Simeon is the most obvious of prophets. Not like, oh Simeon, you’re so brilliant, you’re obviously a prophet! But like, duh, Simeon, it didn’t take a prophet to see that coming!
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “…a sword will pierce your own soul too.” – Luke 2:33-35 (NRSV abridged)
Telling a new parent that loving this little bundle of joy is also going to destroy them? Telling someone who has just given birth that for every hope she holds, there will also be pain?
She’s figured it out. Jesus is eight days old now. You can already see the sword handle sticking out of her chest. That’s what it means to be a loving parent.
That’s what it means to be a loving anything: friend, child, neighbor. Caring for this other person will be a sign of life, and liberation, and joy. And it will also just about kill you. Every. Single. Day.
That’s the way I’ve read Simeon’s “too” in “a sword will pierce your soul too.” There will be joy and pain as well. You take the good with the bad. #factsoflife
But there is another, less obvious, way. Simeon is, after all, a prophet. Maybe these are God’s words. Maybe that “too” is God’s too. Maybe God is telling Mary, “We are in this together.” And in that moment, God means it more than ever. Because, in Jesus, God finally has a soul to be pierced.
Jesus is eight days old. God already knows: this hurts. Maybe God is telling Mary, telling us, I get it now. I’ve loved like you. See the sword?
Prayer
This hurts! Thank you for knowing.
About the Author
Vince Amlin is co-pastor of Bethany UCC, Chicago, and co-planter of Gilead Church Chicago, forming now.