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received it with joy and wonder, namely Joseph and Mary. The Evangelist here also rebukes the unbelief of the Jews, for as this occurred publicly in the temple, there were many present, and yet they would not believe, the fact that the Saviour was only a child causing them all to stumble. Thus we learn here that we should hear the Word of God gladly, for it will invariably produce good fruits. * 10 * This leads us to the spiritual significance of this astonishment of Joseph and Mary. The temple is an abode of God, therefore signifying every place where God is present. Among others it also signifies the Holy Scriptures, where God may be found as in his proper place. To bring Christ into the temple, means nothing else than to follow the example of the people mentioned in Acts 17:11. After they had received the Word with all readiness of mind, they went into the Scriptures, daily examining them whether these things were so. * 11 * Now we find in this same temple Simeon, who in his person represents all the prophets filled with the Holy Spirit, just as St. Luke says of Simeon. They have spoken and written as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, and have waited for the coming of Christ, just like Simeon. They have never ceased to do this till Christ came, as St. Peter says in Acts 3:24 that all the prophets have spoken of the days of Christ. And Christ himself says, Math. 11:13, that all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, i. e. till the baptism of Christ, when he began to show himself as the Saviour and light of all the world. * 12 * All this is signified by Simeon, who was not to die till he had seen Christ. For this reason he is called Simeon, which means “one who hears”, for the prophets had only heard of Christ as of him who was as yet unborn and would come after them. Therefore, having him in their wake, as it were, they heard him. Now if we thus come into the temple with Christ and the Gospels and contemplate the Scriptures, all the sayings of the