Misc. - "Waiting on Jesus" - Luke 2:21-35

“Waiting on Jesus”

Luke 2:21-35.

This made me think about how long do we wait in our lives on average including pretty much anything.

Get ready for numbers then! According to a Timex survey, Americans wait:

on average of 20 minutes a day for the bus or train

32 minutes whenever they visit a doctor

28 minutes in security lines whenever they travel

21 minutes for a significant other to get ready to go out

13 hours annually waiting on hold for a customer service

38 hours each year waiting in traffic… those living in Big cities wait in traffic more than 50 hours annually

= about 37 billion hours each year waiting in line somewhere

Human beings spend approximately 6 months of their lives waiting in line for things, it means like 3 days a year of queueing up.

The average person spends about 43 days on hold with automated customer service in one lifetime.

At this point, Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for the Census of Caesar Augustus

They had Jesus in the stable outside the inn

The angel announces to the Shepherds that the “Savior which is Christ the Lord is born”

Suddenly there was a multitude of angels of heaven praising God right there in the pasture saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

The shepherds go and visit with Mary and Joseph and they worshipped their baby

8 days after Jesus was born, they brought him to the temple to present Him in Jerusalem

and as they go into the temple they run into a man named Simeon

Simeon was a devout man, led by the Spirit of God

It was revealed that he wouldn’t die until he had seen the Lord Jesus

He walks up, takes Jesus in his hands and praised God.

He spoke to Mary and Joseph and spoke with them for a moment.

The promise of Jesus’s first coming changed what Simeon lived and longed for.

The promise of Jesus for Simeon was that God was sending salvation to the world!

The promise of Jesus for us is that 1) God sent His Salvation - freeing us from sin, hell, and death. and 2) That He is returning soon!

Has the promise of Jesus impacted what you are living for? Has the promise of Jesus impacted your hearts deepest longing?

Notice a few things with me tonight about Simeon’s encounter with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

1. The Presentation of the Lord

He was given a name and they followed all of the law

a. He was Named

Jesus means “Jehovah is salvation.”

b. He was Dedicated

Thirty-three days after circumcision, the new mother entered the temple to purify herself and her family (their purification).

This speaks of Mary + Joseph’s devotion, obedience.

This fulfilled Leviticus 2, Exodus 13, Leviticus 27:26-27, Numbers 3:13; 8:17-18

Numbers 8:17–18 KJV 1900

17 For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself. 18 And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.

What else did they do?

They offered a sacrifice in order to officially dedicate their firstborn son to God.

They carefully followed the regulations of Exodus and particularly of Leviticus 12. Unable to offer a lamb, they presented birds as a poor person’s substitute (Lev. 12:6, 8)

Trent C. Butler, Luke, vol. 3, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 31.

Why is this so important to note?

Galatians 4:3–6 KJV 1900

3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

He fulfilled all righteousness!

He never broke the Law.

The only way we could be made righteous was for a spotless Lamb to be sacrificed in our place. The only way Jesus could be the spotless Lamb was for Him to fulfil all of the Law which means He never sinned.

2. The Promise from the Lord

verses 25-27

There are approximately 8,810 promises in the entire Bible. In the Old Testament there are 7,706 and in the New Testament there are 1,104 wonderful promises. Deuteronomy 28 has 133 promises, which is more than any other chapter in the Bible. “We’re sitting on the premises when we ought to be standing on the promises!” observes Vance Havner.

What would your life look like if you believed the promises of God?

a. Simeon’s Description

He was Just

He was Devout - He conformed to God’s expectations and lived in a right relationship with God.

Being “just” is aligning your actions and life with God’s standard and Word.

It looks like what Romans 12:1-2 tell us.

Not being conformed to what everyone else is doing.

Conforming to this world is dangerous but it changes our standard of holiness.

He was devout. He feared God and showed reverence for God.He took the promises of God seriously

Simeon expected that to happen any day. In his daily walk with God, Simeon had heard God’s Spirit speak. God’s personal word to Simeon guaranteed him the Christ, God’s comfort in person, would come before Simeon died. God kept his promise to a man known in history only because he waited obediently for God to keep his promise

Trent C. Butler, Luke, vol. 3, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 32.

b. Simeon’s Devotion

Who told Simeon that he would see the consolation of Israel?

The Holy Spirit.

What did Simeon do with that information?

He took God’s promises seriously.

God had promised consolation for Israel, a time of comfort and renewed hope

How could he hear from God without talking to God?

Hailey’s ears were tuned to the voice of Beckett immediately.

That takes time.

It also takes discernment.

It also takes the Word.

Notice this about Simeon...

The promise he held onto was consistent with the Word that God had already spoken.

Isaiah 49:6 KJV 1900

6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, That thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

If you aren’t devoted to the Word of God, you will never walk in the direction of God.

Did you know that God gives us a lot more promises through Jesus than even that!

What would our lives look like if we believed the promises of God?

Eternal life

John 3:16 KJV 1900

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Home in heaven

John 14:2 KJV 1900

2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Nothing can separate you from God’s love

Romans 8:31-39 - nothing can separate you from the love of God

God gives you access

Hebrews 4:14–16 KJV 1900

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

You are His masterpiece

Ephesians 2:10 - I’m His masterpiece

Isaiah 54:17 - No weapon will not prosper over me

He has a plan for you

1 Peter 2:9 KJV 1900

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Philippians 2:13 - it is God that works in me

Jesus is going to destroy the works of Satan

1 John 3:8 KJV 1900

8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Devote your life to Jesus, allow the Spirit to direct your life! I promise it’s worth it.

3. The Proclamation about the Lord

March 20, 2019 was one of the best days of my life.

That was the day our first son was born.

When Beckett was born, a lot of cool things happened.

People were texting us, and visiting with us in the hospital and at home.

They would take their turns asking how Hailey was doing. How we were sleeping, but never once did anything like this happen.

Think about Mary and Joseph, walking into the Temple, probably a little exhausted (after a 70 mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem and 5 from Bethlehem to Jerusalem).

They walk in, and an old man that chances are they had never met walks up and says, “Well, I can die now!”

a. His Departure

verse 29

Let me die in peace.

b. His Deliverer

verse 30 - for my eyes have seen your salvation.

My eyes have seen your salvation! What does it mean that this baby was the salvation?

What do we need to be saved from?

Romans 3:23

Romans 6:23

Our sin makes us guilty before God.

We deserve a punishment, and that punishment is eternal separation from God.

How did God use a baby to save us?

Jesus came as a gift to the earth - Romans 6:23

He came and lived a perfect life

Why? to fulfill the law of God.

He had to be born of a virgin to have a perfect blood type

He became the lamb of God to pay our debt

He rose again!

How can God save you?

He shows you your guilt

When He begins to draw you, you are reminded of your guilt

He breaks your heart

You turn to Him in repentance and faith in what Jesus did

He gives you a brand new heart!

I believe that Simeon probably knew all that when He saw Jesus in His arms!

He also gave a word for Mary and Joseph

Luke 2:34–35 KJV 1900

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.

The promise of Jesus changed what Simeon lived and longed for. The promise of Jesus’ second coming should change what we live and long for.