word, because my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared before all the peoples: a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” His father and mother were wondering at what was said concerning him. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold this child is set for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted. Your own soul a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. (Luke 2:22-35)

Suffering Servant One of the things Luke is obviously at pains to make clear is that, both before and immediately after the birth of Jesus, it was revealed from on high that the Child Jesus was the long‑awaited Messiah. The angel had revealed this and other things about the Child to Mary and (in the Gospel of St Matthew) to Joseph prior to his birth. Immediately after his birth, heaven had revealed the birth of the Messiah to the Jewish shepherds keeping watch in the hills and to the distant pagan Magi of the East. Now once again, the Holy Spirit reveals to a chosen one the identity of the Child. Mary and Joseph bring the Child to the Temple to observe the requirements of the Law in respect to their newly‑born male child. The Holy Spirit comes upon Simeon who dwells in Jerusalem. He was a holy man and epitomized the best of the chosen people, awaiting with expectation and gratitude the coming of the Messiah. Mysteriously, it had been revealed to him that he would in fact see the Messiah with his own eyes, and now the moment has come. He is led to the Holy Family bearing their inestimable treasure in their arms. Simeon comes towards them, stops, and exulting with gratitude and praise, gently takes the child in his arms. Then, inspired by the Holy Spirit who had been leading him, he utters a prophecy. The Child is the Saviour whom God has prepared. He is the Saviour of the nations and the glory of Israel (Luke 2:22‑35). That is the essential utterance and it revealed the joy of heaven at what was happening. A Saviour has come, a light who will reveal God to the world. There is no one like him. But there is a further prophecy, a prophecy that hints at the kind of path this Saviour will tread. It will not be a road of conquest after conquest, acclaim after acclaim. Rather, it will be marked by contradiction and opposition, and this will result in many rising with him and others falling because of him. Profound sorrow and stress is coming, and his mother will share in it in the depths of her soul. There is also a hint that Joseph will not see that day.

So then, in our passage St Luke reports — obviously his ultimate source of information is the mother of the Child — that certain things were revealed about the Child soon after his birth. Prophecies were uttered about him and while they celebrated the arrival of the Child, they also served to enlighten his holy parents. Both Mary and Joseph wondered at what Simeon was saying. They gave to it their utmost attention with hearts and minds open to the fullest in a holy wonder. It was confirming what had been revealed to them already before the birth of the Child, and this provided more divine light. The Child will be a Saviour to the nations of the world as well as being the glory of the chosen people. More ominously — and perhaps this was a very new element in what had been revealed to them to this point — a dark cloud of suffering for the Child was intimated. There will be terrible stress, sharp contradiction and a sword that will pierce. The path of the Child will be one of sorrow, and those who are intimately involved with him — epitomized by his holy mother — will share in this suffering. A sword will pierce her soul. Inasmuch as during his public ministry our Lord said that those who do the will of his Father are his mother and sister and brother, the sword that pierces the soul of the Virgin Mother will also pierce their souls too. It is the sword that is Christ’s Cross, the lance that pierced his side, the crown that pierced his head. Simeon’s prophecy reveals to Mary and Joseph that the great Servant of Yahweh whom they bear in their arms and will raise during the years ahead is a suffering Servant, the Suffering Servant spoken of by the prophet. He would do his work by suffering, and those who are united to him will suffer with him. In a sense Luke is telling us that at the very beginning of Christ’s life, his laborious and yet victorious path was foretold. Not all details were revealed, of course, but enough for the faith of Mary and Joseph to be exercised.

Let us place ourselves in the Gospel scene today in the midst of this holy company. How holy it is! We have before us the Child of the nations, God himself become man in order to make all things new. He will be the Saviour of the world, and he will save by his obedient suffering. How great the mystery! Life was coming, and it would spring forth from death. Around this Child are Mary, Joseph and Simeon. Let us resolve to keep close to Christ and to tread his path.

(E.J.Tyler)

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