“This is Who He Is” (Luke 2:25-38)

Dr. Randy Working Christ Presbyterian December 28, 2008

I called on a man in my former church one time whose wife had died just before Christmas a few years back. The memory was so painful for him that he stopped celebrating Christmas. He just kind of pretended it wasn’t there. He seemed to be stuck in the pain of his past. But one day after that, he heard the gospel in a new way and he asked Jesus to be his Lord. After that, he started to see the Jesus, and his family the church, in a new way. After a while, he started to see Christmas in a fresh way, too. The Lord set him free from his past and met him in his present, so now, he’s confident about the future.

In this time of year we remember a lot of Christmas memories, and some of those might be painful. We look forward to a new year, and sometimes in this world the future looks scary. The passage from Luke this week lets us know Jesus can handle both our past and our future.

The passage opens with a man and a woman waiting in the Temple. God had told the man he wouldn’t die until he saw the promised Messiah. That moment arrived when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus on the eighth day, and the Holy Spirit moved him to see the baby Jesus for who he was, the Messiah.

This baby is the One the angels announced:

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)

Simeon has been waiting on God for a long time, and he says Jesus will be the great dividing line of history. For all who believe, he’s the Savior; and for everyone who doesn’t, he’s the reason they’re lost. Like Malachi the prophet said, there are many who will not endure the day of his coming.

“Suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. Who can endure the day of his coming? (Malachi 3:1b-2)

So Jesus fulfills the prophets’ longings, and he is the turning point of history. Let me set the background, and then look at the message about Jesus.

The Old Testament Law gave instructions about every aspect of life, including what to do when a baby was born. There were two important customs around a new birth.

The first custom about a new birth was the consecration or the presentation of the child. 2

The LORD told Moses,

“Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me.” Exodus 13:2)

When Israel observed that command, it would remind them of how the LORD spared their lives when he killed the firstborn of the Egyptians and brought them out of slavery. The firstborn of Israel were supposed to dedicate their lives to the LORD and to serve him in a special way. It was something the mother was supposed to do, but Luke lets us know both Joseph and Mary brought Jesus.

Luke already told us that Joseph isn’t the baby’s father, because Jesus was born of a virgin, but it makes the story symmetrical with the story of John the Baptist’s parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth. I think it also reminds us of the goodness of God’s plan of a father and a mother as the foundation of a family, and how important that is.

The second custom was the purification of the mother.

Again, the LORD told Moses,

'A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days…on the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. (Leviticus 12:1-3)

When the time of her purification came, she would bring an offering of a lamb to the sanctuary; if she couldn’t afford that, then she would bring two pigeons (Leviticus 12:6). And when Mary and Joseph present Jesus, it reminds us of the story in the book of 1 Samuel in the Old Testament.

Samuel’s mother’s name was Hanna, and her baby was a special gift from God, too, because she hadn’t been able to have children. After she had her baby Samuel, she and her husband brought him and presented him to the old priest Eli at the sanctuary of Shiloh, Eli gave his blessing to the parents Elkanah and Hannah, just like Simeon blessed Joseph and Mary. The story about Samuel’s birth ends,

The boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD…And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men. (1 Samuel 2:21b, 26)

Compare that with the end of the chapter we read from Luke,

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:52)

Luke obviously has the story of Samuel in mind. Even Mary’s song from chapter one reminds us of Hanna’s song of praise in 1 Samuel. And in chapter one, John the Baptist’s parents make you think of Samuel’s parents Elkanah and Hannah, and now he’s shifting attention to Joseph and Mary. Luke is saying that the story is moving from John the Baptist to Jesus. John set the story up, but we need to get our eyes on Jesus. 3

Now, let’s look at the message about Jesus.

Jesus is the point of the story, because he perfectly fulfills God’s law. Luke wants to make that clear, and so he mentions the Law three times (verses 22, 23, and 24) in the opening part of the passage.

Jesus is also the point of the story, because the Spirit of God is at work in him. Luke mentions the Holy Spirit three times (verses 25, 26, and 27). The Holy Spirit prepared the way for Jesus in the story of his birth, and now after his birth and circumcision, the Spirit opens the eyes to others so they can see him. And after John the Baptist had been circumcised, one prophet told about the great things he would do, but now after Jesus is circumcised, there are two prophets to talk about him. In Israel, they summarized the Old Testament by saying the Law and the Prophets, and in a sense, this is Luke’s way of saying the Law and the Prophets both witness to Jesus.

Israel had been looking forward to the Messiah for a long time. Finally, just like the Old Testament prophet Isaiah said he would, John the Baptist came to get ready for Jesus,

A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3)

And that’s what Simeon and Anna both illustrate, that the promises of the Old Testament are coming true in Jesus. Luke says about Simeon,

He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. (Luke 2:25)

And then again, Luke says about Anna,

She spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:38)

Did you catch those phrases? “Waiting for the consolation of Israel;” and “looking for the redemption of Israel.” They’re parallel sayings—they mean the same thing.

 “Waiting” is “looking forward to,”  “Israel” means the same thing here as “Jerusalem.”  “Consolation” means “redemption” means salvation.

Simeon’s song has been traditionally called the Nunc Dimittus, from the first Latin words of the phrase that means “Now dismiss your servant.” It’s a statement of faith. It’s saying, “Take me now, LORD, I’ve kept the watch, and now the One we were waiting for is here.” It’s like Jacob said when he found his son Joseph in the book of Genesis,

Then Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive." (Genesis 46:30) 4

Simeon’s saying, “God, I’ve seen your salvation in the face of Jesus.” It’s what Jesus would tell his own followers one day during his earthly career:

Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." (Luke 10:23-24)

When you’ve seen the source of life, there’s joy even in death. Simeon can be at peace. It’s a good word, because his second speech gives the warning side. He also tells Mary and Joseph “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel.” Jesus is going to split the nation in two. People are going to love him and they’ll hate him. If they follow him, they’re going to face pain and hardship, because many people reject him. That’s why Simeon tells Mary, a sword will pierce her soul. She’ll see the rejection Jesus was going to suffer one day, but it’s for everybody who identifies with Jesus will too. The great test is how you respond to Jesus. One day, Jesus is going to reveal what’s in everyone’s heart, their response to him.

Let me mention a couple themes that come out of this scene in the Temple.

First, God gets us ready to receive Jesus by causing us to long for the consolation and redemption that can only come from Jesus.

Maybe God’s been doing this in your life—mercifully causing you to be frustrated with life where Jesus isn’t the center. Maybe he has filled you with longings and hopes that can’t be satisfied in what the world has to offer. The source of those longings is Jesus, and it’s why you’ll be filled if you direct your heart toward him in this Christmas season.

These are the things that happened when God comes into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. He’s the deliverance that God promises, like in Isaiah 40 where the prophet said,

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. (Isaiah 40:1)

(Because Jesus is the comfort of God, the consolation, the salvation for Jerusalem.)

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for. (Isaiah 40:1-2)

Israel’s sins would be paid for, and your sins and mine, by Jesus, the baby Joseph and Mary came to dedicate to the LORD that day. Like Isaiah the prophet said in Isaiah 52,

Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. (Isaiah 52:9) 5

Jesus fulfills that prophesy: the Lord has consoled his people, and he has redeemed Jerusalem.

The comfort of God is his salvation, and that’s Jesus. He’s what Israel was waiting for.

But that’s not all. Jesus is for the Jews, for Israel, but he’s for everybody. It’s why Simeon says he’s the:

a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:31-32)

The consolation that shines in Jesus isn’t only for the people of Israel but also for Gentiles. He’s for everybody who will receive him. That’s why it makes sense to trust in him this morning.

Second, don’t look for your consolation anywhere else.

The Christmas carol “Joy to the World” has the line, “Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing.” How does your heart prepare to receive Jesus?

It’s not complicated. You have to become dissatisfied with the ability of anything else to satisfy your soul. Money, power, other people, approval, none of those things can bring you the deep satisfaction and joy the Lord wants to give. Only Jesus can do that.

So alongside the dissatisfaction, your heart has to long for consolation and redemption that the world can’t offer. And God has to open the eyes of your heart so you can see Jesus for who he really is. And he can console your past and redeem your future, so turn to him.

Do you want to be freed from any regrets over this past year, freed from any fears for the coming year? He can do that: Jesus’ circumcision corresponds with our covenant of baptism, and that symbolizes our believing and repenting. You could summarize that process by the words “sorry, thank you, and please.” It’s when you say to Jesus, “Sorry for my sins. Thank you for dying for me so I could have new life. Please come into my heart and be my leader from now on.”

When you do that, you’re his witness, no matter how imperfectly you do it. It’s like W. H. Auden wrote,

Though written by Thy children with A smudged and crooked line, Thy Word is ever legible, Thy Meaning unequivocal, And for Thy Goodness even sin Is valid as a sign.

We always write the gospel with a smudged line, but it can always be read nonetheless. If we’re stuck in the past or afraid of the future, Jesus Christ can handle it, and he can handle our smudged and crooked lines.