At 8 days old, all Jewish boys are circumcised. As a sign of their covenant with God (Genesis 17:11-13), so it was with Jesus. On New Year's Day we celebrated this and focused on Jesus naming. Also to fulfill the law, the purification of the child’s mother after a birth, required a sacrificial offering at the Temple, and there was an offering in respect of the first-born child. Today we look at the same event but with a different focus. This was also a child's first official Presentation to God in the Temple and in Jesus case, it held great signifigance. Two prophets, Simeon described as one who was “looking forward to the consolation of Israel”, a phrase reminiscent of the later chapters of Isaiah and Anna the very epitome of the faithful worshipper of God, both speak prophecy that day, over the child, Jesus - acknowledging that the Messiah has come, God has fulfilled his promise to send the redeemer.

By the end of the 3rd century, the conversion of Constantine had ensured that Christianity would be the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. Alongside this there developed a lot of theological debates about the person of Christ. These two factors combined to produce a growing interest in the places and events associated with the life of Jesus, and pilgrims began to flock to the Holy Land.

Jerusalem became a centre for liturgical innovation, and one of the festivals that grew up in the 4th century was this one, the commemoration of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. The festival was ordered at Constantinople by the emperor Justinian in 542, and gradually spread throughout the church in both east and west. Candles have been associated with the festival from at least the 7th century. Pope Sergius instituted a procession with candles as part of the ceremonies, during which the antiphon “lumen ad revelationem” (“a light for revelation”) and the Nunc dimittis (Simeon's words) were sung. This gave rise to the name “Candlemas” for the festival.

Simeon’s words (“Nunc dimittis”) enlarge the vision of God’s work to encompass the Gentiles. Simeon goes on to warn that the coming of the messiah will bring division as well as hope, for not all Israel will accept him. But that day in the Temple, the centre of Jewish worship, both Law and Prophets bear witness to Jesus as the fulfilment of the hopes of Israel.