author: Ryan Hayden Take your Bibles with me and go to Luke 2. Luke 2.
Have you ever had an experience that was life altering and it left you thinking "what just happened?"
I don't know if you are like me, but whenever I have a life altering experience, a surprising experience, something that I think is going to change my story and maybe history, I tend to play it over and over again in my mind.
I think things like "did that really just happen?" Sometimes I'll do that for years. Sometimes I'll go on like that for months.
In 2020, when Covid happened. That was one of those things for all of us. What is going on? What is happening? I don't think any of us thought about how much that was going to change things as it happened.
I was 18 when 9/11 happened. We were ushered from our college classroom into a big auditorium where they were playing the news on a giant projection screen. I'll never forget that day and I sure thought a lot about what it meant afterwards.
Just recently, we had an attempted assassination of a former president. That's something that hasn't happened in my lifetime. I read about Reagan getting shot. I read about Kennedy and Kennedy. But this feels like history in the present. What does that mean?
In our story today Mary and Joseph have just lived through the most famous historical event in history. They were front and center, ground zero, for an event so important that we literally mark years by it.
(By the way, if you go to museum's today, they are trying to change B.C. - Before Christ - to B.C.E. Before the Common Era. And A.D. - Ana Domini, the year of our Lord - to C. E. "Common Era." But it doesn't matter because you still have to ask "what happened that started the common era?" Mmm.)
Mary and Joseph have just lived through the incarnation - the most important event thus far in human history (only to be superseded by the crucifixion.) The last nine months have been a whirlwind for them. They have to have been replaying it in their heads:
- The visit from the angels
- The visit with Elizabeth
- The stable
- The shepherds
I'm sure as Mary held the Lord she was pondering these things. What does this mean?
And in the month after Jesus birth, a two more events happened that would cement the importance of this in Mary and Joseph's mind.
Are you in Luke 2? Let's read starting in verse 21 and read through verse 38.
[!bible] Luke 2:21-38 - KJV 21. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; 23. (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) 24. And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. 25. And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 28. Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29. Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31. Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32. A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. 33. And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. 34. And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 35. (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. 36. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 37. And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38. 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.
The circumcision (21)
The first event that happened was Jesus' circumcision. Verse 21 tells us that on the eighth day, Jesus was circumcised and officially given his name.
Now, this event reminds us a few things about Jesus:
First, it reminds us that Jesus was a faithful jew who was going to keep the law. One of the stipulations of the law was that every jewish child be circumcised on the eighth day.
Being circumcised was the symbol of jewishness, so much so that they would refer to gentiles as "the uncircumcised" and jews as "the circumcision."
Being circumcised on the eighth day was the mark of a particularly devout jew. And that is what Mary and Joseph were.
Jesus, by the way, didn't just keep the law - He fulfilled the law. He is the only person who could really keep the law perfectly and He did - starting here with His circumcision.
The second thing this reminds us of is that Jesus had a special name. The circumcision is when a babies name would be announced and here they announce Jesus' name as Jesus.
Why Jesus? Both Mary and Joseph had had encounters with the angel Gabriel and both had been specifically told to name the Lord Jesus. (Mary in Luke 1:31 and Joseph in Matthew 1:21).
What is significant about the name "Jesus?" Jesus is the greek version of the Old Testament name Joshua. It was a very common jewish name, and there are many different people named Jesus in the New Testament.
But the name "Jesus" has a special meaning - it means "Jehovah is salvation." Whenever Mary rocked little Jesus or nursed little Jesus, she was holding Jehovah - who is Salvation.
But there is a third thing I think this circumcision should show us - and that is that even from His infancy - Jesus was identifying with sinners.
The circumcision was a symbolic thing. It was supposed to symbolize the cutting away of sin.
For instance, Deuteronomy 10:16 says:
[!bible] Deuteronomy 10:16 - KJV 16. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Circumcision is a picture of cutting away sin. But get this - Jesus had no sin to cut away. He knew no sin. So here, even in Jesus infancy do you know what He was doing? He was identifying with sinners. He's only 8 days old and Jesus is already numbered among the transgressors.
So Mary and Joseph had a lot to think about in this first 8 days.
But the rest of our text tells us about another event that happened about a month later - and this would give them even more to think about.
The Purification Offering
So, a good jew would be circumcised on the eighth day - but that wasn't the only thing. The mother and father would also make what was known as a purification offering after a baby was born - a little more than a month after the birth.
At the same time, they would make a redemption offering for the baby, which signified that he, as the firstborn, belonged to the Lord.
So Mary and Joseph, being very devout jews, brought baby Jesus to the Temple to offer these two offerings.
That's what verses 22-24 are talking about. Verse 24 tells us something else that is interesting about Jesus. It tells us that Joseph and Mary's offering was "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."
But if you look back in the law where it talks about this particular offering - that's not the prescribed offering for most people. Most people brought a lamb. Only if you were poor and you couldn't afford a lamb would you bring turtledoves.
This tells us that Joseph and Mary were poor people. Listen, not only did Jesus come to this earth to live among men, to live among the mud and the blood and the tears and the mosquitos. Jesus came and lived among the poor people. Jesus wasn't raised in some opulent palace, He came up on the wrong side of the proverbial tracks. He was raised in poverty.
(This also tells us that the gifts from the wise men haven't happened yet.)
But what makes this event really significant in Jesus' life was the two people who met Jesus at the Temple.
Simeon
Look at verses 25-26.
[!bible] Luke 2:25-26 - KJV 25. And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
So the first person is this guy Simeon - who was probably an older man and he has been told by God that before he dies, he is going to get to see the Lord.
So I imagine that he went to the temple every day, looking with great care over every young couple bringing their babies for the redemption offering and wondering "is that the one Lord? Is that the Messiah?"
The second interesting person who met Joseph, Mary and Jesus in the Temple is...
Anna
Look at verse 36-37:
[!bible] Luke 2:36-37 - KJV 36. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 37. And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
So Anna is this super godly and super old lady. She's been a widow for 84 years. She was married for seven years. At at least 15 to that. Anna is like 105 years old.
And what does she do? She comes to the Temple every day to worship God and pray.
So in walks Mary and Joseph, carrying baby Jesus and giving their offering and the spirit tells these two people - Simeon and Anna - there is the one. There is the Christ.
So Simeon comes in and picks up the Baby and holds Him up and starts praising God.
Anna hears what is going on and she rushes over to join in on it.
Listen to what Simeon said about Jesus (verse 30-32):
[!bible] Luke 2:30-32 - KJV 30. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31. Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32. A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
There is a lot in those three verses. He recognized that that baby was God's salvation. That God was preparing Him for all people and that He wasn't just for Israel - but for the Gentiles. (That had to be an odd thing to say in the jewish Temple.)
And if that wasn't enough for Joseph and Mary to think about, Simeon turned to Mary and prophesied three specific things to her. (look at verses 34-35)
[!bible] Luke 2:34-35 - KJV 34. And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 35. (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
So Simeon told Mary that Jesus was going to be three things: a stone, a sign, and a sword.
Ok, stone isn't in the verse, but it does say that Jesus would be set for the fall and rising again of many and other Bible passages tell us that Jesus was a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.
I'm going to come back to this idea of a fall and rising again of many in a second.
He would be a sign. That word means "miracle." Jesus would come and do many signs and many miracles that were obvious and undeniable - but He would also be "spoken against" - despite His obvious power He would be rejected.
But the third thing Simeon told Mary is that Jesus would be a sword that would pierce her soul.
Mary in particular would have to live her whole life with doubts and sneers about Jesus. She would have to watch her beloved Jesus be rejected and opposed. She would be there when they crucified Him and put Him on a cross.
There is no doubt that Mary was given a great privilege to be the mother of our Lord, but that privilege came with a lot of pain.
So Mary and Joseph had a lot to think about. They had lived through the incarnation. God gave them these special events to help remind them what it meant. To help them think through it.
Verse 33 said they "marveled at the things that were spoken" so we know they thought about this a lot, they wondered about this a lot.
Application
Now, I have a few minutes left and I want to make two points of application from this story, one from Simeon and one from Anna.
Let's start with an...
Application from Simoeon
As I was reading different commentaries on this passage, I found out that Simeon has been given a nickname in church history. The early church fathers called him "Theodoches" which translates as "the God receiver."
And I just love that. I love imagining this old man who had lived his whole life getting to hold in his arms, to receive the Baby Jesus, and recognizing that He wasn't going to stay the Baby Jesus - but that He would be rejected by His people and become the Salvation of the whole world.
And here is the point of application I want to make today: Anybody can be a Theodoches. Anybody can be a God-receiver.
What do you have to do to be able to say like Simeon did here that you are ready to die in peace, because you have seen God's salvation? You just have to receive Christ.
You have to understand that from the foundation of the world God had a plan to give us righteousness and that plan was Jesus. Jesus came as the Son of God, wholly man and wholly God, He identified with sinners, He perfectly fulfilled the law of God.
But He didn't come to just do miracles. He came to "save His people from their sins." He came to be rejected by His own people, to be put on a cross and while He was on that cross to be punished in our place.
He came to be the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.
God took our sin and put it on Him and when we are saved, He takes His righteousness and puts it on us.
So what do you have to do to see God's salvation, so that you can depart in peace? You just have to receive Christ. You have to take Him and accept Him and trust in His work.
Simeon said that Jesus would be set for the fall and rising again of many.
That's such a beautiful phrase. Listen, if you want to accept Christ, fall on Him. Fall on the Lord. Trust in Him. Believe in Him.
And in Him, you will rise again. In Him you will find new life. In Him you will be born again.
Are you a Theodoches? Are you a God-receiver? Have you received Christ as your salvation? Can you depart in peace - knowing you have peace with God.
God has made a way and that way is Jesus. Just receive Him. Just trust Him as your savior.
There is one more thing I want to point out here and then I'll close.
Let's look at an
Application from Anna
Look at what verse 38 tells us about, Anna, the other person in this story.
[!bible] Luke 2:38 - KJV 38. 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.
The two reactions to meeting Christ are to do first what Simeon did - to receive Him - but after we receive Christ we need to do what Anna did - and that is to speak of Him to all that are looking for redemption.
There are people all around us who, whether they know it or not, are looking for redemption. They are looking for peace with God. And do you know what we need to tell them? We have seen Christ! We have seen the redeemer!
Imagine if you will that everyone around you was dying of this one disease. It caused different symptoms in different people, but everyone had this disease:
- Maybe the symptoms are broken homes
- Maybe they are addiction
- Maybe they are anxiety
- Maybe the symptoms are idolatry
- Maybe the symptom is self-righteousness
But everyone around you has a disease called sin and that disease is the cause of all of the ills in the world.
But do you know what? We have the cure. We have Jesus. Shouldn't we tell others about it? Shouldn't we speak of Him to all who will listen?
If we have peace and love and purpose in Christ - shouldn't we want others to have it too?
So this morning - have you recieved Christ? Are you a God-receiver? Have you fallen on Christ and been risen again by God? have you been saved? Why not trust Christ today?
And if you have trusted Christ - are you doing like Anna and telling others about Him?
Let's stand together for prayer and invitation.
