You are the light of the world. Matthew 5:14
The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, also known as Candlemas Day, is a Christian holy day observed on February 2, forty days after Christmas.
While Lutherans do not call the day Candlemas, this feast day weaves together the Jewish story of Mary’s purification and Jesus the Light with the primal seasonal celebrations of Mother Earth and brighter days, creating the Christian celebration of Candlemas. Thus, on February 2, it became a practice that Christians would bring candles to the church to be blessed—and then process through the town carrying the light.
In the Temple, Jesus is recognized by Simeon, who proclaims him:
“a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
This declaration is central to the feast’s symbolism.
Why candles?
Since Simeon’s words about Jesus as light, the church developed the custom of blessing and processing with lighted candles. The candles represent Christ as the Light of the world and hope breaking into darkness. In many traditions, these blessed candles are then used throughout the year in homes, at baptisms, funerals, and during times of prayer.
Themes of Candlemas
Candlemas weaves together several deep theological themes:
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Light and revelation – Christ made known to all peoples
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Fulfillment and transition – the meeting of Old and New Covenants
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Faithful waiting – Simeon and Anna as models of patient hope
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The common good – a child presented not for private blessing alone, but for the joy and healing of the world
Place in the church year
Candlemas often marks the formal close of the Christmas season and a turning point toward Lent. Some churches remove Christmas decorations on this day, letting the light linger just a little longer before the penitential season begins.
Folk traditions
In parts of Europe and the British Isles, Candlemas also took on seasonal meaning, associating with weather lore (similar to Groundhog Day) and symbolizing the lengthening of days and the slow return of light. In essence, Candlemas is a quiet, luminous feast about recognizing God’s light in an ordinary child, and carrying that light forward into the darker and more demanding seasons ahead.
This feast day commemorates two temple presentations with distinct purposes, timings, and meanings, even though both occur in the Temple and are recorded in Luke’s Gospel.
Breakdown of the two presentations:
Presentation after birth (Luke 2:22–40)
When:
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40 days after Jesus’ birth (Candlemas)
Who initiates it:
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Mary and Joseph, in obedience to the Law
Why it happens:
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Mary’s ritual purification (Leviticus 12)
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Jesus’ presentation/redemption as firstborn (Exodus 13)
What it signifies:
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Faithful participation in Israel’s covenant life
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Jesus is publicly identified—by Simeon and Anna—as God’s salvation and light to the nations
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Jesus is passive; he is carried, received, and named
Tone:
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Quiet, liturgical, communal
Centered on obedience, blessing, and promise
Temple visit at age twelve (Luke 2:41–52)
Temple visit at age twelve (Luke 2:41–52)
When:
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When Jesus is twelve years old, on pilgrimage for Passover
Who initiates it:
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The family travels together, but Jesus acts on his own initiative
Why it happens:
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Not a legal requirement related to birth or purification
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Twelve marks a threshold age: approaching religious maturity
What it signifies:
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Jesus’ growing self-awareness of his identity and mission
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His first recorded words:
“Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
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A shift from being acted upon to acting and teaching
Tone:
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Tense, surprising, even unsettling
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Focused on wisdom, authority, and vocation
How Luke uses the contrast deliberately places to bookend Jesus’ childhood:
| After birth | At age twelve |
|---|---|
| Carried into the Temple | Chooses to remain there |
| Recognized by elders | Engages elders as equals |
| Identity spoken about him | Identity spoken by him |
| Obedient to the Law | Interprets the Law |
| “A light revealed” | “My Father’s house” |
Together, they show continuity and growth:
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Jesus is fully formed within Jewish life
His vocation unfolds gradually, not magically or prematurely
:4. Theological thread
The Temple is not incidental:
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In infancy, Jesus is received by the Temple
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At twelve, he questions and inhabits it
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Later, as an adult, he will challenge and cleanse it
Luke binds them together to show a life rooted in faith, growing in wisdom, and increasingly oriented toward God’s redemptive purpose for the world.
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