After the birth of Jesus, while they were still in Jerusalem, they took him to the temple to be circumcised. We already looked at Simeon and his place in the Christmas story, now we come to Anna. All of this is taking place in the second chapter of Luke before they return home to Nazareth.
Anna was definitely old. Specifically it tells us she was 84. It tells us that after seven years of marriage her husband died and she had not left the temple since that time as she served. She is identified as being a prophetess. She’s probably someone that we would have a hard time relating to in our freestyle of living. I can’t comprehend staying within the temple complex for that long period of time. There are a lot of social conventions involved here that are not mentioned, making it possible for her to do that.
It seems that she came, saw the baby, realized who this was, and then went and told everybody about it. Christmas should be a time where we have multiple opportunities to witness about who Jesus is. There are natural conversations that will come up. You could generate curiosity simply by responding with “Merry Christmas” to someone who says “Happy holidays”. You could comment on a Christmas Carol that is playing over the loudspeakers. Surely someone will come up with the idea that the Christmas tree is a pagan symbol. The opportunities are everywhere.
So celebrate, worship and witness. It’ll be another 11 months before you get a chance to do this again.
Merry Christmas.
homo unius libri
Sunday, December 21, 2025
Opus 2025-587: Advent Calendar: Day 21, Old Enough to Share
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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.