The Precious Gift of Life

“Now when the days of her purification…were completed they brought [Jesus] to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord…[‘Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.’] And to offer a sacrifice…a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” (Luke 2:22)

All life is sacred, and nothing more so than human life. Every Jew knew and honored that truth, as does, or should, every Christian. The blessed promise of the Almighty to Abraham was human life [lakhai’m]. Life is a gift. Gratitude is expected by a sacrifice. Since Jesus was a first-born male, Mary was expected to present a lamb for the burnt offering and a young pigeon for the sin offering. St. Joseph, a poor man, could substitute a dove or pigeon for the lamb. In due time, the Christ-child would offer Himself as the Lamb of God. No one on earth or in heaven could substitute for Him.

“So [Simeon] came by the Spirit into the temple…he took [Jesus] up in his arms…and blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against [yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also], that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed’” (Luke 2:27,34).

Simeon, like most Jews, yearned for the coming of the Messiah. Because he was a righteous man, The Almighty revealed to him that he would not die before he would see the promised Savior of Israel. There in his arms he beheld and held the fulfillment of that divine vow. Then suddenly, a new revelation: The Child would be the reason for “the rise and fall of many in Israel.” Three decades later, the adult Son of God would explain the prediction: “Do not think I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set man against his father, a daughter against her mother…” (Matthew 10:34). Was it but forty days before this feast that we were celebrating “Peace on earth, good will to men”? Peace, certainly – “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you.” (John 14:27) Not a political peace is His promise, but rather a spiritual peace from above that fills hearts ready to receive Him and embrace His love for all eternity.

The sword that pierced the soul of His mother was the suffering that all Jewish and Gentile families feel when all whom they love have fallen out of the arms of Jesus. What family does not share the agony of knowing that some of their children, siblings, relatives and friends have rejected or simply abandoned the true faith, renouncing Christ as their Savior and His holy church as the only refuge from a world of sin and spiritual darkness? And yet the Troparion for the feast calls to the Theotokos and the prophet:

“Rejoice, O 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 O righteous elder…”

“Rejoice” because every human being is blessed with free choice. All have the privilege of electing to serve, love and follow Jesus Christ the Son of God, or to abandon the pledge of their parents and godparents who brought them to the holy baptism and symbolically drowned them to sinfulness, offering them the precious life with Christ. Freedom, like life itself, is an overwhelming treasure almost too valuable to rest with mere humans. If only the Almighty would “take us to heaven to live with Thee there,” regardless of whether we wish it or not; however, it is we who must make that decision.