Anna provides the final Portrait of Faith. We read about her in Luke 2:36-38. Three verses. Two sentences. That’s it. But I think we will see she was an amazing woman.
36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
there was one Anna - She was named after Hannah (1 Samuel 1-2). Anna is the Greek version of Hannah. Why the 'H' in Hannah but not in Anna? They are pronounced almost the same, but there is a slight guttural sound in the Hebrew, represented by the 'H', which is not pronounced in Greek or English. Hannah was the wife of Elkanah and mother of Samuel. She has a great testimony herself.
a prophetess – this one word tells us a lot about Anna; being a prophetess meant that, like Simenon, she also had the Holy Spirit resting upon her. This means she walked in the Spirit, was led by the Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit revealed things to her. She had faith to be filled with the Spirit, receive revelation from the Lord, and speak the words of the Lord.
daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher – “Though her family might have been a distinguished one in Jerusalem, yet we find that it was her very exemplary piety that entitled her to be thus honourably mentioned in the sacred history.” (Adam Clarke)
she was of a great age – we'll see how old she was in v 37
and had lived with an husband seven years – she was married for seven years; nothing is said about children.
37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
a widow of about fourscore and four years – I understand this to be her total age, 84 years old; she had not only grown old, but had faithfully walked with the Lord all those years – that is persevering faith. It is one thing to start the Christian life with a bang, it is another thing entirely to be faithful your whole life, and a long life at that!
departed not from the temple – This most likely means she attended constantly at the hours of prayer. The Gospels and Acts refer to praying at the third, sixth, and ninth hours — or 9 am, noon, and 3 pm.
served God with fastings and prayers night and day – she lived a very disciplined and spiritual life. She had faith to be holy, godly, disciplined, and full of prayer.
What was she so constantly praying about? Obviously, first of all, her own spiritual life and relationship with the Lord. I believe the context strongly suggests her prayers were for the coming of the Lord’s Christ. The Jewish people knew of the prophesy of Daniel - that there would be 70 weeks, 490 years, from the command to rebuild Jerusalem to the Messiah, and they could count. She may even have known Simeon who was told he would not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ. There was great excitement, anticipation, and expectation in those days!
Jesus taught us to pray, Thy kingdom come; she was no doubt praying this very prayer. The coming of the kingdom requires preparation, as both John and Jesus preached, Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. I’m just as certain she would have been occupied in praying for the people to be ready for the King. This is great faith - she is laboring with the Lord to birth the kingdom. This is a behind the scenes faith – people knew she was at the temple all the time, but she doesn’t appear to be important, even though she is doing the most important work. The most important work in the kingdom is done by behind the scenes people. Oh to have faith like Anna!!
38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spoke of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
coming in that instant – Simeon came to the temple because the Spirit told him to; did Anna just happen to come in at that time? This would be according to the Scriptures, The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD – not happenstance. She may not have known what or who she was going to see, but the Lord directed her steps. She walked in faith, and was therefore at the right place at the right time!
gave thanks likewise unto the Lord – she saw and heard Simeon and joined him in thanking the Lord. I love this! She was walking in faith and so full of the Spirit that she instantly recognized this baby as the Christ; no thinking about it or praying over it - the Spirit bore witness with her spirit, This is the Christ, the answer to your prayers, and she immediately responded with thanksgiving. She had faith to hear and receive the witness of the Spirit. And think about it, she is thanking God for His redemption before it has come to pass, I mean Jesus is just a 40 day old baby. This is faith.
and spoke of him – by faith she testified of Christ.
to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem – I am afraid that we have been given the impression that no one in Israel was looking for or ready for Christ, but that can’t be true. The Jewish people were very interested in and excited about the appearing of Christ: there were those waiting for the consolation of Israel, and those looking for redemption in Jerusalem. John the Baptizer baptized thousands of interested Jews; 3,000 people were baptized in the name of Jesus in Acts 2, and by Acts 4 there were 5,000 men who believed. Yes, as a nation they refused and rejected Christ, but God has always had a remnant. (That’s an interesting study in itself.)
looked for redemption - Another descriptive name of the Christ. Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel, or the Comforter; Anna was looking for redemption, or the Redeemer. And to all them that looked indicates there were a lot of people eagerly waiting for the Lord's Christ.
I tell you, I want to be like Anna and have a persevering faith. I was young and now I am old, but I still want to walk in faith and in the Spirit. I want at the very least to have a behind the scenes faith, doing the most important work - prayer; praying for the coming again of Christ Jesus, and for a people prepared for him. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
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