Big Idea: The baby Jesus is recognized as the Messiah, and two holy people speak of his role in God’s plan of salvation.

Understanding the Text

This scene completes the account of Jesus’s infancy. His circumcision and naming echo those of John in 1:59–63, but, as with the account of his birth, the subsequent incidents are unique, and they lift the reader’s expectations and theological understanding to a higher level. This scene provides the setting for the third of Luke’s canticles in chapters 1–2, Simeon’s song of praise, the Nunc Dimittis. This song, with its explicit recognition that Jesus is to be the Savior of the world, not just of the Jews, brings into the open a theme that so far has been only hinted at.

Historical and Cultural Background

Two different Jewish ceremonies are rec…