Forty days after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary took him to the temple. This is for a Jewish ceremony called Presentation, when the first born son is dedicated to God.

Tradition dictated that the father and mother were supposed to go to the temple and offer up a sacrifice to the Lord. It's in the Law of Moses. Because the firstborn sons of Israel were spared from death at the time of the Passover in Egypt, those boys were to be dedicated to the Lord for his service.

Theoretically, the firstborn sons were supposed to serve at the temple. But the Lord God set apart the whole tribe of Levi to be kind of the "designated priests/servants" to take the place of the boys from the other tribes. (Please read the article by Fr. Jose Daniel Paitel  in this issue to get the biblical basis of this feast/tradition.

At the same time, the mother of the child, in this case St. Mary, undergoes the Mosaic purification rites. The women are not allowed to enter the temple for 40 days after delivering a baby.

They meet Simeon and Anna, two saintly people, waiting a long time to see Messiah. Simeon also delivers the last canticle in the infant narrative of Luke. It is a beautiful poetry that talks about the salvation.

This issue of Malankara World Journal, and the issues cited from the archives, and the sermon archive from the Malankara World goes into this feast in depth.

First, let us look at how St. Luke describes this event:

And 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 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." Now 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. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And 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, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

"Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel."

And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And 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 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."

And 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, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And 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.

And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.
- Luke 2:22-40 (ESV)

A few points are worth pointing out from this description of Mayaltho.

First, tradition required that Parents offer a sacrifice. The sacrifice can be either "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." Joseph and Mary offered a pair of turtledoves as sacrifice as they could not afford two young pigeons. Joseph was a carpenter and Mary was a farm girl. They were very poor. The King of Israel was born into a family that was one of the poorest in Israel. He was born in a manger because the parents could not afford to pay the premium for a good motel; the low priced ones were all full and sold out.

We can see that Jesus Christ, when he started his public ministry, could identify with the poor easily - because he was born into one. In God's kingdom, everything is upside down. The most powerful has to serve, not sit in a throne. The King is here to serve his subjects not rule over them. God has a purpose in everything He do.

The second point is about Messiah and Peace. Israelites expected that when the Messiah comes, he will throw out the Romans and establish his own kingdom and everyone will be happy. No more Romans to worry about; no more Babylonians to worry about etc. To them, Messiah is to be Warrior King like David.

If Mary had any expectation that she will be respected as a queen, by virtue of the fact that she is bearing the son of God, that was dispelled quite fast. Simeon tells her, "a sword will pierce through your own soul." She will have to experience suffering from the day she conceived the word. They had to go live in Egypt after Jesus was born because Herod was determined to kill the boy. Jesus had his own way of doing things. He took instructions from "his father", not the earthly parents. He disappeared from home for extended period of time. He never came home after he started his public ministry. Then Mary had to bear witness to the fake trial of Jesus by the High Priest, sentencing by Pilate, the sorrowful journey to Calvary and seeing her son die on the cross, holding his dead body on her lap after it was taken down from the cross, and, finally, the burial.

Yes, Jesus brought a sword into the lives of whoever came in contact with him as predicted by Simeon. Jesus himself later said that he didn't come to bring piece into this world; but a sword. There will be conflicts within families when some decides to follow Jesus and others do not. He said being his disciple means carrying his cross (suffering). We see this happening in real life. 11 of his 12 disciples had died a violent death. And countless Christians died in the early days from persecution in the hands of high priests, zealots like Saul, Roman emperors like Nero etc. The persecution continues even today with the Armenian genocide, and the killing of Christians by ISIS if they refuse to accept Islam or in the hands of terrorists like Boka Harem in Nigeria.

So, when Simeon says that he can die peacefully, now that he has seen Messiah in person, what does that mean? Simeon was waiting for "the consolation of Israel," Luke says. He was waiting for the comfort the Lord had promised to his people. "Comfort, comfort my people," the prophet had spoken centuries before, and Simeon was waiting and wanting to see the fulfillment of that promise.

How would that peace, that salvation, that consolation, come about? Simeon blesses Joseph and Mary and says 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 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."

Rev. Charles Henrickson described this as follows:

The consolation will come through conflict. The salvation will come through suffering and sorrow. The peace will come through a cross. Mother Mary will experience sorrow, like a sword piercing her soul, when one day she will see her son suffering shame and humiliation and death on a cross. But that is how the salvation will come. Jesus Christ, Son of God and son of Mary, true God and true man, will suffer and die for the sins of all men, winning our forgiveness. And with Christ's sacrificial death comes the salvation, the peace, and the consolation we need so very much.

In the long run, we are all better off now that Jesus has come to the earth. But on the short term, we will suffer because of our acceptance of Christianity. Jesus will pay for our sins, makes us eligible to be the sons and daughters of God and to inherit the eternal kingdom - our salvation. But it comes with a price. we will be subjected to pain and suffering as well as persecution.

Jesus came to bring salvation to all men, yet He will be a sign of contradiction because some people will obstinately reject Him - and for this reason He will be their ruin. But for those who accept Him with faith, Jesus will be their salvation, freeing them from sin in this life and raising them up to eternal life.

And, one final point to note about Mayaltho is that it revealed the birth of son of God, the messiah.

The birth of Christ was revealed by three kinds of witnesses in three different ways - first, by the shepherds, after the angel's announcement; second, by the Magi, who were guided by a star; and third, by Simeon and Anna, who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And a more important aspects of this may be less clear. All who, like Simeon and Anna, persevere in piety and in the service of God, no matter how insignificant their lives seem in men's eyes, become instruments the Holy Spirit uses to make Christ known to others. In His plan of redemption, God avails of these simple souls to do much good to all mankind.

One of Malankara World Journal's enduring themes had been that God picks ordinary people to do extraordinary things. God can use us so long as we are willing to surrender to God and do what he wants us to do. Both Simeon and Anna were ordinary people. They believed in God and were waiting patiently for the arrival of Messiah by coming to the temple everyday. The wait may have been over 50 years. But they did not lose hope. They patiently waited in faithful service to God. They were both rewarded. Their joy in seeing the baby was absolutely beyond bounds. Many kings and prophets in Israel would have loved to see the Messiah in their lifetime; but they did not. The opportunity went to poor people like shepherds and old people like Simeon and Anna. When they saw the child, they praised God in prayer and they also gave testimony. They urged others to believe that this Child is the Messiah. God fulfilled the promise He made to them.

The words Simeon addresses to Mary indicate that she will be intimately linked with her Son's redemptive work. The sword indicates that Mary will have a share in her Son's sufferings; hers will be an unspeakable pain which pierces her soul. Our Lord suffered on the cross for our sins, and it is those sins which forge the sword of Mary's pain. Therefore, we have a duty to atone not only to God but also to His Mother, who is our Mother too. This is why our church respects St. Mary as Theotokos, the Mother of God.

Please read the rest of the articles in this special issue of Malankara World Journal. Also read the articles in the archives noted. I hope that you will gain an understanding of why the Holy Church gives such importance to the feast of Mayaltho, or why Malankara World Journal publish a special issue to commemorate this event.