The Presentation of Christ in the Temple by Giotto di Bondone, 1304-06, Fresco at the Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

Prime Timers

The Prime Timers were a Bible study group at St. Martin's for eight years. One of the goals of our founder, Jackie Rose, was to have a weekly web page for the group and all the pages are still online here. The group disbanded but the readings below are being kept up to date.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, February 2 are from the Lectionary Year A The Presentation of Our Lord: Malachi 3:1-4; Psalm 84 or Psalm 24:7-10; Hebrews 2:14-18 and Luke 2:22-40. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New International Version.

Malachi 3:1-4

¹ “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. ² But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears?

For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, ⁴ and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.

Psalm 84

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty!
   ² My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;
     my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
     and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—
     a place near your altar, LORD Almighty,
     my King and my God.

⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
     they are ever praising you.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
     whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs;
     the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

⁷ They go from strength to strength,
     till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸ Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.
    ⁹ Look on our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
     I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
     than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
     the LORD bestows favor and honor;

no good thing does he withhold
     from those whose walk is blameless.

¹² LORD Almighty,
     blessed is the one who trusts in you.

or Psalm 24:7-10

⁷ Lift up your heads, you gates;
     be lifted up, you ancient doors,
     that the King of glory may come in.

⁸ Who is this King of glory?
     The LORD strong and mighty,
     the LORD mighty in battle.

⁹ Lift up your heads, you gates;
     lift them up, you ancient doors,
     that the King of glory may come in.

¹⁰ Who is he, this King of glory?
     The LORD Almighty—
     he is the King of glory.

Hebrews 2:14-18

¹⁴ Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. ¹⁷ For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Luke 2:22-40

²² When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord” ), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

    ²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
          you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
    ³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
        ³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
    ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
          and the glory of your people Israel.”

³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

³⁶ There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. ³⁸ Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

³⁹ When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.