Opinion

Celebrating the Light of the world

Next Monday will be the feast of Candlemas, forty days after Christmas. Rev Christina Rees explains the significance of this for Christians.

In her poem about each month of the year, the poet Sara Coleridge wrote: ‘February brings the rain, Thaws the frozen lakes again.’  It’s doubtful whether any lakes in Norfolk will have frozen this winter but the underlying meaning is clear: Spring is on its way, even if there’s precious little evidence of it yet!
 
Candlemas, an event that many churches mark at the beginning of February, ushers in the hope for another kind of brighter future. When Jesus was born, faithful Jews were required to take their firstborn son to the temple in Jerusalem for a rite of purification. At this ceremony, their baby boy would be declared as ‘holy to the Lord’.
 
Mary and Joseph duly took Jesus to the temple, where they would have bought either two turtle-doves or two young pigeons to be sacrificed as part of the ritual. As far as they were concerned, they were simply fulfilling a requirement of their tradition. What they could not have known is how this seemingly unremarkable event was about to become an extraordinary encounter that would echo down the centuries and be celebrated each year by many Christians around the world.
 
The first person they met was an old, devout man called Simeon, who, like many others, longed for the coming of the Messiah. He had been assured by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Messiah before he died. The moment Simeon laid eyes on the baby Jesus, he knew he was the promised Messiah. Simeon took Jesus in his arms and gave thanks to God in words that have become known in Latin as the Nunc Dimittis:
‘Lord, now let your servant depart in peace. With my own eyes I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all people: a light to lighten the Gentiles: and to be the glory of your people Israel.’ (Luke 2:29 – 32)
Simeon then blessed Joseph and Mary and told Mary that her child was destined to do amazing things, including revealing people’s inner thoughts, but that he would also cause her deep suffering: ‘and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’
 
The next person they encountered was Anna, an elderly widow who had spent most of her life worshipping in the temple. When she saw Jesus, like Simeon, she began to praise God. Luke writes that Anna went on to tell everyone she met about Jesus, that the Saviour and Redeemer of the world had come. How that experience must have played on Joseph and Mary’s minds, with Mary trying to imagine what was to become of her precious child.
 
Candlemas celebrates Jesus being recognised as the Light of the world. Perhaps I need to ask myself afresh, am I confidently and faithfully looking to Jesus as the Light of the world? Am I willing to trust that I do not need to fear, even when I feel surrounded by darkness?

The image is courtesy of pixabay.com

Rev’d Christina Rees CBE is a writer and broadcaster, Associate Priest at St Peter’s Church, Sheringham and Director of the LI Tim-Oi Foundation, a charity that supports Christian women across the world with educational grants so they can follow their calling. Christina was born in the United States and grew up on a small wooden sailboat, travelling the world. She was a member of the General Synod of the Church of England for 25 years was awarded a CBE in 2015 for ‘services to the Church of England’. Christina’s books include The Divine Embrace and Feast + Fast – Food for Lent and Easter.
 

The views carried here are those of the author, not of Network Norfolk, and are intended to stimulate constructive and good-natured debate between website users. 

We welcome your thoughts and comments, posted below, upon the ideas expressed here. 

Click here to read our forum and comment posting guidelines