It must have seemed quite ordinary when a man and a woman brought their infant to present him to the LORD. The temple may not have seen this every day, but it can’t have been uncommon either. It was law, it was custom, it was natural and right to thank God for the miracle of life, and also to acknowledge God’s gracious hand of salvation with this rite of dedication.
But Jesus wasn’t an ordinary first-born son, as Simeon and Anna made clear. His life for the next 12 or 30 years may have been ordinary, but He wasn’t.
And what happened next was transformative. Ordinary people heard about Jesus, came to Jesus, believed in Him, and dedicated themselves to Him. And Jesus consecrated them, and made them – made us – into a holy nation “that you may declare he praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” 1 Peter 2:9.
Raymond