Announcing the Advent: Nunc Dimittis

Background

The Nunc Dimittis is the most widely sung of the four canticles of Advent. It has served as the primary Post-Communion Canticle in the Divine Service liturgies and in the Order of Compline (Prayer at the Close of the Day). It is also used after the Lord’s Prayer in the Funeral Service. It marks the Christian’s status as being ready for God to call him/her home at any moment.

The Announcement

Read Luke 2:16-20.

¹⁶And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. ¹⁷And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

1. The shepherds go out and tell everyone what they had been told. We are also charged to go and tell. What details do you focus on in your telling of the story? Can you tell the story without telling what it means to you personally?

Read Luke 2:21-35.

²¹And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

²²And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” ²⁵Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

²⁹“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;

³⁰for my eyes have seen your salvation

³¹that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

³²a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

³³And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed ³⁵(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

The scene has shifted. We are now forty days after Jesus was born. Jesus is being presented in the Temple as Mary’s firstborn son in accordance to the Law of Moses (Exodus 13:12-13; Leviticus 12:2-8). The animals were a sacrifice to ceremonially cleanse the mother and to redeem the child. In this redemption, the Levites took the place of the firstborn males in Temple service.

• What has the Holy Spirit made Simeon aware of (verse 26)?

• Simeon may not have expected the “consolation of Israel” (verse 25) in the form of a small child. Yet, once the Holy Spirit identified Jesus in this way, Simon was ready and able to announce to whomever would listen that God had fulfilled His promises.
  • How is this a personal promise (verses 29-30)?

• How is this a universal promise (verses 31-32)?

• How might this have been a further confirmation of the angel’s message to Mary and Joseph?

• Simeon had a message for Mary. For the first time in all the announcements, a cloud overshadowed all the good news. How were Simeon’s words in verse 34 fulfilled?

• Verse 35 tells how this shadow will personally affect Mary (see John 19:25-27). How will this prophecy be fulfilled?

²⁵but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Read Luke 2:36-40.

³⁶And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, ³⁷and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

³⁹And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

• The main character we see in these verses is Anna. Reflect on the fact that God would choose shepherds, an elderly man, and an elderly woman to proclaim the good news. Shouldn’t this announcement have come from the priests? What does this say to us about God’s expectations for witnesses?

The Reaction

1. Although the Scripture account is minimal, what happened to “all who heard” the shepherds (verse 18)?

• What was Joseph and Mary’s reaction to Simeon’s words (verse 33)?

• Simeon prophesied that many would speak against Jesus and His message (verse 34).
  • What were some of their objections at the time?

• What are some of the objections today?

• Are the objections really any different?

The Response

The people reacted to the shepherds’ message; they were amazed. But what was their response? At this point our text gives us no help. There would be nearly thirty years before the voice of John would begin to cry out in the wilderness (Luke 3:1-6). Would there be some who would remember the shepherds and their message? Would there be some whose parents would have told the story about the elderly man and woman in the Temple, proclaiming “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel”?

In the meantime, some, like Simeon, would have closed their eyes in peace, knowing that God had kept His promise. Faith doesn’t rely on what is seen. God’s Word should be enough for them as us. Hebrews 11 speaks not only to New Testament people, but to God’s people of all times.

My Response

As we near the close of the Advent season, we come face to face with the fact that our response must be a response of faith. God indeed moved in a mysterious way. The whole account of the birth of Jesus tells of something that the world experienced only once. It is not going to be repeated. Yet, from the Garden of Eden until the stable of Bethlehem, it was all foretold. Do you accept the story of God working in history with one end in mind: your salvation?

It is not simply a historical event. It took place for your salvation. So great is God’s love, not for an abstract world, but for you, a lost and condemned sinner, that He was willing to go to such ends, even the scratchy straw of the Bethlehem manger, so that you may be His own, live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.