"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel."
Today, we celebrate the "Presentation of Christ in the Temple," also called the "Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary."
The Nunc Dimmitis (so named because of the first two words in the Latin translation) are the words Simeon proclaims when he sees the Christ child (see Luke 2:29-32). God had promised Simeon that he would lay eyes on the promised Messiah before he died. This man stares at baby Jesus and can actually say "mine eyes have seen thy salvation."
I don't know about you, but I don't usually think of Salvation as being something physical. I think many Christians would think of salvation as an event -- the event of a man dying on a cross or the event of atonement.Yet, here in the gospel of Luke, the Bible declares that salvation is physical and walking around -- salvation is found in the physical body of Jesus Christ. If Simeon can look at baby Jesus and utter this provocative phrase, "mine eyes have seen thy salvation," then that means that salvation is located spatially, in tangible things. Salvation is located in the person of Jesus Christ.
By extension, wherever Jesus is -- wherever his body is -- we may join our voices with Simeon and locate salvation there. Where does Jesus claim his body is located? There are 3 places.
