Monday 02 February 2015

Psalm: Psalm 24

Background

Today is celebrated in many churches as the Presentation ofChrist in the Temple, or Candlemas, and our passage is selected inrelation to it. At one level Luke's Gospel is giving us a pictureof a devout Jew longing for God to bring the Messiah, who is torestore the glories of Israel as the faithful people of God, freedfrom foreign oppression. Through Simeon's eyes we see the infantJesus as the fulfilment of that hope.

But our passage also serves a wider purpose, preparing us forall that follows in Luke's Gospel and in the sequel volume, theActs of the Apostles. Jesus, although welcomed by many, is rejectedby the leaders of his own people and crucified, but after hisresurrection is widely accepted by non-Jews as Paul and otherpreachers take the message across the Roman Empire. In that contextour passage speaks of the universal significance of Jesus (in verse32 Gentiles (non Jews) are mentioned first), and thus addresses ustoday.

To Ponder

• In view of the vitality of other world religions, how far is itrealistic to speak of Jesus as a saving light for all nations?

• What might it mean in today's context to be "righteous anddevout" (v. 25)?