Luke 2:35 records the prophecy of Simeon to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The KJV renders the verse as follows:
While many modern Catholic apologists and theologians (e.g., Mark Miravalle; Tim Staples) take this as biblical evidence of Mary being co-redemptrix with Jesus, more responsible Catholic commentators understand this verse, not as being focused on Mariology, but a verse making a Christological point. As John McHugh, who himself was a staunch defender of Catholic Mariology, wrote:
(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
While many modern Catholic apologists and theologians (e.g., Mark Miravalle; Tim Staples) take this as biblical evidence of Mary being co-redemptrix with Jesus, more responsible Catholic commentators understand this verse, not as being focused on Mariology, but a verse making a Christological point. As John McHugh, who himself was a staunch defender of Catholic Mariology, wrote:
In Is 49:2 the servant of Yahweh says: ‘he has made my mouth like a sharp sword.’ The Septuagint here translates μαχαρια, not ρομφαια (the word used in Lk 2:35a), but the difference is not significant, for the image from Second Isaiah is taken up in the Apocalypse with the word ρομφαια. Thus ‘a sharp two-edged word’ comes from the mouth of the Son of Man (Apoc 1:16). John is ordered to write to the angel of the church at Pergamum a letter beginning: ‘Thus says he who wields the sharp two-edged sword’ (2:12), and ending: ‘Repent, then, or else I shall come quickly and make war on them with the sword of my mouth’ (2:16). Again, at the end of the book, a Horseman rides out from heaven to execute the final judgement, with a sharp sword issuing from his mouth: his name is ‘the Word of God’ (19:11, 13, 15, 21). In all these texts from the Apocalypse the sword is a symbol for the word of revelation which comes from the Son of Man, and this sword becomes, by reason of men’s reactions to it, an instrument of God’s judgement. One may add that in Eph 6:17 the word of God is called ‘a spiritual word’ (μαχαρια), and that in Heb 4:12 it is called ‘a sharp two-edged sword’ (again, μαχαρια) which penetrates into the furthest depths of the human soul, bringing to light the sentiments and the thoughts of the character which is there. In the New Testament, then, the sword can be a metaphor or divine revelation as an instrument of judgment, whereby God compels men to reveal their true characters.
The preaching of Jesus is such a two-edged sword. His preaching allowed no one to be neutral: ‘Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me is scattering things around’ (Luke 11:23). It stirred up strife within the family: ‘Do you think I came to bring peace in the country? No, I tell you—only strife! There shall be strife between father and son . . . between mother and daughter . . . (Luke 12:51-3). The parallel text in Matthew reads: ‘I did not come to bring peace, but a sword’ (Mt 10:34).
The meaning of Simeon’s prophecy, therefore, is that the word of revelation brought by Jesus will pass through Israel like a sword, and will compel men to reveal their secret thoughts. Thus, just as Jesus will fulfil the prophecy of Is 49:6 by being ‘a light bringing revelation to the Gentiles’ (Lk 2:32), so he will fulfil the role assigned to the Servant of Yahweh in Is 49:2, or his message will be felt as a sharp sword. (John McHugh, The Mother of Jesus in the New Testament [Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1975], 108-9; emphasis in original)
