Well, this Feast, one of the 12 Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church, is just around the corner so I had better get a move on, huh?
The Presentation of the Lord in the Temple- In obedience to the Law, Jesus was brought by the Theotokos and St. Joseph the Betrothed to the Temple in Jerusalem. This was required of all first-born sons in the house of Israel, for the first-born of Israel are holy to the LORD.
Holding the Lord is St. Simeon, who’s words "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel" are prayed daily by every Orthodox Christian.
But other than that, what is known of St. Simeon the God-Receiver? Why did God cause him to live to see the Salvation of Israel and the Light to the Gentiles? Well, it all started during the reign of the Egyptian Emperor Ptolemy Philadelphus, when he requested that the Bible be Translated from Hebrew into Greek for his Greek-speaking Jewish subjects. St. Simeon was chosen as one of the prominent Seventy to whom was entrusted the task of translating the Bible from Hebrew into the Greek language [This translation becameknown as the Septuagint, for seventy].
St. Simeon was performing his task conscientiously but when he was translating the book of the Prophet Isaiah and came upon the prophecy: "Behold, a virgin [Heb: almah] shall conceive, and will give birth to a son" (Isaiah 7:14), he translated the word into Greek using the Greek word for virgin, but he became confused and took a knife to scrape off the word "virgin" in order to replace it with the words, "young woman," (‘young woman’ is an alternate translation of almah) as is seen in many modern translations. (The Revised Standard Version is one such translation; translated from the Masoretic text instead of the Septuagint.) At that moment, however, an angel of God appeared to Simeon and restrained him, explaining to him that the prophecy is true and correct. The messenger of God also said that Simeon would be convinced of it personally for Simeon would not be allowed to die until he saw the Messiah born of the Virgin. Simeon rejoiced to hear the angel’s voice, left the prophecy unchanged and thanked God. He died shortly after meeting Jesus.
On the vigil of the Feast (Evening of Feb 1) and on the Feast itself (Feb. 2), we will all be rejoicing. But look closely at the Icon. Look at St. Simeon's face. Is that a face filled with joy? Is that gladness? No. That is a very serious visage. He forsees sorrow. Perhaps, God has revealed to him the Crucifixion, for he says to the Theotokos, "A sword will pierce your heart". We must never forget that Jesus came to pour out his life, in fact, his self emptying is part of his nature. He is slain from the foundation of the earth. He gives everything he is to his Father.
Yes, I know I haven't gotten to the whole Groundhog-Candle-Presentation connection yet, but I will. Trust me.
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