Presentation of Jesus in the Temple February 2 (February 15) Scripture: Luke 2:22-40 Joseph: stands on the left with the offering of two turtle doves as prescribed by the Law for the poor for each firstborn Jewish child on the 40th days after birth. The Prophetess Anna who prayed constantly in the Temple points to Christ the promised Messiah. The scroll (“This Child has established heaven and earth’) she holds symbolizes her prophetic office. The Theotokos holds her hands out to the Infant Jesus in a gesture of offering. The Jesus also beckons to her. Christ is depicted as a mature child (or ‘little man’) to symbolize His Divinity as the Word of God. The aged Simeon holds Christ in the hems of his garment out of veneration. Tradition states that he was over 200 years old and was one of the original Seventy translators of the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament). He was allowed to live to see the Messiah since he questioned the t translation of Isaiah’s ‘the Virgin shall l conceive’ thinking it was an error in the text. He now asks to ‘depart in peace’. The buildings with disappearing roofs show that the scene is inside. The Jewish Temple is transformed by the presence of Christ into an Orthodox Church. The Royal Doors are closed in front of the altar (Holy Table). The altar foreshadows Christ’s future sacrifice for sin as well the place where the doves were offered in the Jewish Temple. Over the holy area is a kivorion which represents the ‘sky’ or Kingdom of Heaven. A kivorion was often placed over Eastern Orthodox Holy Table. Simeon comes down from the Table of Shewbread (twelves loaves baked weekly) which was in the north part of the Temple to Christ the ‘bread of life’. This means the view of the icon is facing East just as the Sanctuary of the Orthodox Church is in the East. Christ blesses the river Jordan in the customary hand position of a bishop. The river is personified by a small winged man.