People Patterns

Luke 2:22-40

Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 

"This work here has to do with memory. With this work, we revive iconic moments, people and scenes." Thus spoke the prolific Brazilian street art muralist Eduardo Kobra in his native Portuguese tongue. He was explaining to a worldwide Youtube audience why he painted a 170 ft. mural on the side of a building in São Paulo, Brazil that depicts Oscar Niemeyer, the architect of Brazil's capital city of Brasília. Yet, Eduardo Kobra's description explains much more than this painting. It seems to explain the great majority of his painting. It definitely explains the mural that I used to drive by on my daily commute to work. There it was at 1220 N. Highland Ave in the midst of Hollywood, 4300 square feet of wall transformed into a glorious ribbons of multicolored memory forming patterns of people. This is the majesty of what Kobra does. His works are make us remember the multicolored patterns of greatness and beauty that we have witnessed in our world. They are patterns that form people; people who formed our present world. The work that I was blessed to see was a picture of redemption. I mean that it in its most literal sense: to exchange, to buy back, to ransom from captivity...and in doing so to repair, atone and bring beauty. This mural both beautified and beatified this plain wall by telling the sacred stories of three people who worked to redeem people: Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Even so, Eduardo Kobra's description explains much more than his paintings. It seems to explain the theme of today's Scripture reading in Luke 2:22-40. It explains the gospel narrative that is in itself a multifaceted tapestry of people patterns. Those interwoven memories of iconic moments, people and scenes that sing to us the song of redemption.

Moses

...Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons”...

In the grand, intricately patterned, mural painted by the gospel writer we meet Moses. Yet this picture curiously looks just like Eduardo Kobra's portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is the portrait of a visionary preacher. A preacher who was also a leader of a nation of people who were historically held captive far from their ancestral home. A preacher who worked for a new Law that expressed the full freedom of these children of slaves. A preacher who spoke of a Promised land that he had seen from the Mountaintop. A preacher of a Promised land that he knew that he would not live to enter

Martin Luther King, Jr. knowingly borrowed from Moses' narrative. In fact, ever since the days of their enslavement the African American community had long seen a corresponding narrative in the Israelite enslavement in Egypt. Even Harriet Tubman, who had freed hundreds of slaves through the Underground Railroad was lovingly referred to as "Black Moses." So there Dr. King stood in the shoes of Moses, generations after the initial freedom of his people but still not quite yet in the age of the Promised land that the new Law would govern over. The undeniable parallels made his message more powerful and understandable. We can use our familiarity with Dr. King to better understand Moses. Why am I focusing so much on Moses, a character who doesn't actually act in this narrative? It is because even his absence he still acts. His presence is felt in the actions and motivations of the actual characters in this episode. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to be presented in the temple they did so because Moses said to do so. The gospel writer makes sure that we don't miss this point by including the Scripture in the Torah that inspired the act. But what's the significance of this? Moses had a long career with many heroic acts and wrote five books of Scripture. The mitzvah that Mary and Joseph perform for Jesus is quoted from only one of those books. What was so special about this one that it should be listed in the beginning chapters of a book about Jesus? It is because this mitzvah and Scripture encapsulated the overall message of Moses' ministry. It tied together the single point that Moses communicated throughout all of his works. This mitzvah was about Redemption. This mitzvah is a work that practicing Jews still practice to this very day, called the Redemption of the first-born son or Pidyon haben (פדיון הבן‎). When Jewish parents refer to this ritual as redemption, they mean that it in its most literal sense: to exchange, to buy back, to ransom from captivity...and in doing so to repair, atone and bring beauty. Moses readied his readers for this practice (in his earlier writing) by exposing them to its precursors. In each the firstborn male is ransomed by giving God exchange or substitute payment. 

In Genesis Moses tells us how God asks Abraham togive Him Isaac (not Abraham's firstborn son, but his firstborn son with his wife Sarah). God then tells Abraham that this sacrifice would not be necessary because God had provided a ram as an exchange to substitute for Isaac. The theme of the story of the binding if Isaac is not that God may ask you to kill your kids or that God likes to trick people into shows of faith but rather that God was instituting a substitutionary atonement model for redemption.

Moses then tells us the Passover story in the first half ofExodus. As part of his assault campaign of plagues and curses against the House of Egypt, he takes the Firstborn sons of the Egyptians (and their livestock). The houses of the Israelites are protected from death when God offers that they sacrifice a lamb and smear it's blood over their doorpost. Their firstborn sons were redeemed through an exchange for the blood of a lamb. Observant Jews still practice this mitzvah to this day as a sign that God was continuing to honor substitutionary atonement for redemption.

Finally in the book of Numbers Moses tells us of the Choosingof the Levites. It appears that The Lord taking first borne son was not about sacrificing him (as proven by the binding of Isaac) but it did have to deal with sacrifice. Moses shows us that up to that point the first borne so acted as the priest of every household. By priest I don't mean one who preaches or pastors but rather the one who performs the necessary religious sacrifices to God. God had accepted the first borne son of every family as a minister. Hence Moses' older brother Aaron was naturally the priest of his family. What changes on Leviticus is that God offers to redeem the other tribe's first borne sons out of this service by choosing the tribe of Levi as the sole priestly tribe. They would collectively oversee the religious sacrifice and worship to God on the tabernacle and later the temple. Among them the family of Aaron (Moses' older priestly brother) would be the only Levites to perform the priestly function of actually sacrificing animals. So from this point onward Jewish families would bring turtle doves or pigeons to a Cohenim (the priestly family of Aaron) to sacrifice for their first borne son. They would also pay the Cohenim a few silver coins as an exchange for redeeming their son by being an atoning substitute in their son's priestly service. Contemporary Jews still maintain this practice by paying giving silver coins to a fellow Hew with the last name Cohen or Kohen (the modern day descendant of the priestly family of Aaron) to redeem their first borne sons.

This is what Mary and Jesus were doing with the infant Jesus at the temple. But why is this story featured in the beginning chapters of a story about the life of Jesus? It is significant because tied together the single point that Moses communicated throughout all of his works. This story was about Redemption. It is the story of being bought back by the sacrifice of another. It is the story of freedom. It is what we as Christians believe that Christ, our high priest and atoning sacrifice did for us on the cross. It is the story of a vision that Moses, Jesus and Dr. King all had of a  "day when all of God's children, black menand white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able tojoin hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free atlast! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Simeon

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against  (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

In the grand, intricately patterned, mural painted by the gospel writer we meet Simeon  Yet this picture curiously looks just like Eduardo Kobra's portrait of Nelson Mandela. It is the portrait of  a patient and wise old man. An old man who had foreseen the future consolation of a nation. An old man would endure an age of injustice while faithfully waiting for an afar off time of justice and equity. An old man whose suffering would be replaced with joy as his hands blessed the government of this new era. Mandela's status of the enduring sage and prophet of a politically realized eschatology helps us see Simeon in a more approachable light. We know Simeon because we know the archetypal type that he fulfills. History is full of figures that fill his prototypical mold. 

We even see these figures in the redemptive history that Moses first introduced us to. The redemption of the first-born is even seen in Biblical stories after Moses like the story of Hannah dedicating her son Samuel back to God (through the Levite temple service). In the opening of the book that bears his name, we are told of Samuel being a child born to a formerly barren mother. After she promises to dedicate her child to the Lord, she is granted a child by God. After the child is weaned she brings brings him to the temple in Shiloh (long before the temple in Jerusalem) and gives the Levites to be raised for temple service. Samuel's story is a reverse of the redemption of the firstborn. His mother intentionally does not redeem him from priestly service but willingly gives him back to the Lord. This was not done due to poverty (her sacrifice shows that she had more than enough financial means to afford the five shekels). This sacrifice was done as an act of living worship.  

Samuel would go on to judge Israel. Since this was the time before an Israelite monarchy the judges were the government of the twelve tribes. In this time of loose tribal organization Samuel was the man who heard cases and brought down the corrupt. When God finally allowed the Israelites to have a monarchy, Samuel was the prophet that he chose to identify and anoint the first two kings (Saul and David). In the time of centralization of national government Samuel was the man who would uplift the humble. .

Simeon followed in the prophetic tradition of Samuel. Simeon continued the redemption history that Moses testified to. Like Samuel he was there for the consecration of the new King, not like any other king that had been anointed before him. This child Jesus was the Anointed One, the Christ,the Messiah. He was the rightful Divine King that God had always intended to rule. In him the monarchy was merged with the theocracy. And in his redemption God was trading giving his Son in exchange for our sins. This is the prize that Simeon had the endurance to wait for. It is the reward that if we are faithful and patient shall receive. Sin and hardships may weigh us down and separate us from God but as believers in Christ we testify to an enduring and resurrecting faith that concurs both of these foes. It is the endurance of Samuel, Simeon and Nelson Mandela that proclaims "Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end."

 

Anna

Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

In the grand, intricately patterned, mural painted by the gospel writer we meet Anna  Yet this picture curiously looks just like Eduardo Kobra's portrait of Mother Theresa. It is the portrait of  a holy and prayerful old woman. An old woman who dedicated her life in humble service to God.
An old woman who could not work in the priestly system that restricted to males but found an outside way to glorify God. An old woman who communicated the message of God's salvation of her city. An old woman whose message of citywide redemption lead to the salvation of the humble outsiders for whom God had built His kingdom.

Mother Teresa's story and Anna's story are both the fulfillment of God's promises to exalt the lowly and humble the proud. Due to the nature of both figures religious traditions, neither would be able to go through the traditional routes of religious leadership. But as you may remember from my previous posts God instituted another system alongside the priesthood that acts as a critical check to abuses in the system. It is that of the prophet. Prophets were not a constant office like that of the priesthood. They also were not an inherited office. The prophet was God's own little internal affairs investigator and spoke the very edicts of the Divine. The existence of a prophet was either revelatory of Scripture or a sign of judgment against the current authorities or even both. Scripture tells us that Israel had not seen a prophet for hundreds of years since Malachi and his Old Testament peers. So when the Lord chose to bring about a new generation of prophets like John the Baptist and Zechariah (his father) to announce the new Messianic age, He also called Anna.

Like Mother Teresa, Anna's prophetic ministry would not consist of making sacrifices in the temple but rather in prayerful and sacrificial actions. These actions would both capture the heart of God to reveal it to the world and highlight the Lord's love of the meek, the humble, the disposed and the suffering. The Gospel of Luke is known for highlighting the lives of women in its narrative. Like many other ancient writers, when the author of Luke highlights women he is not just speaking about women. he is using women (who were treated as the underclass) to represent all of the underclass and dispossessed. Yet these supposed second-class citizens are the only citizens of Heaven. They are the ambassadors of God's upside down kingdom that eschews the riches of this world and regards the conventional wisdom of our age as foolishness.

In addition to prophecy, Anna's primary spiritual gift was the same as Samuel's mother Hannah. This was the gift of prayer. The first chapter of the book of 1 Samuel tells of Hannah's prayer of petition to God for a son. The beginning of the second chapter of is filled with Hannah's prayer of praise to God for the gift of her first born son. She follows these prayers by giving her son Samuel back to God as an act of worship. If this storyline seems familiar it is because it is an Old Testament shadow of Jesus' mother, Mary. She too was a woman who had visions and heard from the voice of God. After submitting to God's use of her body as an act of worship, she shared a prayer of praise to God, The Magnificat, as she learns of her formerly barren cousin Elizabeth's (another parallel of Hannah)mothering John the Baptist. As you know, Mary would go on, like Hannah, to give her son Jesus back to God as an act of worship. She would give him as an exchange to God as a redemptive substitute for her and every humble, repentant sinner that walked the earth since the time of her foremother Eve. But Jesus would not go into service in the temple but would rather be crucified by the temple priesthood and religious leadership of the day.   

Anna followed in the prophetic prayer practices of the lowly meek servants that went before her and would follow after her. It is an intercessory prayer that doesn't stop when one opens their eyes. It is prayer as a prophetic lifestyle of talking to God, hearing His voice and seeing His tears in the suffering of others. It is prayer as the whole hearted submission to a loving and active God who desires to live in us and act through us. As disciples of Christ it is an understanding of being attentive to the heart of God. It is the understanding that Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary and Mother Teresa had that “Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.”

Conclusion

So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

In addition to his murals, Eduardo Kobra is known for his posters of musical and pop-culture figures. Like his murals, these figures are individuals who significantly changed their art and spoke timeless truths to the world. One of these figures is Bob Marley. Along with being the undisputed king of traditional Roots Reggae, Bob Marley was also the transmitter and popular face of Rastafarianism to the world. Don't worry Christians, I am not about to say that Christianity and Rastafari movement agree. On the contrary, Rastafarians worship of the deceased Ethiopian emperor  Haile Selassie as the Messiah conflicts with the Christian belief that in Christ as the sole Messiah and son of God. However in their appropriation of Judeo-Christian beliefs and terminology for their own theological purposes, Rastas have created many songs that capture the essence of the Biblical narrative. The talk of Scriptural themes like the Lion of Judah, Babylon, Exodus and other motifs that echo the message that the prophetic line from to Jesus was communicating. No other Raggae song that I am aware of does this a beautifully and simply as "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley. It tells of Redemption of captives by means of ransom. In this blog we have discussed the usage of poetic devices all over Scripture but maybe just saying that the Bible is poetic doesn't drive the point home enough. Scripture sings a song. Throughout the winding narratives and tapestries of people patterns it repeatedly sings the chorus of redemption.  It tt brings us up to Jesus' own redemption of the firstborn ceremony as an infant to lead us into the story of his adult ministry as a worker of redemption. Redemption that would exchange, buy back, ransom from captivity...and in doing so repair, atone and bring beauty. This redemption was a song that all of God's creation will one day join together and sing of. All of God's children will join Scripture in singing the Redemption Song.