Discover The Word

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Luke 1 and 2

Interview with Anna

HADDON: Well Anna I’m delighted to welcome you to Discover the Word for a lot of reasons. My mother’s name was Anna, named after you.

ANNA: How nice. And I’m delighted to be here. I’ll go anywhere at any time if I can speak about my Lord.

HADDON: We know that, Anna, and that’s why we’ve invited you into our studio today. We’re eager to know what happened in the temple in Jerusalem when Jesus was just over a month old. You were there. What can you tell us?

ANNA: Do you understand about our Jewish rituals? About the presentation after a child is born?

HADDON: Well, a little, but not a lot. Explain it to us.

ANNA: You DO know that a Jewish baby boy is circumcised when he is eight days old?

HADDON: Yes, we do know that.

ANNA: But perhaps you don’t know that after the circumcision there are two other rituals that new parents must observe. One is for the mother, and the other is for the child.

HADDON: Help us understand that a bit more.

ANNA: The ritual for the mother is called the rite of purification. You see, according to our law, a woman is “unclean” for eight days after the birth of a son, or for 14 days after the birth of a daughter. If a boy is born, she stays secluded for 33 days. If a girl is born, she stays secluded for 66 days. And when her time of seclusion ends, she travels to the temple in Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice of purification. If the family has a lot of money, she offers a lamb. But if they are poor, she offers a pair of pigeons or two turtledoves (Leviticus 12:8).

HADDON: Interesting, so that’s the ritual for the mother’s purification. What about the child?

ANNA: That’s very different. When a boy is the first-born—as Jesus was—he has to be redeemed or bought back with a sum of money from consecration to the service of God and the sanctuary. You see, in order to keep alive a feeling of his rights in the heart of the people, God fixed a ransom to be paid for every first-born male. It was five shekels. So when Mary and Joseph came to the temple in Jerusalem, they performed both rituals. Mary offered the two young pigeons as a sacrifice for her purification, and they paid the ransom for their first-born son, Jesus.

HADDON: So that’s what brought them to the temple then. It must have been very common to see couples coming with their offerings and the ransom money for first-born sons. How did you know that the baby Jesus was different from all the other little boy babies brought to the temple day after day?

ANNA: Have you forgotten that I am a prophetess?

HADDON: Thank you for reminding me of that fact. By the way—what did that mean? What did you do as a prophetess?

ANNA: A prophet or a prophetess is simply someone who receives a message from God and relays it to the people. I said “simply someone,” but it’s not so simple. Anyone can pretend to have a message from God and even convince others that he or she is a prophet. But a true prophet is someone whose message is always accurate and always necessary. And that means listening carefully to God so that it’s possible to hear from him.

HADDON: In your case, Anna, you’ve spent most of your life in the temple here in Jerusalem, serving God with fasting and prayers. You’ve put yourself in a position to hear the voice of God.

ANNA: As you know, my husband died after we had been married only seven years. We had no living children and I believed that God wanted me to devote my life to his service in the temple. Sometimes I think about living here in the temple all these years—I’ve lived here more than 60 years now—and I marvel that it was even possible.

HADDON: Why is that so strange?

ANNA: I was the daughter of Phanuel. Do you know what that means?

HADDON: No, I’m afraid I don’t.

ANNA: It means that I’m from the tribe of Asher. That was one of the ancient tribes of Israel on the northern edge of the kingdom. We don’t enter into the history of Israel very often. The last time our tribe was mentioned in our holy book was in Moses’ blessing just before he died fourteen hundred years ago (Deuteronomy 33:24-25). As I said, our tribe lived on the northern edge of Israel. We were vulnerable to invaders. And when the northern ten tribes were captured by the Assyrian armies 700 years ago, the tribe of Asher disappeared completely. Gone. Ended.

HADDON: But somehow your family preserved your heritage.

ANNA: Yes, the lineage is intact. We can trace it back, all the way back to the time of Moses. I am from one of the lost tribes of Israel. Isn’t it remarkable that a woman from Asher should minister through prayer and fasting in the temple day and night? A woman. And from a lost northern tribe of Israel. For more than 60 years I’ve lived here and worshiped the Lord God. I’m 84 years old, you know.

HADDON: Yes, that’s quite amazing. At age 84 you’re still serving God night and day in the temple in a ministry of prayer. And you are a prophet. Is that how you knew that the baby Jesus was different from all the other boy babies brought to the temple?

ANNA: Yes, God told me. And he also told Simeon who had come to worship in the temple that day. The Holy Spirit of God revealed to Simeon that he wouldn’t die before he saw God’s Messiah. So he came by the Spirit to the temple that day. We both saw the young couple with the new baby boy. Simeon went over to them first and took the baby in his arms and blessed him. And then he prayed. First, he asked God to let him die, according to his promise, because Simeon knew he had seen the salvation of the Lord, the Messiah. And then he prophesied that this baby would be the means of salvation for all people, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and a glory of Israel.

HADDON: That’s a remarkable prophecy which only the Holy Spirit could have given him.

ANNA: Yes. And Simeon said more. He told the young mother that her son was destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel and that he would be spoken against and would bring her great pain.

HADDON: Did she seem to understand that the Messiah could bring her pain?

ANNA: In our country we’ve had some confusing ideas about the Messiah. Many Jews expect the Messiah to deliver Israel from Roman rule. The Pharisees expect that. They think that the Messiah will triumph over Rome with a physical army. But not everyone agrees with the Pharisees about the Messiah.

HADDON: Like whom, for instance?

ANNA: Well, the Sadducees, for one. The Sadducees don’t expect anything. They don’t really even believe in the resurrection or in the hope of Israel. For them, if we are going to be delivered, we’ll have to do it ourselves. Somewhere between the Pharisees and the Sadducees are those, the true faithful ones, who understand our law and our prophets, and who expect the consolation of Israel.

Hmmm, I was telling you about Simeon’s prophecy concerning the child. I had just come into the courtyard where they stood and instantly I knew that the baby in Simeon’s arms was the promised Messiah.

HADDON: What did you do then?

ANNA: What did I do? I do what a prophet is called to do. I spoke of this child to all who looked for the redemption of God in Jerusalem. People had lost hope, you know. The religious leaders were corrupt. The priests treated the sacrifices like an empty formality. There seemed to be little real trust in the living God. I had prayed and prayed that God would send his Messiah to call his people back to heart religion. And in that moment I knew that God had answered my prayer. I had work to do! I had a message to announce! There were those in Jerusalem who needed to hear that the Christ has come! So I spoke of him to all who came, who yearned for the redemption God had promised.

HADDON: Anna, thank you for coming to our studio to talk about that wonderful day when the baby Jesus was presented in the temple. You’ve helped us understand the meaning of that day.

ANNA: More important than the meaning of that day is the meaning of that Child. He is God in human form. He is the promised deliverer. He is the redeemer. He is our Savior. If we don’t know that, we don’t know the meaning of that Child.