At the beginning of the year, after the Feasts of Theophany and of the Three Great Hierarchs of the Orthodox Church—Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom, commemorated separately and then together during the month of January—we meet the baby Jesus, Who is brought to the Temple, according to the Jewish custom, to be redeemed. Every firstborn male was considered to belong to the Lord, because the Lord had saved all the firstborn on the night of the flight from Egypt. Christ is thus brought to the Temple to be redeemed “with a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons,” yet He Himself would redeem us with His own blood.

Through Christ’s incarnation and sacrificial death, we have been redeemed and we belong to the Lord. We have been redeemed from bondage to the evil one. We have been transferred into the Kingdom. We are the Lord’s. The Jews apparently did not want to be under obligation to God, so Moses ordained this redemption 40 days after birth. But can we truly buy ourselves back from the Lord? Can we truly offer Him something as valuable as the very gift of our life? We find the answer to our questions in the icon of the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord.

The baby Jesus is brought to the Temple together with His parents’ gift for His redemption. But at the Temple He is met by the elderly Simeon, “righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel.” Man meets the God-Man. Man extends his arms, desiring to contain Deity. The righteous and devout man receives in his arms the One who brings us redemption. The one who apparently needed to be bought back and redeemed by man from God is the One who, in fact, being God, redeems man. Man must reach out, desire redemption, receive God, and then thank Him. We no longer bargain with God; we no longer bring Him turtledoves or pigeons. Instead, we may receive God, the Incarnate Son Himself. God Himself has become the gift of redemption. And it is not right to refuse Him, believing that we can somehow redeem ourselves another way.

At this glorious Feast I urge you all to receive God, to reach out with your arms and souls in longing for God. And when you have received Him, be thankful, as those who possess both the gift and the Giver!

† Metropolitan Nicolae