• Malachi 3: 1-4

Although not much is known about the author, his priority is distinct: the centrality of the Covenant and, therefore, its teaching and use in worship in the Temple.

• Psalm 84

The psalmist rhapsodizes about the Temple as the destination for pilgrims.

OR

• Psalm 24: 7-10

Composed as if by a Temple priestly functionary, the text finds in the Temple “the beauty of the Lord,” which inspires “shouts of joy” and singing. The psalmist is certain of finding the Lord’s presence in the Temple, which he could not imagine being without. Even if his parents abandon him, he is certain “the Lord will take me in.’

• Letter to the Hebrews 2: 14-18

The writer demonstrates that it is essential to understand something critical about Jesus:”he did not come to help angels,” but human beings (“the descendants of Abraham”), “Therefore, he became like his brothers and sisters in every respect so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God,” enabling him to offer himself as a “sacrifice for atonement.”

• Luke 2: 22-40

Luke conflates the Jewish dedication of a first born male and the “purification” of a woman after childbirth into one event. With reliable skill, the writer uses telling details to paint a larger picture. This is the first time Jesus goes to the Temple, which will figure prominently in his life, especially at the end. The episode is closely based on the dedication of the prophet Samuel by his mother Hannah, who had desperately wanted s child. Like Samuel, who would identify the first king of Israel and inaugurate the monarchy, so now Simeon, (who makes his only appearance in the gospel), is present to witness and declare the arrival of “the glory of your people Israel” and also “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.” This child will be consequential, because his presence in human affairs will overturn the status of some and lift up others and he will expose hidden motives. He will also cause pain to his mother. Because of what he witnessed this day on the Temple, the aged Simeon is now “ready to depart in peace.” Also that day, there was another elder present, a prophet called Anna. She testified to all who were present that this was the child for all “who were looking for the redemption of Israel.”

As a phenomenonologist would observe ‘when the divine runs into the mundane’ or a theologian would say ‘when God enters into humanity’ disruption follows. The status quo simply cannot continue because it has become too unimaginative, too fossilized, too destructive, too rigid, too focused on its own preservation that it cannot stand. When the divine/God engages humanity, the disruption that inevitably follows is always feared by some and welcomed by others, who have been longing for an intervention; by some who want to hang-on to the status quo and others who have imagined and been working for something better for all, .i.e something to do with justice.

The entirety of Luke’s “infancy narrative,“ from the opening at 1:1 through this incident ending at 2:40, sets the stage for all that will follow. “This child is destined for the falling and rising of many,” the aged Simeon declares.

In his Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida: Religion Without Religion, John Caputo believes Derrida has highlighted a critical paradox in the gospel: “Peace is not the tranquility of order… but a passionate, outreaching aspiration for something to come…” because order is too frequently associated with terror. (p. 332)

This child, the text warns from the very beginning, will be recognized and welcomed by some and feared by some, because his intervention will bring change.

As an infant, Jesus is taken to the Temple by Mary and Joseph for the standard rituals of the day. He will return as an adult at the end of his life for for a confrontation with the status quo to introduce to humankind a unique and new revelation of Love