Transcript

Let’s go to Luke 2 again. This will not be a part of the “Rejoice, It’s Christmas” series. We’ll finish that, Lord willing, next Sunday morning with our last installment, but I do want to pick up with the next section here in Luke for tonight and purpose to be a little more brief than usual but there are some wonderful nuggets of truth. I exhort you to listen and receive what God would have for us this evening together.

“Jesus Presented at the Temple,” and we see this beginning in verse 21 of Luke 2. Verse 21,

21 And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. 22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” 25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation.”

What all is being accomplished as we see Joseph and Mary being faithful Jews observing the requirements of the law and circumcising Jesus and then bringing him to the temple at the appropriate time after Mary has had the time according to Jewish law of purification after giving birth, and then they come and present the offerings of turtledoves or pigeons there for Christ as a form of purification, if you will, and I’m thinking about all of this, this is God Incarnate but what is God speaking to us? What are we learning about this process being carried out for the Incarnate Son of God?

First of all, just a couple of thoughts here tonight. 1. Jesus is under the law and marked as a sinner. Did you hear that? It shows that Jesus is under the law and he is marked as a sinner. Now, I didn’t say he is a sinner, I said he’s marked as a sinner. Verse 21 speaks of Jesus coming to this point where he is to receive the rite of circumcision. That was on the eighth day. Hebrews 2:17 reminds us, “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” And then again in Galatians 4:4, “when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.” So to the Hebrews the writer says he had to be made like his brethren in all things; he entered into our realm; he came into our room and lived it out to the full. He was born under the law. And again in Philippians 2:8, “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient.” Now notice even as an infant through his parents, Joseph and Mary, he’s obeying every jot and every tittle of the Jewish law. “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

So one of the things we know for certain, had he not been circumcised by his parents, he would not have been considered acceptable in Israel. He would have been a castaway. He would have been considered apostate. So this gave him the place of acceptance within the nation of Israel but there are two things that I think speak here and I think one of the things is that this is a positional thing. He’s taking a position. You see, Jesus who is God, was therefore above the law, yet he come in human form and put himself under the law and putting himself under the law and fulfilling all the requirements of the law, now he is able to make us free from the law through all of his provision. Born under the law though he was certainly above the law, fulfilled all the law and all the standard of righteousness for himself and for his children and therefore he frees us from being under law, therefore law’s consequence and justice and judgment.

So the sinless, innocent and pure one, takes the rite of circumcision which is the mark of sin. Every male boy in Israel had to receive circumcision because it was the removal of the flesh and it was a symbolic gesture that said, “Our flesh is defiled. Our flesh is offensive to a holy God and it needs to be removed.” Now, the Jews, unfortunately, began to put their faith in that physical rite and not in the symbolic truth that it’s our hearts that are wrong; it is our hearts that are sinful; it’s our very being that is evil; it’s our very being that’s offensive to God and there needs to be a spiritual surgery to cut it away. So it’s amazing that the Son of God who has never sinned, could never sin, now takes the mark of circumcision. He’s identifying with sinners. What that means is before the heavenly Father, Jesus stepped into our place and became one of us and was marked as if he were an offensive sinner before his heavenly Father.

So that’s one of the things that’s happening here is he’s taking our position as a sinner before a holy God, his Father. But secondly, it is prophetic. The picture or the ritual of circumcision in the removal of the foreskin was a gesture of taking the offensive part away and so here we have Jesus prophetically proclaiming through going through this rite even as an infant child that, “I am the one promised of God. I am the one sent of the Father and I will take the offense of my children away. I will take the corruption, the defilement, that which would call for God’s judgment. I will remove that from the place of my children.” So he entered into our room, if you will. He took the position of man before a holy God and then he also prophesies, “I’m going to remove what needs to be cleansed and take it away.”

Well, not only does the text tell us here in chapter 2, verse 21, that he came to the time of his circumcision, it says then his name was called Jesus. Now the name of the baby boy typically was connected to the child about the time of the rite of circumcision, but the name Jesus is a fitting name because Jesus simply and literally means “Jehovah is Savior.” Now a lot of boys had the name Jesus. It’s not an uncommon name. It’s like Sam or Joe or Frank today, but it has a beautiful meaning, “Jehovah is our Savior.”

Now there are other fitting titles that God passed on. Remember, it was the angel that told Mary this is going to be his name. He could have been called Prince. He could have been called the Prophet. He could have been called the King. He could have been called the Law-giver. He did all of those things, but the title God gives him to bear before the people is the name Jesus, “Jehovah is Savior.” It’s a title that is full of mercy. Boy, I’m so glad he has a title and a name that means he’s full of mercy. Oh, that’s the Christ that he is. He’s not just the Prince, he certainly is. He’s not just a prophet, though he certainly is the Prophet. He’s not just a King. He’s not just the Law-giver. He is Jesus, the one who is full of mercy. Wow, what a truth comes out of this.

The Bible speaks of the days of purification, of course this was that season of time. Jews had all kinds of laws concerning purification. All of these were meant to remind Israel over and over again, “You are not right in your standing before God. You are not clean before God. You are not pure before God.” So they had to go through all these rituals. Once again, they continually got hung up in the ritual itself and not what it pointed to. They continued to put their hope in going through the motions instead of the one to whom all of this cleansing and purification pointed to and that was Jesus. But they missed it.

Then down in verse 23 it says, “as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male child that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.'” Now, all believers should always dedicate their children to the Lord. We should commit our babies to the Lord from the time of conception, even before they’re conceived. Certainly when we know God is blessing us with a child, we begin in our hearts to say, “Lord, we dedicate this child to your glory.”

Can I give you a prayer that I’ve always prayed and I think it’s a good biblical prayer? “God, I pray this child will be a godly seed planted in this earth to bear fruit for the glory of Christ.” That’s a good prayer to pray. “God, I pray that this child will be a godly seed,” because, you know, a seed just sits there and it just has all kind of potential, but you plant a seed and a seed gets the moisture it needs and the heat that it needs, and it sprouts up into a marvelous plant or whatever it might be. So, “God, I pray this child to be a godly seed planted in this earth to bear fruit for the glory of Jesus Christ.” Well, in a special way in Israel because the male was the head of every household, the firstborn son who would carry on the namesake and he would carry on the responsibility literally for the rest of the family, the inheritance went to the firstborn male and then he distributed it to the others. So he had a position of prominence so the firstborn was dedicated to God in ancient Israel in a special way. So for Joseph and Mary, Jesus is the firstborn so he’s being brought to the temple to be dedicated in this very special way.

Now look at verse 24, “and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, ‘A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Now, Levitical law required a lamb to be brought or if you were a poor family, which that was true of Joseph and Mary, the law allowed them to bring two pigeons or two turtledoves. One scholar, a researcher said this cost Joseph and Mary about 16 cents. So that sacrifice was offered there.

Now, again, here’s the firstborn son and here we have, again, a sacrifice, a rite or a ritual that says for this boy to be dedicated to God there’s got to be a sacrifice, there’s got to be a provision for him, a third party. These turtledoves have to die and shed their blood because, why? He’s not pure. He’s not acceptable by himself. Over and over and over again we see this picture that God is presenting.

As a matter of fact, two things I think is pictured by this whole series of events of Joseph and Mary bringing Jesus to the temple, first for the circumcision, which was probably done, again, on the eighth day; and then later after the 40 days, this special dedication of him to the Lord.

First of all, it pictures the prevalence of sin. It was meant and it’s meant to this day to remind all of us and it was certainly meant to remind Israel that sin is so woven into the human fabric that everything is marked and defiled by it. So everything, even precious holy childbirth, had the mark of sin on it and it required a sacrificial offering for cleansing. So this was a picture of the prevalence of sin. It was to show the dire need and the deep stain of sin that’s in all of our lives.

You know, in the ancient world, if someone was a slave, very often they would put a ring or a notch in their nose or sometimes a ring or something or a notch in their ear to indicate they’re marked as the property of another. Where all the rite of circumcision was a mark to show that we are a part of the fallen sinners of the world, we are marked by it.

So there is the picture of the prevalence of sin and then again there is the picture of the cleansing of sin through God’s Son. All of these sacrifices, lambs, bullocks, goats, pigeons, turtledoves, all these many requirements of the Old Testament Jewish law over and over and over again meant to teach that we need the cleansing, saving power of the promised Savior, Jesus Christ. Now again, unfortunately, they seemed to glaringly miss that truth.

Is it not amazing and, you know, I use this expression a lot, haven’t you discovered that Jewish flesh is no different than Alabama flesh? Did you notice that? Do we not do the same thing? Are we not prone if you’re a Catholic, are you not prone to put your hope in the ritual that the priest administers? Of course, they teach you’re to put your hope in that, but even in Baptist and evangelical circles, how many people are placing their hope in a hoop jump or in a ritual and missing the heart issue? Missing, they’re looking for the evidence of the sin and of brokenness and a conviction of their wanting and their lacking and their offensiveness before a holy God? Hell is going to be filled with people who were good Baptists and good evangelicals. They walked down an aisle, they went through some motions, they lived a fairly pure life, but from the heart there was not the new birth and a rest and a confidence in Jesus Christ.

So here we have the Prince of Heaven, the King of Glory, placing himself under the law, receiving circumcision, the mark of sin and the mark of defilement. Him taking on himself that picture, he became one of us. God the Father, the Bible says, looked upon Jesus as if he were a sinner. He became sin, the epistle tells us. He didn’t commit sin, but in the eyes of God he became as if he were a sinner. He became our Savior, our sacrifice for cleansing and fulfilling of the law’s demands against us.

So that’s just a word or two, an insight or two on Jesus being under the law and marked as a sinner. He didn’t sin, but from the very beginning of his life he was marked as if he were a sinner because he was coming in the place of sinners to save them. Now, II. The remnant’s hope and joy. Now here we have a man named Simeon. We don’t know a whole lot about him but he served in the temple here and he is excited about what’s happening. Verse 25 tells us that Simeon was a righteous man and a devout man. Now, be reminded again, you think these are dark days we are living in? You think these are days of depravity and brazen wickedness? Well, I think there’s a lot of truth to that, not any worse than this day, if not as bad. It was a dark dark day, but isn’t it wonderful that God always has his Simeon’s? God always has his Zaccharias’s. God always has the Elizabeth’s. God always has some Joseph and Mary’s around. And Simeon is part of this small remnant who from his heart loved God and sought God’s Savior. You see, every righteous remnant individual in ancient Israel longed not for the next keeping of the law, but longed for the Savior that the Old Testament prophesied would come and be the real Redeemer and cleanser of all their sin. So Simeon had this hope in his heart. Oh, I praise God that even in the darkest days there are the shepherds. Even in the darkest days there are the wise men. There are some who truly believe.

Verse 25 says Simeon was looking for the consolation of Israel. Interesting phrase, looking for the consolation. Now that was one of the words that Isaiah the prophet said the Savior would be. He would be the consolation of Israel. It literally means to bring along to one side. It means to be a counselor. To take somebody who doesn’t know how to get there by themselves, who doesn’t know how to find the way and bring them alongside and show them the way. So Simeon has this hope, “God, you said you would send one to us. We’re blind and we’re helpless and we stumble and we’re prone to error. Bring us the consolation, the counselor who will take us alongside and take us to where we need to get to.” He was longing for that one from God.

Simeon looked, you see, for God, not just the blessings of another earthly deliverer. He looked for God’s true Deliverer. He was like the Psalmist in Psalm 130:6 who says, “My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning.” You know, the modern church today keeps clamoring after outward success. Everything is measured by outward things. I think in pastoral circles the phrase is nickels and noses. How is your offering? How are your numbers? Well, that’s not unimportant but it’s certainly not the most important thing, but the remnant is like Simeon. They’re not looking for that outward stuff. Israel had good numbers. They’re looking for God. Simeon wanted to see God in the promised Savior. Simeon was one of those who saw his sin and was broken over his sin. He was one of those who in faith was looking forward to the coming Savior, the one he would treasure, the one who would be the Redeemer. Simeon was one who was dying to the world and Simeon was one who was willing to carry his own cross in the world. Simeon was one that loved the true church of God, the remnant who loved God, and we know that if we can get a few people together like that, God will take care of the numbers issue.

The verse says here in verse 26 of Luke 2, “And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit,” notice the Spirit seems to tell Simeon everything, “that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” Of course, that means the Messiah or the Anointed One. There is this saving, cleansing, all-powerful Anointed One that was coming.

Now look at verse 27, “And he,” that’s Simeon, “came in the Spirit,” there it is again, “into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms.” So he is guided by the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God makes sure that Simeon is in the temple the very day that Joseph and Mary come to make this special dedication of Jesus unto the Lord.

Now all of you men out there, be mindful that Simeon is a good pattern of a godly man. Here’s just a few things. The Spirit is his leader. Faith is in the consolation one, the one who brings consolation. Holiness is his lifestyle. The Savior is his joy. And going to heaven is his desire. That’s the things we can glean from the text about this one named Simeon.

Now this is interesting, verse 28, “then he took Him,” the baby Jesus, “into his arms, and blessed God.” Now that’s an amazing thing because, you see, the Bible tells us that God did not indicate to Simeon that he would hold the Savior, just that he would see him. But you know, that’s just like God. You trust the Lord and he doesn’t just fulfill his promises, he fulfills his promises and more. He didn’t just see maybe from a deathbed in the sense of Simeon might be dying and he hears the Savior is out there ministering, “Well, I’ve seen him.” But he gets to hold Jesus in his arms. The Spirit revealed all of this to him and he gets far far more. He literally holds the Savior in his arms. God delights to exceed what is expected and he more than fulfills his promises.

So before there are any explanations from Mary. Mary doesn’t say anything about, “Well, Gabriel told me this and then the shepherds showed up and did that,” and all these marvelous things, Simeon by the Spirit of God already knows and recognizes this child is the Christ, the promised Savior. Simeon treasured Christ. He had only seen him by faith because his faith had been birthed as he studied the promises of the coming Savior from the Old Testament but now he finds Christ with his eyes and he finds him to be his all-in- all and Simeon is filled with the deepest joy and the deepest delight and, once again, we see the theme of praise and rejoicing surrounding the coming of Christ.

Look at what he says in verse 29, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word.” He has a song on his lips. He has Christ in his arms. He has heaven in his eye. And he has the death of the righteous as his aim. Let me say that again: he has a song on his lips; Christ in his arms and of course also in his heart; heaven in his eye; and the death of the righteous as his aim. He uses the word “peace.” Isn’t that fitting? The Gospel that is the Gospel of Christ is the Gospel of peace. His kingdom is the kingdom of peace. Our permanent abode where he is, is heaven, the abode of peace.

So Jesus Christ had been for years the object of this man’s faith. Even though he had not yet seen him, he was the joy of his life and the hope of his soul. You know, I can say that today. Can you say that today? I have not seen him, but he’s my hope. I have not seen him, but he is my joy. And do you know where the riches of joy comes? These thousands and thousands of hours of studying the biblical text and newer and deeper and more wonderful dimensions of the treasures, the glories, the power and the beauty of Christ keeps coming out over and over and over again.

That’s where Simeon was. Christ was his joy. Christ was his delight and God has now done for him what he’s promised and even more as he holds the baby Jesus in his arms. Now Simeon says, “I can die now. I’m ready to go. I’ve held the Savior in my arms.” His faith now has culminated in sight.

Now verse 30 he says, “For my eyes have seen Your salvation.” You know, isn’t it interesting that untold thousands saw Christ during his earthly life and his earthly ministry but the vast majority of them never saw him as God’s salvation? Is that not interesting? The number of people that heard him teach, the number of people that received his miraculous power yet they did not see him as God’s salvation. What’s the difference? How did all these thousands upon thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people hear Christ, follow him around, many followed him around for days and possibly weeks, even months, and yet did not look to him as their Savior? What’s the difference between them and a Simeon who the moment he sees the baby, nobody has to tell him anything? Mary doesn’t say anything about him and as far as anybody else would know, Joseph and Mary are just another poor young couple with a couple of pigeons to dedicate their firstborn son but the moment Simeon sees him, he grabs the boy and knows this is the Christ, what is the difference?

I’ll show you the difference. Look at it again with me. Look at verse 25, “And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” Now look at it again in verse 26, “And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.” Verse 27, “And he came in the Spirit into the temple.” I’ll tell you what the difference is: any man and every man who knows Christ has been shown Christ by the Spirit of God. It’s not by might and not by power but by the Spirit, says the Lord. Do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? You need to bow your head in humility and say, “O Spirit of God, thank you for showing me the things of Christ. I didn’t find this out on my own.”

Oh my goodness, I remember so clearly on that cold February night driving my car back to Middle Tennessee State University as lost as lost can be and hearing a Presbyterian pastor on the radio share a simple Gospel message and that night Christ became real to me, as real as you sitting in front of me. How did that happen? The Spirit of God arrested my heart, showed me my sin, and revealed the things of Christ.

Brothers and sisters, this is all wrought of the Spirit. It’s wrought of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But a natural man,” that’s the man who hasn’t had a spiritual new birth, that’s the man the Spirit of God has not birthed anything new spiritually inside of him, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.” A man who is still left to himself, by himself can memorize this whole Bible to the point he can quote it backwards, but if the Spirit does not enable him, it will be foolishness to him. I can take you to Vanderbilt University or Oxford College or Cambridge over in England, and I can sit down before you men who are incredibly gifted and trained in the Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic original text of the Bible and can study it and decipher it and debate it and defend it, even, yet they do not know Christ. It’s just an academic discipline to them. Yet I can go down to a 9 year old little girl in our junior department and open the Bible and read some things about Jesus and their hearts will be touched because the Spirit of God has revealed Christ to them. It’s not by might, it’s not by power but by the Spirit, says the Lord.

The natural man, 1 Corinthians 2:24, that’s psuche, that means with a man’s natural mind, with a man’s natural will, with a man’s natural emotions, he’ll never find God, he’ll never find Christ as Savior. The spiritual man, it’s the word pneuma, it means wind. It means when the Spirit of God renews a man, he’s a spiritual man. Then he says because these things, these truths about Christ are spiritually appraised. That means the investigative or the sifting process to get at the truth. Only by the work of the Spirit can one investigate Christ and come to a heartfelt conviction that he is Lord and he is Savior.

I do not spend one half of one minute, I wouldn’t have to take a half a baby aspirin to go to sleep worrying about whether or not I could intellectually convince somebody to come to Jesus Christ. All I am to do is preach that word and unleash the Lion and he’ll do the work by himself. We don’t worry, we don’t strive and it shouldn’t bother us to those who do not want our message, and that’s why as a small group leader, as a pastor, as a future pastor, don’t look for other stuff, just give people the truth of the word of God because it’s the Spirit that does it. And do you know what I’ve found out? When the Spirit births life in you, when the Spirit reveals Christ to you, you’re hooked. It’s worse than cocaine. You can’t get off of it. And then all I’ve got to do is be faithful and I’ve got you for life. Now if I become unfaithful, you ought to run me off but, I mean, as long as I’m faithful, we’ll be together because the Spirit put us together.

Amen. Jesus being presented at the temple.