The Joshua Victor Theory

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today is a minor festival, that doesn’t often fall on Sunday: the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of our Lord. Before we zoom in on the details of the story, let’s first zoom out and see the big picture, and the importance of the setting. This took place at the Temple in Jerusalem, which was the center of all the worship life of the Jews. At the Temple God located Himself for His people. At the Temple God placed His Name and His presence, to hear His people’s prayers, to receive their repentance and accept sacrifices for purification and for the forgiveness of sins, and to make His Name great throughout the earth (2 Chron. 6). The significance of the Temple as where God located His mercy and forgiveness is huge—and especially when we consider that the New Testament teaches that this “located-ness” of God’s mercy moves from the Temple to the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14; 4). This transfer or movem...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. It was a necessary part of our salvation that Jesus keep the entire law from His birth till His death—because it’s by His innocence according to the law that we’re saved. Here at the Temple in Jerusalem, through His parents Mary and Joseph, Jesus is already passively keeping the law as they perform the sacrifices for the consecration of a firstborn son. And as they make these sacrifices, in keeping of the law, they encounter an aged and faithful believer named Simeon. It’s Simeon’s encounter with the baby Jesus in the Gospel that we focus on today. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Joseph and Mary had no idea that the elderly Simeon had waited his whole life for this very day. They had no idea that the obligatory task of going to the temple for purification after childbirth, would be the occasion for Simeon’s majestic prophecy and song about what t...