From the beginning pages of Scripture, the human race has been in desperate need of redemption. Indeed, God’s Word is often referred to as redemptive history, and we can trace, in the whole of Scripture, the various ways people have sought for deliverance. Very often God’s chosen nation, Israel, rejected His promised salvation and went their own way. The history of the golden calf, Israel’s idol worship, and reliance on Jewish tradition in the New Testament all remind us that looking for redemption outside of Jesus is a vain pursuit.

Happily, the Bible is not simply a sad record of our self-reliant quest for redemption. Against the backdrop of sorrow and sin we see the Lord’s willingness and desire to save a people for His own glory and purposes. The covenant made with Abraham, God’s sovereignty displayed in preserving Israel in Egypt, the kingly line established in David through which a Messiah is promised, and many more histories reveal a God of mercy carrying out His promised salvation.

Luke’s account of Simeon and Anna in the New Testament indicates that the Lord had preserved a remnant who sought redemption in the Messiah. Anna’s place in history is conveyed in three short verses — so brief it almost escapes our notice. What can we learn from these three verses and what the Bible tells us of the life of Anna? How does her history add to our understanding and appreciation of God’s redemptive work?

There was nothing unusual about Jesus’s presence in the temple with Mary and Joseph; the sacrifice they brought was small, a pair of birds, and babies brought to the temple for presentation to the Lord would have been a common sight. Two people, however, quickly noticed this little family: Simeon and Anna.

It is tempting to focus on Anna’s personal history as an example to follow: her widowhood at a young age, her long service to the Lord in the temple, her dedication revealed in fasting and prayer “night and day.” But the most notable detail is found in the last verse that we read about Anna: “And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”

As soon as Anna saw the baby Jesus, she came to Him and gave thanks.

How did she recognize Him? Just a baby, Jesus had not yet done miracles, had healed no one, had preached no sermons, had not proclaimed Himself to be the Messiah. How did Anna know that this particular baby, brought to the temple by His parents with the smallest sacrifice, was the one that all of Israel had been waiting for?

Anna recognized Jesus because she already knew Him. She had never seen Him with her physical eyes, but the eyes of her spirit were enlightened by the Holy Spirit through her study of the Scriptures. She was so well acquainted with the Scriptures that promised redemption through the Messiah that when the Holy Spirit revealed Him to her, she did not question or waver, but came immediately to Him. Waiting, for Anna and many others like her, was not a passive wondering, but an active praying, hoping, and looking for the one who would redeem Israel.

Where are you looking for redemption? Do you recognize your need for a Savior? Do you desire to see Jesus? Do you long for a closer walk with Him, a closer acquaintance, a better knowledge of His person and work? Look for Him where He has revealed Himself: in His Word. To look for redemption is to look for Jesus; no amount of self-reliance or belief in our own abilities will suffice.

Anna’s response to her recognition of the Messiah is also instructive: “She coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). When we see Jesus for who He is and what He has done, the only and appropriate response is grati­tude. Our grateful hearts cannot but spill over in love, speaking of Him whom our soul has sought after to others who also wait. One day, our eyes of faith will be unnecessary and we too shall see Him for “when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).