Authentic Christian Worship

Scripture Reading

Luke 2:22–39 NKJV

Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

I. A Holy God Sets the Pattern

Now we must first observe that Mary and Joseph were still under the Mosaic Law. Since Jesus was only a newborn at this time, the Law of Moses was still in effect. That means that God expected them to obey Moses’ instructions about how God was to be worshipped. The Mosaic Law was made obsolete at the Cross, so we don’t need to obey it now. But Luke knew that - he wrote Acts 15, where this very point is made. So if the Law is obsolete, why make a big deal about Mary and Joseph obeying a law that is no longer relevant?

Because God’s Law can still show us something about who God is. Leviticus is still in our Bible, because it tells us something about the God we worship. We don’t consider the Law our marching orders, but we do want to learn what it has to teach us about God.

So a few simple observations. First, that we don’t get to tell God how we ought to worship him. If God tells you he wants to be worshipped in a certain way, it isn’t wrong to ask why; but it is wrong to think you can get away with not doing that. Thus, Mary and Joseph didn’t need to know why they ought to follow the Law of Moses. They only needed to know that this is what God wanted them to do. And by doing that they were being faithful to God.

Second, what’s all this about purification? The basic concept is that coming before God is dangerous, and you must prepare yourself because God is holy. Much of the Law was dedicated to telling people what they needed to do to be accepted by God when they came to worship Him. “ritual cleansing” wasn’t about removing dirt or germs; it was about making sure you were ready to come before God in worship. Thus, two basic kinds of things could make you unclean, that is unfit to come and worship God.

Sin was the most serious. To come before God as a sinner means instant death, if you really saw him in his glory. God cannot tolerate even the smallest sin in his presence; he hate sin more than you can imagine.

However there was a second class of things that could make you unclean - things related to death, birth, and sickness

touching a dead body

Various diseases - skin diseases and something that produced bodily fluids

And of course, birth.

None of these second things were sins, so there was no moral problem, but God commanded them, I think, as object lessons. The idea was that all these unclean things were in some way disgusting, and by teaching people that they had to be cleansed from these gross things first, helped them to understand the grossness of sin. When Moses gave the law, the people were an uneducated slave people; they would have had great difficulty understanding abstract concepts purely because they had been slaves for centuries and therefore weren’t able to have the learning opportunities that men like Moses enjoyed. This kind of instruction by ritual was as effective as anything in helping them understand the seriousness of sin. Still, because God commanded it, everyone needed to do it whether they needed the lesson or not.

Thus, when any woman gave birth, she was unclean for a total of 40 days on the birth of a son, twice that for the birth of a daughter. Not sure exactly why girls took twice as long, but it’s not important for our purposes. Mary, therefore is only doing what God commanded (Lev 12:6-8)

Leviticus 12:6–8 NKJV

‘When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter, she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then he shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement for her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has borne a male or a female. ‘And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one as a burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’ ”

Another point to be made is that they brought Jesus to present him to the Lord, Mary didn’t go by herself. Now you might say that Jesus kind of had to tag along anyway, since it was an hour or two’s walk to the temple from Bethlehem. But it says they were there to present him to the Lord. Every firstborn male of man or beast was holy to the Lord (Exod 13:2). But why, exactly? Well, Moses tells us why Exod 13:12-15. So if the reason was as another object lesson to help teach the children, then why the sacrifice? Because whenever you appeared before the Lord, a sacrifice was always needed. Thus, if a child is to be holy to the Lord, and one must present him to the Lord, under the Mosaic law some kind of sacrifice is going to be needed. God specifies what kind.

Exodus 13:2 NKJV

“Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.”

Exodus 13:12–15 NKJV

that you shall set apart to the Lord all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the Lord’s. But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’

Observe, however, that the normal sacrifice is a lamb; the poor were allowed to buy two pigeons instead. But why were Mary and Joseph poor? Now carpenters were certainly not rich, but neither were they poor. However, this is a young couple first starting out; in addition, they’ve made an expensive trip from their hometown of Nazareth to Bethlehem, where they don’t have anything set up. It seems clear that Joseph was planning on living in Bethlehem. Why? Because back home the rumors would be constantly swirling about how Mary got pregnant. Here in another town they could get a fresh start without those rumors making life unpleasant and difficult. But ancient towns were way more connected than modern ones. Joseph would have normally been working with family members, which created a network of stable income. This network has just been suddenly uprooted, and he’s got to establish a new network. So the reason Mary and Joseph are too poor to afford a lamb is not because they were permanently poor; It’s because of the baby Jesus.

II. Listen for the Trumpet

At this point we are introduced to two godly prophets - a man and a woman. Luke liked to include pairs of stories of men and women when he had them. It is noted that both of these prophets are godly.

Simeon is “righteous” and “devout”, and also see his prayer.

Anna is a prayer warrior, and frequently worships God in the Temple.

But both of these people anticipate the Lord’s Coming. Especially Simeon. God had revealed to him that he would see the Messiah before he died. We are told that he “waited for the consolation of Israel.” That is, not absolutely every Jew was eager for God to fulfill his promises to Abraham. Luke clearly implies that godly people are those who wait for his coming eagerly. Simeon can only know that this newborn is the Messiah by direct revelation. Jesus doesn’t look any different from any other 40-day old baby.

Now, obviously, Jesus has already come the first time. But he’s coming again, so the same thing that was important for Simeon is still important today - are you listening for the trumpet? Simeon could count on the Messiah coming before his death; we don’t get that promise, but on the other hand, it could be today. Will he return today? Are you waiting?

III. The Messiah for All People

The center of the worship of these two prophets is the baby Jesus. As Messiah, he is to rule as the Davidic King of Israel; and as the head of a restored Israel, he will also rule over the entire world. The salvation that this child would bring will be “in the presence of all peoples,” that is, it would be relevant not merely for the Jews but for everyone.

Simeon specifies the blessings Jesus would bring

a light to reveal God’s truth to the Gentiles - that is, Jesus would be instrumental in all nations turning to God.

Glory to Israel - as the Son of David, Jesus will elevate the status of Israel amongst the nations. The center of world power will be concentrated in Jerusalem, with the One who Sits on the Throne.

But these blessings cannot come unmixed. Israel was at the present time not ready to meet her Lord, so judgment will be necessary to fix that.

Thus, Jesus will upend the established order - presently powerful leaders will be demoted or destroyed; future leaders of Israel will be elevated.

Jesus would also create a great deal of opposition - he would be a sign that was opposed. This is because those who were not ready would soon discover they didn’t like Jesus’ ideas very much, and in fact he would threaten their power base. The religious leaders would fight to keep their power.

Simeon alludes, of course, to the crucifixion when he says that “a sword will pierce your own soul.” He isn’t specific enough for Mary to be able to figure out exactly what would happen, but it was specific enough that Mary would have remembered it when Jesus was crucified.

Thoughts of many hearts would be revealed. How?

The controversy around Jesus during his earthly ministry would sort out the fakers from those who really were ready for the Lord’s coming.

During the present age, controversy around being a Christian also sorts out the real from the false.

Jesus will judge all people, and will judge according to their hearts since he knows all things.