Lk 2:22-40
Destined for the fall and rise of many: Simeon and Anna represent those Jews who recognized Jesus to be the Messiah. Luke is saying that Jesus is the fulfillment of the hopes of Israel. He is the Messiah, for whom the people waited. He is the one who establishes God’s rule, God’s kingdom. Those, like Simeon and Anna, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
Jesus’ proclamation of God’s kingdom will cause “the fall and rise of many in Israel” (v 34). The Pharisees and scholars of the law, on the top rung of the ladder in Israel, will fall, while the tax collectors and sinners, below the bottom rung of the ladder, will rise. Indeed, Jesus is “a sign that will be contradicted” (v 34).