A Sign of Contradiction

Christmas Octave (29 December 2018)

1 John 2:3-11. Psalm 96:1-3, 5-6. Luke 2:22-35. (Please click the following link for the above readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122918.cfm.)

“Prompted by the Holy Spirit Simeon came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God.”

Yesterday's Christmas reading was from the gospel of Matthew, and today's from Luke. We need to remember that Matthew's Christmas narratives are considerably different from that of Luke's. Matthew and Luke have some common core elements, but they also have significant differences regarding the origins and birth of Jesus (while John’s “Word became flesh” is even more distinctive).

Throughout Luke’s account, the action centres on Mary much more than on Joseph, and the other main characters are not rich and powerful men as in Matthew’s Gospel, but women like Elizabeth and Anna. If men appear in Luke, they are mostly poor (shepherds) and/or elderly (Zechariah and Simeon). Moreover, the Lucan women often play roles that are as important as their male counterparts. When Baby Jesus is presented in the Temple, two old people encounter him. Although Luke does not record Anna’s words, only Simeon’s, it is significant that Anna is called a prophet and is the one speaking publicly to the surrounding people, whereas Simeon had spoken only privately to Jesus’ parents and in prayer to God.

Today's reading narrates the old man Simeon's prophecy that Jesus will be a sign of contradiction to the nations. This child is destined for the rising and the fall of many in Israel, and a sign to be rejected.

As we know from the gospels, contradiction and opposition were certainly the lot of Jesus. As Jesus began to share his mission, he forewarned the first apostles that they too would have to face opposition, rejection and persecution. “You will be hated by all men and women on account of my name” (Matthew 10:22). “If they persecute me they will persecute you too” (John 15:10).

For us too Jesus' disciples, growth in spirituality entails a foundational trust in the midst of suffering, some ability to bear darkness and uncertainty, and learning to be comfortable with paradox and mystery.

Light and dark are not opposing forces; rather, darkness is the absence of light. And when light enters in, there is no more darkness. In the darkness of our world and our lives, we need the true and lasting light that comes from Christ.

So if we don’t own our own evil, we will always project it elsewhere and attack it there. As we go through life, the hurts, disappointments, betrayals, abandonments, and the burden of our sinfulness and brokenness pile up, and we do not know what to do with it all. If we don't transform the pain and suffering within ourselves, we will surely transmit it to some others, usually to those closest to us: our family, our neighbours, our work partners, and, invariably, the most vulnerable—our children.

Therefore all the conflicts and contradictions of life must find a resolution in us before we can resolve anything outside ourselves. The people who hold the contradictions—and resolve them in themselves—are the saviours of the world. They are agents of transformation, reconciliation, and newness.

Our God is a God of contradictions. He does not abide by our human limits. He is able to exist in contradictions, and can shatter the limits of our perceptions.