Sermon: Sunday, 22nd December, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Luke 2:21-40
Christmas is only three days away. At this time of year, we often think about the shepherds and the wise men, but there’s a part of the story we often miss out – Jesus’ presentation in the temple. Let’s not miss this part out! It’s an amazing event with much to teach us. As baby Jesus is in the temple, an old godly man gathers him up in his arms and prophesied about him. What he says is so wonderful that we read Mary and Joseph marvel about it (verse 33). Simeon looks at this tiny, fragile, dependent baby and says that he is salvation and that he is the light for a dark world.
Jesus is circumcised at eight days old and then when he is 5-6 weeks old, his parents take him to the temple, to present him to God, because Jesus was the first-born son. Normally, five shekels was paid to ‘redeem’ the first-born. ‘The first offspring of every womb, both human and animal, that is offered to the Lord is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver…’ (Numbers 18:15-16)
Another ceremony is going on here too – the purification of the mother (Mary) – where a lamb or, if people were poor, a pair of doves or pigeons would be sacrificed. It’s fascinating to note that Mary and Joseph are too poor to sacrifice a lamb. Jesus is brought up by parents who did not have much to spare. More importantly, we see that Jesus is brought up by parents who seek to honour God in their lives. Clearly, Mary and Joseph are obeying the Old Testament requirements, and were a pious, God-centred young couple. They bring their family to synagogue each Sabbath and bring up their children in the ways of the Lord. This is the kind of home we want to have. We want a home where our children are taught to pray and understand God’s Word. We don’t need a materialistic Christmas. Of course, we can enjoy giving and receiving gifts, but the focus is on something deeper – the birth of the Saviour.
Mary and Joseph are examples to us that we are to worship God in God’s way, in the way in which he has prescribed in the Bible, and not making it up as we go along. Many people are confused about this. They think they don’t need to go to church to worship God and don’t need Jesus to worship God. But it’s not our place to decide how we want to worship God. It’s God’s place as God to tell us how we are to worship him. That’s why we aim to worship according to the Bible, God’s revelation. It’s mentioned five times here that Mary and Jospeh act in accordance with the ‘law of the Lord’.
1. The humility of the first Christmas
There is so much in the Christmas story which underlines Jesus’ humility. He leaves the worship and splendour of Heaven and comes down to a broken world to rescue us. What kind of situation does he enter? He is born in a stable and placed in a manger. He is hunted by wicked king Herod and forced to flee to Egypt, becoming a refugee. He is born into a despised race, Israel, which has been conquered by nation after nation for around 1000 years and currently subjugated the might of Rome. He is born to poor parents and grows us in an obscure town called Nazareth. And in this passage, Jesus is himself is subjected to all the regulations of the Mosaic law, needing to be redeemed for five shekels as the firstborn son. ‘But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.’ (Galatians 4:4-5)
I find it ironic that Jesus, who is the Redeemer, is himself redeemed for five shekels of silver. Redemption means to set someone free through the payment of a price. Jesus is the perfect Son of God who never sinned and so in that sense does not need to be redeemed. But in keeping with the law, and in his humility, he is treated as if he is an ordinary sinful human being, needing to be redeemed. This is a bit like when as an adult, Jesus is baptised, in spite of not needing to be washed from any personal sin. Again and again, Jesus identifies with the sinners he has come to save. Then on the cross, Jesus redeems us. He sets us free from the horrors of sin by paying a great price. The price is his own life. The baby redeemed here goes on to become the Redeemer, who pays with his own precious blood.
2. The first Christmas was worth waiting for
We only have three more sleeps until it’s Christmas! I’m sure we can all wait a little longer. In verse 25 we’re introduced to a man called Simeon who is waiting for the ‘consolation of Israel’. Consolation means comfort, and this phrase is another way to say ‘the Messiah’. Simeon is a highly privileged individual. Not only is the Spirit of God upon him, but he had received a unique and amazing promise from God – he would not die until he had seen the Messiah with his own eyes. That’s some promise! We are not told when Simeon was given this promise and so we don’t know how long he has been anticipating the coming of the Messiah. Every day, he must have longed more than the one before that this would be the day. The spiritual darkness in Israel was enormous, therefore the coming of the light of the world to dispel the darkness was something to long for indeed.
The Holy Spirit prompts Simeon to enter the temple courts, just when Jesus is being presented there. God is orchestrating everything together in order to fulfil his promise to Simeon. Simeon takes baby Jesus in his arms and praises God.
What can we learn today from his words? ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.’ (Luke 2:29) In other words, Simeon is now ready to die.
How would you fill the blank? Before I die I want to …
Walk my children down the aisle?
Travel the world?
Enjoy many happy and healthy years of retirement?
See my grandchildren?
Often, what someone truly longs for tells us what they truly value. For Simeon, the one thing he wants is to see the Christ child. This totally blows everything else out of the water. Nothing else comes remotely close to the thrill of this privilege. Why? Because in Jesus, Simeon has all he could possibly need or want. He has forgiveness, and eternal life. He has salvation from sin. He has seen God’s glory in the person of Jesus. And because Simeon trusts in Jesus, and even entrusts his death to Jesus, he knows that he need not fear death, and that everything is going to be ok. In fact, everything is as good as it can be, because Jesus’ love for Simeon will never come to an end. Simeon trusts in the one who will right all wrongs and usher in a new world one day. Nothing else really matters in comparison.
Darrell Bock: ‘Simeon knows that he can be content with his life, since he has had the honour of witnessing God’s salvation. This attitude is important because it put the other events and traumas of life into perspective.’
Simeon really challenges me to think – what am I waiting for? What’s the one thing I really want? Is it to be in a successful church, whatever that means? Is it to have stronger relationships with my family? Is it to be happy and healthy? It also challenges me to think, am I ready to die? Is having Jesus enough for me?
If, like Simeon, we truly see who Jesus is and trust in him, then we too can share that same peace. We need not fear death. We need not fear anything. We have eternal life and compared to that, nothing really matters. We can be contented, even if work is tough and relationships are far from smooth. When God is for us, who can stand against us? At the prayer meeting on Wednesday, we were reminded of this verse; ‘For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.’ (Psalm 149:4) Your boss might not delight in you. Your family members might not delight in you. You might even struggle with feelings of anxiety or worthlessness. But God delights in you and loves you and for Simeon, that is more than enough. Jesus deals with our root problem – our sin. And the truth is that because we have been made by God and designed to have a relationship with God, we are never going to know the contentment Simeon knows until we too cherish knowing Jesus.
We can also be like Simeon by being fellow waiters. We wait for Christ’s second advent. ‘Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.’ (2 Timothy 4:8) Friends, the second coming of Jesus is what we should be anticipating and longing for. It will be worth the wait.
3. The reach of the first Christmas
Who is Christmas for? Last week, we saw that the coming of the Magi from the east was a sign from God that Jesus was born not just as the Saviour of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles – the whole world. The reach, then, is all-encompassing. God so loved ‘the world’ that he gave his one and only Son. God has seen the mess the world is in but has not left us to ourselves; in love and grace he puts his arms around the world, offering salvation to all. This world-wide reach is explicitly stated by Simeon: ‘For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.’ (Luke 2:30-32) That’s why we can sing the carol: ‘Joy to the world, the Lord is come, Let earth receive her King…’
However, if Jesus is God’s gift to the whole world, then each one of us must respond to him. This means that Jesus’ gift of forgiveness is offered to you. Will you take this gift and unwrap it? Sadly, many people reject the best gift ever given, and Simeon prophesied about this too, saying to Mary: ‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’ (Luke 2:34-35)
4. The division the first Christmas brings
There are certain things which divide people which do not really matter. You might love or loathe marmite, but it doesn’t really matter. You might be a turkey fan for Christmas dinner or you might be a steak pie person. It’s not too big a deal. People are divided over these trivial things. As a nation we have been politically divided for many years over the question of independence. This is a more serious matter, which splits people in two. However, the most serious issue which splits people is actually Jesus himself. Simeon tells us that Jesus will divide the nation in two; that’s what the imagery (rooted in Isaiah chapters 8 and 28) of ‘rising and falling’ means.
Darrell Bock: ‘Jesus’ ministry reveals where the thoughts of one’s heart are. As the salvation of God and the expression of God’s will, the reaction to him reveals our reaction to God’.
No one is more loved in the world than Jesus Christ. And no one is more hated. He divides people. Why? Because some people in darkness refuse to come into the light because they do not want the reality of their lives to be exposed. No group of people in history has been more hated or persecuted than Christians. Mary’s own heart will be pierced when her son is misunderstood and hated, and most of all when he is crucified at Calvary. ‘Whoever is not with me is against me…’ (Matthew 12:30) What on earth does Jesus mean? He means we cannot be neutral about him. We either receive him as our rightful King or we reject him, in order to be our own king.
Jesus claimed to be the way, the truth and the life. This is an exclusive claim. But it forces us to ask ourselves today, are we for Jesus or against him? Do we love him, or deep down, do we resent his claim over our lives? The Christmas story divides us. On which side do you land? It’s a matter of eternal life or death.
‘Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.’ (John 3:18)