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“Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord…Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon” (Luke 2:22-24).
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Human beings are God’s masterpiece.
Unlike other creatures, we’ve been given the unique ability to understand the world around us. It all begins with our five senses; we have the ability to taste, touch, smell, see, and hear.
We use all of these senses, for example, when someone’s in the kitchen preparing a meal.
You can hear the sound of the chicken crackling in a pan; you can see it, touch it, smell it, and best of all, taste it.
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But some people have what we’d call, a “sixth sense,” an ability to see things that other people don’t, making the world all the more interesting.
Parents, for example, often develop a “sixth sense” after the birth of their first child; they know instinctively when something’s wrong.
Some investors on Wall Street have a “sixth sense” for investing; their instincts are almost always right – and they make a fortune because of it.
There was even a movie called, “The Sixth Sense,” about a young boy who saw dead people. But that’s a “sixth sense” I’m sure we could all live without!
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In the Gospel, both Simeon and Anna have a “sixth sense.” They see something other people don’t; this tiny baby in the hands of Mary is indeed the Son of God.
That’s quite a remarkable feat.
Just imagine the sheer size of the temple and the number of people that must’ve been present that day. How do Simeon and Anna know this baby is special?
They had a “sixth sense.”
And what joy it brought them!
As the aging Simeon cries out, “Lord, now you may let your servant go in peace. Your word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen your salvation…”
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My own eyes have seen your salvation.
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That’s the key.
There’s a world of difference between watching and seeing.
Hundreds of people watch Joseph and Mary travel to Jerusalem and enter the temple that day. Hundreds more watch Jesus growing up. Thousands watch him perform miracles.
But not everyone sees who He is. Only those with a “sixth sense.”
To see Jesus means to look beneath the surface; to pause; to ponder; to see that he’s God.
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Maybe there’s a word in that for us.
We must develop the ability to see.
Most of us watch the world go by. We go through the motions, thrive on routine, live on the surface. Unknowingly, we take our time and other people for granted.
Rarely, if ever, do we pause and ponder; rarely do we look beneath the surface to see the meaning of it all.
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We can share a home with people we love, for example, but fail to see what’s happening around us and what’s happening inside of them.
Often enough there are moments of grace.
There’s the excitement in our children’s embrace when we come home from a long day of work; the love our spouse put into preparing a hot meal – that chicken crackling in a pan, a spotless kitchen, flowers on the table.
Do we see this?
Sometimes there’s the twinge of loneliness in our friend’s voice; emptiness in our child’s silence; desperation in a cry for help; self-doubt in the need for affirmation.
Do we notice?
Too often we go through the motions neglecting to go deep. We watch. We don’t see.
As a result, our relationships weaken. We lose opportunities to celebrate, to affirm, to protect, to rejoice, to believe.
Seeing beneath the surface requires a “sixth sense.” Some would call it empathy. But it’s much more than that.
It’s faith, which at its core is love.
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Simeon and Anna loved the Lord. That’s why they saw Jesus differently. They slowed down, looked beneath the surface, and saw that he was God.
We can do the same.
But it takes time and effort to look beneath the surface. If we do, then we may very well see the face of God hiding behind the person next to us.
It’s a matter of seeing with the “sixth sense.”