Birth and Death
There are two basic things we all have in common: we were all born and we will all die. Birth and death are part of what it means to be human, to be flesh and blood. Jesus, sharing our flesh and blood, as the writer of Hebrews says in our second reading, also shares our birth and our death.
Birth and death. Today we celebrate the presentation of Christ in the temple, sometimes called Candlemas. Today is a staging post between Christmas and Good Friday and Easter, between the birth and death of Jesus.
The story seems more obviously related to the birth of Jesus. Mary and Joseph bring the baby Jesus to the temple to present him to the Lord as was customary for every first born male. The incident follows on from the birth narratives in Luke's gospel and we find in this story some of the same joy and wonder that surrounded the birth of Jesus. Just as Mary and Joseph were amazed when the shepherds shared with them all that the angels had told them about this child, so they are amazed at the words of Simeon as he speaks of their baby as the one who is a light for the Gentiles and the glory of the people Israel, and at Anna's testimony that he is the one who will bring redemption to Jerusalem.
Redemption – what does that mean? Redemption means deliverance and freedom. In some way, this baby is the key to the deliverance and freedom of Israel – and more than Israel – for he brings hope, deliverance and freedom for the whole world.
God's purposes for his people and for the wider world are focused in on this small vulnerable baby. God's message of light and hope, glory and peace is embodied in this real child of flesh and blood. The old man Simeon has been yearning for years for the redemption of his people and the coming of the Messiah; now guided by the Spirit he meets Mary and Joseph in the temple and takes the child Jesus in his arms. He is filled with the joy of the Spirit as he praises God and says 'Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.' (Luke 2:29-32)
Simeon knows he can now be 'dismissed in peace', that is he can die in peace because he has seen, in tangible flesh and blood terms, the new thing God is doing in his world. The birth of this child Jesus is a moment of great joy and he praises God. So also does Anna, that faithful old woman who has been worshipping and praying in the temple day and night for years. Joy, praise, wonder, light and glory all focused on the birth of this baby,
But today's events in the temple are not just about birth. They are also about death. Simeon's inspiring words about the light and glory that God will bring about through this child Jesus, are followed by the sombre warning he gives to Mary: 'this child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed - and a sword will pierce your own soul too.' (Luke 2:34-35). The baby Jesus will not stay a child; he will grow up, and as Simeon warns, many people will be opposed to him. His light will reveal the inner thoughts, the secrets, the darkness of our hearts. Jesus' faithfulness to his Father, and the opposition of the people will eventually lead to his suffering and death. Simeon hints at this here and warns Mary that the terrible suffering ahead will bring anguish to her too.
Birth and death. At Christmas we celebrate the joy of Christ's birth, that God has come among us as one of us. But of course, God's presence in Christ is not restricted to his birth; God is revealed in all of Jesus' life, from birth to death. And as we move forward into Lent and then into Holy Week we move from marvelling at the wonder of God seen in a new born baby, to the even greater wonder of seeing God in the dying man on the cross. The Son of God didn't come into the world just to be born, but to die; as one writer puts it 'the primary goal of the incarnation was the Son's participation in death.' For the good news of great joy announced by the angels at Jesus' birth to truly be news of great joy, Jesus has to go through the whole of human experience, including death.
We are all born, we all die; we are all flesh and blood. Jesus shares our flesh and blood with us, as we heard in our reading from Hebrews. As I have said before, Christianity is the most materialistic of religions. Of course, I don't mean that it is about amassing things and being materialistic in that sense; the Christian gospel warns us against love of money and seeking our identity in the abundance of our possessions. But Christianity is materialistic in the sense that flesh and blood matter, our bodily existence matters to God; indeed it matters so much that God comes among us to share our flesh and blood. Jesus, the Son of God, does not become an angel, but a human being; he shares our birth and our death and everything in between.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews emphasises this at many points. In our reading this morning, we heard that Jesus becomes one of us, sharing our flesh and blood, because he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. To do this, 'he had become like his brothers and sisters in every respect.' (Hebrews 2:17). He himself was 'tested by what he suffered.' (Hebrews 2:18). Elsewhere in this letter, we hear that he 'was made perfect through suffering', (Hebrews 2:10), that he is able to 'sympathise with our weaknesses'...because 'he has been tested as we are, yet without sin'. (Hebrews 4:15). In order to help us, he has to fully identify with us, not just in our joys but in our struggles and sufferings too. As we reflected a few weeks ago, Jesus in being baptised expressed his solidarity with us, and his baptism into the depths of the Jordan was a prelude to the 'baptism' of his suffering and death. He becomes one with us in order to die for us, 'that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone,' as it says earlier in this chapter of Hebrews. (2 .9).
But Jesus doesn't just share our flesh and blood, our joys and our struggles, our birth and our death in order to show solidarity with us, but in order to bring us freedom or 'redemption' as we said earlier. He shares our human nature, but at the same time he is filled with the fulness of God, and so his birth, death and resurrection transform things and accomplish something new for us. In our reading from Hebrews we heard that Jesus shared our flesh and blood 'so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.' Jesus, through his life and death comes to free us from death and the fear of death.
For much of our lives we may not think much about death; on the other hand, we may all have been through times when the reality of death and the fear of death is very acute. We may face a serious illness ourselves, or be overwhelmed by anxiety because of the suffering of a loved one. Death, and for most people also the fear of death, is a reality for us all. Indeed, the fear of death may press upon us strongly at the moment in these Covid times; death is harder to ignore or deny. How do we deal with death and the fear of death? The Christian gospel doesn't say that death doesn't matter or that it is a light thing, but it affirms that God can bring life out of death, and that just as Jesus was raised to life, so we will be raised to life too in him. Jesus shares our death so that we might share in his resurrection.
This doesn't mean we won't at times feel anxious about death, or that we won't grieve deeply at the death of our loved ones, but it does mean that we can trust, ultimately, that we will be freed from the power and the fear of death and find peace.
The old man Simeon rejoices as he takes the young baby Jesus in his arms; this flesh and blood child is the light for the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel. Now, Simeon prays to God 'you are dismissing your servant in peace.' The word for servant here is actually the word for 'slave'. You are 'dismissing your servant', or you are 'freeing your slave'. For Simeon, knowing God's promises are fulfilled in Christ means freedom and he can now die in peace.
Birth and death. Today we rejoice that God in Christ shares our flesh and blood, our birth and our death, our joys and our struggles. In our everyday lives, and in our death, may we find in him freedom and peace.
Helen Marshall