In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 Joyous feast.

We celebrate this feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the temple. And this meeting occurs because of a particular commandment of the law, as we hear in the Gospel today, that this is to fulfill this commandment that the Lord considers holy—each male child that opens a mother's womb. And so in order to receive back your firstborn son from the Lord, you needed to make an offering in place of that child of two turtledoves or two young pigeons.

Where is this coming from? What is this commandment? Is it just something arbitrary that the Lord likes to demand this of his people? No, it's coming from the redemption of Israel, from their deliverance from Egypt, from the hands of Pharaoh, who would not release them from slavery, even after the Lord had sent many plagues upon them as a warning to repent and turn from this evil intent. And so at last there came the most terrible of all the plagues when the angel of death struck down all of the male children of Egypt. And the only ones that were preserved were those of Israel, the tribe of Israel, who had marked their doors with the blood of the lamb, the Passover.

And it is in remembrance that the death passed them over, did not take their children on that terrible day which at last led to their deliverance from Egypt—that is why Israel thereafter, according to the law of Moses, made an offering in place of these children, of these animal sacrifices of a lamb or pigeons or doves.

We understand now, having fulfilled all of the law in the person of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, we've received back from the hand of the Lord a new law that is the law in Jesus himself—something entirely new that makes more sense of all this, that opens it up to us, that enlightens our eyes, so that we understand that what is done on this particular day is fulfilling all the offerings that had ever been made in Israel, because it was all standing in for this particular offering. Because this child in this moment, according to the law of Moses, is redeemed as were all these sons—but as we heard from Simeon in this prophecy, a sword will pierce through the heart of his mother Mary. And we know why this is. That sword is his death on the cross, the piercing of the nails, of the lance.

You see, Israel was redeemed from the death of their firstborn children. But God was giving his own firstborn son, his only begotten, in place of all of them. That is his blood, ultimately—not the blood of lambs over doorposts or the blood of two turtledoves in the temple, but the blood of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ on the cross that would redeem all of his people.

And in a greater mystery still, we understand that according to this new order, the order of Melchizedek in place of the order of Moses, that not merely would those who had been attempting to fulfill the law of Moses beforehand be redeemed. And in fact, we hear again this prophecy that the sign of this coming of the Christ, this child Jesus here, will be a division in Israel. There will be those who do not accept this offering, do not accept this salvation. But also that even in Egypt there will be those whose hearts are turned from idolatry, from enmity to God and to his people, and they also will be redeemed.

And so we understand those joyful words of Simeon's prayer that we hear every time we celebrate Vespers: "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel." The people that had been divided in two, Jews and Gentiles, now are made one.

And this is possible not through any clever negotiations or pacts or alliances, wars or political systems, but through the saving plan of God who makes an offering that we cannot make—something that is beyond the world itself, that expresses love and power that is beyond our understanding and claims us, redeems us from the hands of the great enemy of sin and death, and places us safely into that new Israel, that temple which is a sign of his church and of his kingdom which has no end.

And with that sign marked on each one of us today, we rejoice and we follow him in hope from here all the days of our life into that kingdom which has no end.

Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory forever.