The Widow Prophetess

Her heart pounding, she slipped through the passages quickly. Her steps quick and agile despite her age. She had been walking these passages for decades. Her husband had passed away only seven years into their marriage. Her life had been devoted to Him and serving in this very place ever since. The fastings and prayers left her mind and body aware and able. She knew only necessities not all the extra niceties. Nothing fussy about her. But this visitor stirred her to excitement and she couldn’t keep quiet. She straightened her dress and brushed in stray hair with her hand while humming under her breath a prayer of gratitude and anticipation.

She was a prophetess. Had God freed her heart for Him alone at the passing of her husband? She had to see Him. She had to share Him. Others needed to know Him. She had to tell them.

Thanksgiving on her tongue, she couldn’t keep quiet. The air was electrified by the very presence of this Little One. Did she reach out to touch Him? Was she given the opportunity to hold Him? She had been held by Him her whole life. And now she sees the tiny fingers and nose. The silky smooth eyelashes swooshing the air. What did those eyes see as they opened and closed. Was all creation still known and seen behind those round balls of light? Soft grunts of stretching because that body was a tight fight for One so great. The scent of heaven still on His skin.

This little body held the redemption of Jerusalem. She knew this. Like Mary, Simeon and Nicodemus, she had been listening and studying and knew the scriptures. She knew the world had been waiting on Him. She knew the world needed Him. And here He was. In the flesh. Within her reach. Behold the Lamb.

And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four *. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 (NASB)