What we can learn from Anna the prophetess

This text reminds us of all the holy women among God’s people who pass unnoticed. Many of them are like Anna—widows and grandmothers who pray with greater devotion and more faith than all the other believers. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • This text reminds us of all the holy women among God’s people who pass unnoticed. Many of them are like Anna—widows and grandmothers who pray with greater devotion and more faith than all the other believers.

THE OLD TESTAMENT  calls few men ‘prophet’; and even fewer women ‘prophetess’. The Bible gives that title only to Miriam (the sister of Moses), Deborah (in the times of the Judges) and Hulda (in the days of King Josiah). In the New Testament we find something similar. Only one woman is explicitly called a ‘prophetess’ and that was Anna, daughter of Phanuel.

St Luke mentions her in his narrative about the presentation of the Child Jesus. Forty days after the baby’s birth, Joseph and Mary took him to the Temple to “present him to the Lord”.

Anna had been waiting many years for this moment. “She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came up just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.”

EYES OF FAITH

This text reminds us of all the holy women among God’s people who pass unnoticed. Many of them are like Anna—widows and grandmothers who pray with greater devotion and more faith than all the other believers. They look forward to the coming of the Lord while others are busy chasing dreams of wealth and fame.

The world pays no attention to these women. The world has no use for them. It only praises the rich, the bold and the beautiful. It only glorifies progress and technology. It only rewards the conqueror and the genius. Widows and grandmothers are left to their own devices. Their faith is often treated as if it were a myth, as if it were no more than a refuge for the weak and humble.

Many Jews were in Jerusalem on the day when the prophecy of Malachi was fulfilled: “Suddenly the Lord whom you seek will come to his Temple.

The messenger of the covenant, the one you long for, has arrived, says the God of Hosts.” They did not recognise the Baby Jesus. They had no idea that this child was their Saviour and Redeemer.

This is the point of Luke’s description of Anna. That old widow, who seemed to accomplish nothing of any use to society, was one of the few who had “eyes to see and ears to hear”. While others saw just one more baby in a procession of babies being presented to the Lord, Anna saw what only eyes of faith could see: the Promised One.

Never look down on those who, like Anna, “serve God night and day with prayer and fasting.” If anything, we would do well to imitate them, spending more time in prayer. It’s the only way we will ever solve the problems of the world.