MORE IS REVEALED AS YOU MOVE

Luke  2:33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.

You can imagine the face of Mary and Joseph in today’s Gospel, and why won’t they be? They had gone up to present their son as the law demanded, only for a strange man, not a priest, to pick up the infant and begin saying some of the “wildest” statements recorded in Scripture. We are given a glimpse into their demeanor “they marveled” (Luke 2:33)- probably speechless.

I can see Joseph turn to Mary and say “we discussed all the dreams, right? And Mary would likewise have asked” Did the angels tell you anything you have not told me? Their surprise is not unexpected because they only got a snippet of the ministry of Jesus through their various angelic encounters.

God kept the additional details Simeon provided today from them until the presentation, and that is not an unusual method. In fact, it’s his style. There is an initial encounter with a vague blueprint. However, key details trickle in as we only discover what is next while remaining commited to the existing assignment.

Our charge today therefore, is to focus on the initial assignment we have been given, using that initial information. Simeon himself was hanging on one such detail “you will not see death until you have seen the Lord’s  Christ”. If you are not on an assignment, there is no real reason to reveal what happens next on that assignment to you.

#sly