The Meeting of our
Lord is an amazing and wonderful holiday. It is as remarkable as a genuine
meeting of God and man, the Creator and His wayward creation, can be.
There was an old
man who was really old. He had seen a lot in his lifetime. Perhaps, he had
experienced a fair share of happiness but also plenty of grief, sorrows, and
troubles. The Lord never abandoned that old man; on the contrary, He would
always comfort and support him. Despite that, God delayed the greatest comfort
and the greatest joy in the life of the holy elder whose name was Symeon—the
comfort, which made it into the history of our salvation and which we remember
at every Vespers service and after every Eucharist—until the man's last days.
The holy elder devoted his simple life to persistent anticipation of this great
God's gift.
According to the
Gospel, the Lord had promised the righteous man that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ (Luke
2:26). The godly elder spent many years waiting for the miraculous encounter.
Finally, he met the long-anticipated Messiah in the holy city of Jerusalem. The
most holy Virgin and Saint Joseph the Betrothed brought Baby Jesus into the Temple
of the Lord on the 40th day in keeping with the Mosaic Law: And when the days of her purifying are
fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first
year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering,
unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest
(Leviticus 12:6).
The Holy Gospel
tells us that the righteous elder was moved by God to go to the Temple that
day.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when
the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the
law, then took he 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 before the face of all people;
a light
to lighten the Gentiles,
and the
glory of thy people Israel.
And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things
which were spoken of him. (Luke
2:27-33).
How amazing is
that?! What a great encounter of a man advanced in years and worn out by hard
work and afflictions, and God, who was looking at the old man with the clear
eyes of an innocent baby! It wasn't just a meeting of Baby Jesus and the
Righteous Symeon who had been waiting for
the consolation of Israel (cf. Luke 2:25)—it was an encounter of the
Eternal God and the aging humankind, burdened by wars and iniquities, exhausted
from injustices and illnesses, lost in its human wisdom, and tired of looking
for God, His truth and love.
The Good God
visited Elder Symeon and the entire human race at last. Finally, the miraculous
encounter of God the Savior and the dying Man occurred. The twinkling Star of
Bethlehem, which only the select few had been able to see, gradually sheds Its
gracious light upon Adam's descendants until It finally becomes an
inextinguishable, all-penetrating, and ever-shining Sun of Righteousness that
incinerates all sins.
The Orthodox Church
prays on the day of the Meeting of our Lord, “Receive, O Symeon, Him whom Moses
beheld in the gloom on Sinai giving the law, and Who hath become a babe
submitting to the law; He is the One who speaketh through the law; He is the
One spoken of by the prophets. Who for our sake has become incarnate and saveth
man. Him let us worship!” (Sticheron on Lord I Have Cried, by Patriarch
Herman).
Let us pray to our
Lord Jesus Christ so that our encounter with Him would bring us joyful
knowledge of God and help us to lead fruitful lives. Also, let's pray for those
who are still seeking the Truth.
a Bachelor of Theology,
specialized in Biblical
Studies.
CONVERSATION