The Child Circumcised and Presented in the Temple St. Luke 2:21-29 by C. M. Mason XIV Now when eight days were passed, the Holy Child, As bids the Law, was circumcised : no friends Were hospitably called to this poor feast ; But they named Him Jesus, as the angel bade Ere yet He was conceived in the womb. Thus height of grace and depth of ignominy Followed the Holy Child through every stage Of His yet infant life. Acquaint with mortal pain, Obedient, borne, He suffered in the flesh, Of glory shorn. No lust of flesh that frame should mar Wherein the Son of Man went forth to war. The days prescribed for purifying past, Joseph and Mary brought Him to Jerusalem To give Him to the Lord : for it is writ That every first-born man-child shall be His : Would hints of glory gathering round the Child 37 38 THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD Take shape of greatness? Mayhap, God might show If the Babe they carried were indeed His Son. Poor folk, these brought the poor man's scanty gift To symbolise their presentation, doves. They trod, a peasant pair, the temple courts Bearing a child; without or circumstance Or state to show His birth - such group of three As every day appeared in precincts holy, None taking heed. This family was observed : There dwelt in Jerusalem one Simeon, Who knew : he, righteous and devout, was told Of the Spirit, he Christ should see in the flesh His prayers by day and night, fervent desires For Israel's Consolation, should be graced. So sure was he of this, he watched alway No common, usual group might, unaware, Pass this man, lest so he should miss the Child Perceiving he was ready, the Spirit led Him straight to the temple ; and when the parents came, The simple peasant folk, behold, he knew- Such is the gift God granteth to His own, Through signs of everyday they Him discern- While haughty scribes and priests, collected there, Gave scarce a glance to these poor country folk; A hundred such, sure, came there every day. (Insert - b&w reproduction, "The Presentation", by Van Der Weyden) 39 Now, reverent and meek, approached the priest With arms outstretched to hold the Holy Child : Receiving Him, he blessed his God, and said : - "Now let thy servant, Lord, depart in peace, Mine eyes have seen the King! Thy word to me fulfilled, bid my days cease, Which no more joy can bring: "For Thy salvation do mine eyes behold! The very Christ of God, Before the face of all the world foretold- The King, whose feet are shod "With gospel of Thy peace for all mankind ! Not for the Jew alone; The Gentile also shall salvation find, For He shall make both one, "To Gentiles, surely, shall the Christ be shown ; His light shall shine on them : But this glory is for Israel alone- The Birth in Bethlehem !" Out of Zion hath our God appeared In perfect beauty. He shall rehearse it when He writeth up the people That He was born there. 40 THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD Thus Spake the seer, in sacred vision rapt; Joseph and Mary stood beside, awe-bound, Marvelling at the great things spoken of Him, The Child they had brought to the temple: ever more Glory, greatness, grace, to Him ascribed, With each new word of God falls on their ear. And Simeon, looking at the amaze'd pair, Blessed them; and to Mary, His mother, said, "Behold, This Child shall be for the fall of many great, The raising up of lowly souls in Israel ; A sign shall He be many shall speak against, Perceiving the will of God with rebel hearts. Yea, and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul! For He shall suffer, and the smart be thine And all the thoughts of men shall be revealed By the sure witness of the word He speaks." Mary heard all, and pondered in her heart. Another graced to hear the News was Anna, Daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asser, A widow of a hundred years or more Who dwelt in cell within the holy precincts, And day and night was in the temple courts Fasting and praying. She, like Simeon, Waited the Consolation of Israel. 41 Stirred anew to hope by inner impulse, And coming at that very hour to Simeon, She also saw the Christ and blessed her God. Many who sought the temple knew full well The aged prophetess, and to them all She told how God had visited His people. The happy, gracious Child grew and waxed strong, Filled with wisdom - as a child may be- Lovely in all His infant ways, nor marred By rude offence of wilful humankind: And the grace of God was upon Him.