Hope For Those Looking for Redemption

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; (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) 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.

Luke 2:36–40 KJV 1900

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; 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. 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. And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

Introduction

Redemption means the act of saving or being saved or the act of gaining or regaining an object through the payment of a debt.

Because Jesus is the firstborn, it was required that a tax be paid in the temple. Because the firstborn belongs to the Lord, it was necessary to pay a Levitical tax to provide for the Levite that would serve in the temple in the stead of the firstborn from the other tribes. This is known as a redemption. It means to buy back.

It is here and during this act that Jesus is seen by Simeon and Anna. We often preach about Simeon, but today I wish to focus on Anna’s acts and statements.

Anna spent her life testifying of him.

God requires a payment for sin - vs 24

- for a high priest, a young bull

- for a king, a young male goat

- for others a young goat or a lamb

- for the poor two turtledoves/pigeons

- for the poorest of the poor a tenth of an ephah of unscented fine flour could be offered instead of an animal (the omer was equivalent to the volume of 43.2 chicken's eggs)

“But I thought sin required a blood sacrifice?” It does. But how do you get blood from unsecured fine flour?

John 6:35 KJV 1900

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

John 6:48 KJV 1900

I am that bread of life.

God made a promise - vs 38

Anna has spent her life serving in the temple because she knew that God had made a promise.

Genesis 3:15 KJV 1900

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Genesis 22:8 KJV 1900

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Jehovah-Jireh

God performed all things according to the law - vs 39

A price had to be paid.

Isaiah 53:2–11 KJV 1900

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, And as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: And who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: For the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, And with the rich in his death; Because he had done no violence, Neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; For he shall bear their iniquities.

Closing

If you are looking for redemption;

If you are looking for forgiveness;

If you are looking for deliverance from sin;

He has come.

He has conquered.

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