Often Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are pictured as a "model" family in terms that impossible for any real family to identify with — the virginal relationship of husband and wife, a harmony unmarred by normal disagreements and tensions, and a child-God who never protested being washed behind the ears. The down-to-earth picture in this Gospel speaks directly to situations that are faced in some way by the majority of families in our society today: poverty, displacement, alienation, and fear. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus are a model family because they experienced the same struggles we encounter.

God has immersed himself fully in his people. Salvation is not some distant gift to be hoped for in an uncertain future, but the real presence of God with us in the flesh. Luke, a non-Jew, records these incidents to show Jesus as both rooted in the Jewish history and tradition, and yet transcending it as its fulfillment.

We can take it for granted that any pious Jewish family would fulfill the laws regarding childbirth (Lv 121) and the consecration of the first-born (Ex 13:1-16), and so Jesus’ identity as fully a Jew was made evident.

But Simeon and Anna carry this identification of Jesus into another dimension. Simeon looks backward and sees Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel’s prophetic hopes. Anna bursts forth with the good news of deliverance. Together, they bear witness to the full reality of Jesus as Savior.

Simeon has the credentials of a prophet — open to the work of God in his life and speaking by the Spirit’s power (vv 25-26). His words echo the whole prophetic tradition, especially Isaiah (42:6-9; 46:13; 49:6) and Micah (ch 3). The prediction of vv 34-35 is not merely directed at Mary personally, but insofar as she symbolizes all Israel: out of the painful wound of Israel’s destruction, salvation is born for all humankind. In another sense, the piercing sword of God’s presence puts one face to face with one’s own sinfulness. This self-revelation in full light can lead either to conversion and acceptance or to despair and destruction.

Anna follows in a line of Jewish women who witnessed to God by holiness of life. In those times especially, a faithful widow — without a family and never remarried — typified poverty because she was totally without any support she could claim by right and was dependent upon the generosity of others to live. Recognizing God’s Gift, she turns around and proclaims it for all to hear.

The simple words of v 40 testify that Jesus accepted fully the limitations of human nature — he developed and matured just as one of us.

The emotions surrounding the thought of a lost child should not overwhelm the deeper significance of this event: this first journey of Jesus to Jerusalem as a legal adult (twelve years old) foreshadows the final journey there for his passion and death. The time of the passover is the time for the fulfillment of the Father’s will; the three days of being lost pre-image the time in the tomb. Jesus is shown here at the beginning of his adult life placing the accomplishment of God’s plan above all else.

These teachings on family life reflect both the incomplete Jewish concept of afterlife and the culture of a primitive agricultural people. Respect for one’s parents is the only way to promote the respect of one’s children, and therefore to insure that one’s name would live on in descendants. Further, only a family comprising several generations living in harmony has the inner resources to be an independent unit in a society. Cut off from one’s parents or children, a major part of the support of life is gone, and chances of survival are less. Children were seen as a blessing because they contributed to the total resources of the family.

In this psalm prosperity is seen as the reward of virtue, but true prosperity lies not in worldly possessions but in peace of heart. Response: ""Happy are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways."

The heart of this passage is the very first phrase — "you are God’s chosen ones, now live accordingly!" All the practical advice that follows flows from this overwhelming realization. Unfortunately, the message we often convey to our children is just the opposite: by our attitudes and our actions we tell them that being good, or at least staying out of trouble, is more important than loving God. No wonder they reject us! Be on fire first with a sense of God’s love, then you have the only solid foundation for morality. For a few words on vv 18-19, which can cause problems for our understanding today, see the comments on Eph 5:21-32, Twenty-First Sunday, Year B.

1. What have we lost when individual families can seldom claim any support from a larger family unit?

2. Is it possible to avoid giving children the sense that they are a liability rather than an asset until they are grown and "on their own"?