Luke 2: baby Jesus in Jerusalem with Simeon

Baby Jesus is taken to Jerusalem after the circumcision and purification of Mary. There they met Simeon.


26-32 The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:
God, you can now release your servant;
    release me in peace as you promised.
With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;
    it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:
A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,
    and of glory for your people Israel.
33-35 Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,
This child marks both the failure and
    the recovery of many in Israel,
A figure misunderstood and contradicted—
    the pain of a sword-thrust through you —
But the rejection will force honesty,
    as God reveals who they really are.

Simeon saw Jesus, the salvation from the Lord and  one that divides: he marks the failure and recovery of many in Israel. He said to Mary that Jesus would be like a sword-thrust through her. We (commentators) understand that it was a reference to the suffering of Mary when seeing her loved son on the cross. Although the Lord had prepared everything, we understand that the Lord, the Father, suffered when Jesus was on the cross.