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Introduction:
We have just come through the climax of these first couple of chapters.
And that climax was Christmas.
We saw the birth of the Messiah - Jesus Christ.
We saw the ordinary circumstances of a humble King born to two peasants and placed in a feeding trough.
But then we saw the angelic worship and proclamation to the shepherds shortly after His birth.
Today we are moving forward in the life of Jesus.
We will cover His circumcision and official naming at 8 days old and His mother’s purification and His consecration and dedication as seen when He is forty days old.
These events will serve as a confirmation of the coming of the Messiah.
We have had much confirmation already, but today we will have even more confirmation as we hear a man named Simeon and a woman named Anna confirm Christ’s coming.
Join me as we start reading our Scripture for today:
Read Full Scripture:
Prayer
Today we will see three distinct facts that confirm that the Messiah has indeed come to earth.
The first is...
I.
We Can Confirm That the Messiah Has Come Because of… His Physical Presence (21-24)
Here we see the naming of a child at the circumcision again.
Just like John was named on the day of his circumcision (see Luke 1:59-64), Jesus is officially named on the day of His circumcision as well.
Obviously, both had their names revealed beforehand by the angel Gabriel, but their official name was given on the eighth day.
Again, this may have been because of Abraham being given his new name (Abram to Abraham) on the day he was circumcised (Genesis 17:5).
It is important to note that we are going to see repeatedly through our Scripture today that Joseph and Mary are dedicated followers of God.
They follow the Jewish law in regards to circumcision here, and we will see them follow the laws of purification in a moment.
These two young peasants were righteous before God.
They have followed God’s command to name the child Jesus.
Joseph has followed God’s command in taking Mary as his wife despite the shame and reproach such a marriage might bring.
And they are righteous before governmental authorities as they have followed the direction of Caesar Augustus in regards to the census by traveling around 85 miles to Bethlehem.
God has chosen a solid couple to raise His only Son.
Readers today miss a lot that is inferred in these three verses.
We find in Leviticus 12 the laws for purification after childbirth.
A woman would be considered unclean for 7 days and then on the eight day she would be considered clean - which for male children would be the day of the circumcision.
Then, she would continue on for 33 days counting the 8th day and would go to the temple to offer a sacrifice to the Lord on day 40 since birth for male children.
As a side note, this time of purification was longer after having female children and this sacrifice was done on day 80.
The sacrifice that was offered for purification was supposed to be a lamb.
Yet for those who could not afford a lamb, they were to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons (Lev 12:8).
One of these was for a burnt offering and the other for sin offering.
There are two important inferences we have here.
Number one is that this young couple was poor.
They did not bring a lamb but brought two birds.
Note that a lamb isn’t even mentioned here.
The other important inference is that it is obvious that the wise men had not come to visit Jesus yet.
If they had, this couple would have been able to afford a lamb for this sacrifice as the wise men left rich gifts for them (gold, frankincense, and myrrh - see Matthew 2:11).
Sorry to bust up your nativity but we are at Day 40 and the wise men haven’t arrived yet.
Might want to put those fellas quite a distance out from that nativity!
An interesting and oftentimes missed statement in verse 22 is that Jesus was presented to the Lord as well.
We see this in Exodus 22:29
God required the firstborn sons of Israel to be dedicated to him.
How beautiful was this dedication to the Lord?
God’s one and only Son being dedicated at the temple of the Lord.
We are about to see how special this dedication was as we move forward and get to our next point which is...
Scripture References: Luke 1:59-64, Genesis 17:5, Leviticus 12, Matthew 2:11
II.
We Can Confirm That the Messiah Has Come Because of… His Sacrificial Saving (25-35)
The Holy Spirit appears on the pages of Luke’s Gospel yet again.
This time He is working in the life of a man named Simeon.
The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that the birth of the Messiah would be in his lifetime.
What an amazing promise given to Him by God!
Can you imaging living your life with that kind of promise?
You were going to see the Messiah before you died.
We don’t know how many years Simeon waited for the fulfillment of this prophesy, but one could assume it was for quite a bit with the emphasis that Luke places upon his waiting.
Who exactly was Simeon?
We will explore what we know about him in a moment, but I think it is important for us to remember as we read this wonderful Gospel that Luke clearly understands Who is most important in all of these accounts.
Simeon is not the subject of this interaction.
Jesus Christ is.
And our lives should look the same way.
As we turn the pages of our lives - lives that are only a vapor or a mist that is here one moment and passed away the next (James 4:14) - may we see that the only thing that matters in our life is how we glory Christ.
How we fit into His story is all that matters.
Church…
The pages of our lives can be filled with things that last or can be erased when that trumpet blasts.
When Christ returns, His people will be rewarded for what they did for Him.
And this reward is based on how we glorified our Savior.
As we consider what we have just discussed - it is helpful to to listen to one stanza of C.T. Studd’s beautiful poem that states:
Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill,
living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
C.T. Studd “Only What’s Done for Christ Will Last”
Studd bases this on the following verse.
Brothers and sisters.
I pray that our lives are highlighted like Simeon’s here.
Who was Simeon?
What does that matter.
What matters is, “Who is Christ.”
And this man most certainly recognizes who Christ is and is known for praising God at the sight of this wonderful Savior.
After that discourse, I will answer the question about who was Simeon from what we have given to us here.
Simeon is revealed to us as a devout and righteous man.
These two descriptive words are important.
He is righteous (Greek being dikaios - dee-kay-ose) meaning that he is upright, just, and fair.
He is right before God because he right toward his fellow man.
And he is devout (Greek being eulabēs (ev-lah-base) meaning that he is God-fearing and reverent.
This word refers to his right relationship with God.
We can learn from Simeon's life here.
He is right before God and he is right before man.
May we be as such as well friends.
This Holy Spirit-filled, righteous, and devout man is waiting for something as we alluded to already.
He is waiting for the consolation of Israel which would occur through the Messiah.
But what exactly is consolation anyway?
This consolation here refers to the salvation and deliverance that the Messiah would bring.
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