This is a question often asked of pastors by followers of The Shepherd.
‘I am just an ordinary follower of Jesus; how can I possibly help to extend the Kingdom of God, as you keep suggesting?’
This is a good question, and one of the answers is to look at little known people in the Bible, who did amazing things for God.
The sixth person to look at is Anna, the Daughter of Phanuel, whose story can be found in three short verses in Luke 2:36-38.
Verses 22–24 show what is happening before Anna’s story, and verses 39-40 tells of what happens afterwards.
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
NIV
The context of this story is that it is playing out in the Temple in Jerusalem, where Mary and Joseph have brought their son Jesus to the Temple, at the time required by the Law of the Lord. Imagine what might be going through the minds of Mary and Joseph? Only they know who Jesus really is, through the visits of the Angel of the Lord. Only they know the heartache of the journey to Bethlehem, and the strange birthplace of their son. Only they know of the incredible visit of the shepherds after the birth, and almost certainly, only they know that the whole story would be difficult for Jewish people to comprehend.
In the midst of this, just after Simeon prays and gives prophetic words to Mary and Joseph, comes Anna, a prophetess in her own right, who ‘Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem’.
How encouraging must that have been to both Mary and Joseph?
There were clearly many things in Anna’s life that would have been very disappointing to her. She had lost her husband at an early age, and she had no children. Regarding other things, we find no direct knowledge about Anna in these verses, but we can interpret from what is written, quite a bit about her character.
This world in which we find her, was predominately a male-dominated one where women were expected to be silent and unobtrusive.
One of the key words that we can see in Anna’s life is focus. She did not look back with regret, but she clearly looked forward, and focused on hope.
Anna is a woman who can teach us much about how to live life, no matter how old we are, or where we live, or how much money we have, or our human relationship situation.
The difference between regret and hope, is perhaps, one of the main things that could change the way we live. Can you remember the wasted energy you spent on regretting something in your past? Grief must play a necessary part in all our lives, but when we allow it to define us, it stops our opportunity to fully live in the present and look forward with hope.
We see the echo of Anna’s life, as we read Paul’s first letter to his young friend and coworker, Timothy. Right at the beginning of his letter, he identifies himself as, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope”. This is how Anna lives her life, waiting patiently for Christ, who is the hope of the world.
What dream has God planted deep inside you from before you were conceived? What prevents you from realizing that dream? Following this wonderfully faith filled, hope filled woman, where are you focusing your attention as you wait on God’s promise to you?
From the three verses that we read, it is obvious that Anna dedicated her whole life to immersing herself in the Word of God and being in His presence, which flows out from her life of hope, as she shares His Word with other women who came to the temple.
It is clear that Anna had every reason to feel hopeless and useless in the world in which she lived, yet through the hope that she had in God, she believed in her heart that God’s promise to her, that she was valuable to Him, would overcome all of her regrets.
Her continual prayer was that the Messiah would come, and in the very place that she loved, in walks Mary and Joseph and the infant child, Jesus. Can you imagine what she felt, when her spirit confirms that this very child is the Saviour of the world?
Following the story of this faith filled, hope filled woman, the question for each of us is, what are we praying, and what do we expect to happen deep within us when that prayer is answered?
Anna’s testimony to you and me, should get us asking the question, are we waiting patiently for Christ, who is the hope of the world?
The next little-known person in the Bible we will look at, is Jethro, the Father-In-Law of Moses, whose main story can be found in Exodus 18:13-27.
The Shepherd Speaks 