Expository Thoughts
One comfortable practical lesson stands out on the face of this truth, which ought never to be overlooked. Our Lord is able to sympathize with man in every stage of man's existence, from the cradle to the grave. He knows by experience the nature and temperament of—the child, the boy, and the young man. He has stood in their place. He has occupied their position. He knows their hearts. Let us never forget this in dealing with young people about their souls. Let us tell them confidently, that there is One in heaven at the right hand of God, who is exactly suited to be their Friend. He who died on the cross was once a boy Himself, and feels a special interest in boys and girls, as well as in grown up people.
Notes on 2:36-40
36. A prophetess. This is a remarkable expression and is used on only one other occasion in the New Testament (Revelation 2:20). If the word is to be taken in its fullest sense, it seems to show that the spirit of prophecy, which had been withheld for nearly 400 years, since
Malachi's time, was being restored to Israel when Christ was born.
38. Spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. This presentation of our Lord in the temple appears to have been the primary fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi 3:1, "suddenly the Lord . . . will come to his temple." It was indeed a sudden, unostentatious coming. The only witnesses, apparently, were an old man and an old woman, and the only attendants a poor woman and her equally poor husband; and the form in which the Lord appeared was as a little infant in arms! How little we would have expected this.