We experience many contradictions in life: Sometimes when sick you feel cold and chills while your body has a fever… you are hot and cold at the same time, contradiction. Sometimes you are triggered by a sound, smell or taste that seems to transport you to the past… you live the past in the present at the same time, a contradiction. Sometimes you feel mentally out of it… you are physically present but mentally gone… you are here and not here at the same time… contradiction.

         These contradictions are of course a matter of perception, while you might feel two experiences at the same time only one is true. You might feel cold but the truth is your body is hot. You might feel you are reliving the past, in reality you are in the present. While you might feel somewhere else, in reality it is here, so if that’s you stop daydreaming and pay attention!

         There is however one important and necessary contradiction that is not a matter of perception. Simeon mentioned it in the gospel: behold, this child is destined to be a sign that will be a contradiction. What does that mean?

         The feast of the presentation of the Lord typically falls during a weekday, so it is a nice treat that it fell on Sunday this year. And because we are in Luke, two themes are clearly present: the movement of the Spirit, and the presence of the Temple.

Central to the temple was avoiding anything to do with death because Yahweh is the God of the living, and you cannot have death in the presence of life, it would be a contradiction. A sign of death was sin or blood, so anyone considered sinful or anyone who had been in contact with blood could not be near the sanctuary of Gods presence, which was ironic since in order to cleanse yourself of sin it was thought that you needed to shed the blood of animals in sacrifice. So the purification of sins and sacrifices were done outside of the temple area according to the law.

         For this reason, Mary and Jesus are both brought to the temple. Both needed to be purified because a woman sheds blood during childbirth, and the child would have come in contact with her blood. To purify them from death they had to offer two doves for sacrifice. But they are in the temple also for a second reason: it was customary that the firstborn male child be presented, consecrated, to the Lord.

This tradition came as a mandate in Exodus 13, and it was the basis for the sacrificial system in the temple. Exodus tells us the story of the exit from Egypt. That night of the Passover, families had to kill a lamb and put the blood on the door posts. Those who refused, the angel of the Lord killed the first born male of the family. Those who did as commanded, the first-born males where saves, and consequently the whole family was saved and freed from slavery. In a way the first born redeemed, saved, the whole family so from that point forth every first born male is dedicated to the Lord. Part of the dedication ritual was to reenact the Passover, so a lamb was offered in sacrifice. 

With this context, Luke is giving us this story by omitting important details. What he does not say is as important as what he does say. While they do bring two turtledoves or two pigeons as it was required for their purification, Luke never mentions the lamb for his presentation. This omission is Luke’s way of redirecting our attention to our first contradiction; Jesus is being presented both as the first born and the lamb to be sacrificed. This contradiction has to be more than human perception, it has to be real since God will do something unexpected through him as both: redeem the whole human race.

         This is what the Spirit revealed to Simeon. He is led by the Spirit into the temple, and when he sees Jesus he sees the lamb and the son of God at the same time. He realized the fulfillment of the prophesy we heard in the first reading was about to come true:  Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.

As these words from the prophet Malachi resound in his heart, he is moved to say: my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples. Here we have once again the catholicity, the universality of the Christian message: salvation will come to all because Jesus will become death and life at the same time. As the lamb who is sacrificed he will become death. As God’s first-born son he will become divine life. This contradiction is possible because of the movement of the Spirit, and it is a contradiction that will be present in a new form of temple where the impossible becomes possible, so the presentation of Jesus points to the salvation of the human family and the transformation of the temple at the same time. Simeon says that through this contradiction… the hearts of many may be revealed.”

         Our hearts enter into this new temple reality in our baptism which Jesus also transformed into a contradiction. When Jesus is baptized he is being submerged in the waters of chaos – human sin and death, that which keeps us in fear. At the same time, he is being submerged in Gods mercy which opens the flood of Gods love, that with the heart desires. We want to be close to God but are afraid of Gods presence. When we are baptized it is the Spirit that moves us into the new temple of contradictions, it is an experience of death and life, fear and love at the same time.

It has to be an experience of fear of God’s presence because fear makes me sensitive to my sins, it reveals the disordered desires of the heart, my shame, my anger, my pride, my envy, all the things hidden within the temple I create to protect myself.  But baptism cannot just be fear, or be fear first, because the first thing I do when I experience fear is to run, to hide, to protect myself. So, at the very same time, baptism has to be an experience of mercy, of the love of God for me because love dispels all fears, love transforms, love allows me to be willing to be led by the Spirit despite the fear.

To be a Christian is to live in the new temple of contradiction where the reality of God is different than mine. God is one, but a unity of three persons – a contradiction. Jesus is fully man and fully human – a contradiction. The Eucharist is still the elements of bread and wine, but its substance is transformed into the body and blood of Christ – a contradiction. The Church is visible and invisible – a contradiction. It has to be a contradiction for it to be possible.

If we accept this, then Jesus calls us to live in the world but not be of it at the same time. That means our hearts are constantly being pierced like Mary as we experience the tension of being in both. We have to deal with the fear that comes from living in the world, and profess the love transformative that’s comes from outside of it at the same time.

We all experience external fear, the spirit of Satan that tries to move us into creating our own temples. In societies, that can create systems of new forms of sacrifices where we end up treating others as the lambs for whatever the reason.

A vivid example right now is the fear many in our immigrant communities are experiencing over threats of deportation. As Christians it is first important to remember that a political system is not the temple. While politics can be inspired and informed by Christian values, ultimately political systems will always be led by the spirit of what seems most ideal and beneficial in the context of the historicity in which we live.

While the task of the church is not to be a political system in the world, it is responsible for making God present especially to those who are being made the sacrificial lambs, and that responsibility can itself feel like a contradiction in the heart.

We can advocate for laws the benefit the good of its citizens, which include the right to mitigate migration, while at the same time protect the dignity of the most vulnerable as revealed by Christ. That feels feels uncomfortable, to want both at the same time. We can understand how someone who has committed a serious crime be put in prison or be deported if illegal, which has as a consequence, the separation of a family, while at the same time want families to be united so that our children who are most vulnerable don’t have to suffer.

To live in contradiction is not easy, Jesus reminded us of this when he said if we wanted to follow him, we had to pick up or cross. But let us not lose focus of our mission. At the end of the day we are to stand as a sign of God‘s loving presense for all as the world continues to be transformed into the temple of God through our sharing of divine love.