My Favorite Part of the Christmas Story...Simeon and Anna

I’ve been so blessed these last few weeks, getting to sit under the teaching of some of the men of this church. We are abundantly blessed. It’s good for us to hear from different voices—different voices proclaiming the same good news.

What a gift it is, as a church, to have such willing and able men, ready to preach the Word when asked.

“My favorite part of the Christmas story...” was something that started out as a thought experiment and has ended up being a really good thing for us as a church family.

I hope you’ve thought about your favorite part of the Christmas story and what it means for you.

Over the years, I’ve had a lot of favorite things. And a lot of my favorites have changed.

My favorite food as a kid was probably lasagna or smothered steak. I didn’t know the joy of sushi until I was 24. I can’t imagine finding anything I like more than sushi, but favorites change.

As a kid my favorite Christmas movie was Home Alone and now it’s probably Christmas Vacation. But it might still be Home Alone.

All I know for sure is that my favorite Christmas movie will never, ever—not in a thousand lifetimes—never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever…ever…will my favorite Christmas movie be anything produced by Hallmark. Woof, those are bad.

When I started thinking about the actual Christmas story, the true Christmas story, the Biblical Christmas story, I knew (without hesitation) what my favorite part of the story was. It’s been my favorite part of the story for the last decade or so.

Because it’s my favorite part of the Christmas story, I got it included in our Drive-Through Nativity this year.

The two characters were played brilliantly by Don and Linda, Terry and Jackie, Phyllis and Jewel, and Roy and Dixie. Casting by Rhonda Cooper. Music by Heather Glynn. Set design by Clifford Smith, Gail Tiller, Steve Poulter, and their band of merry men.

You probably saw the scene, sitting right outside the kitchen. And you heard Maggie’s beautiful narration if you took a drive through this year’s nativity.

All the same, I’m going to ask you to stand and listen to “My favorite part of the Christmas story”…Simeon and Anna.

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to the Gospel according to Luke. If you are able and willing, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word.

Luke 2:21–40 NIV

21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. 22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” 33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” 36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. 39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All my life, my parents made sure I spent ample time with the older generation. We were around my grandparents a lot. And they were much older than my friends’ grandparents. Grandpa born in 1911; Grandma in 1916. Those were my mom’s parents. I knew both of my great-grandmothers, each born in the 1890s.

We volunteered a lot in the nursing home and would visit swing-bed patients in the hospital. Mom and Dad understood the importance of cross-generational interaction. My sister and I spent a lot of time with older couples in our church and community.

When we moved to Rich Hill, a good portion of our free time was spent at the Kern Center, playing pinochle with our good friends, Frances and Madelyn and Alberta and Bonnie.

We were blessed to have spent a lot of time with Angell Lee, Boots and Dorthy, Dean and Alma, Richard and JoAnn; Mamie Heuser and Wilma Rippetoe and June Fuller were some of our favorite people to visit in the nursing home. Ruth Skoff, Deb Swarnes, Bill Ramage, Martha Smith, Ernestine Williams—all people old enough to be our grandparents—each and every one blessed and enriched our lives.

I’ve logged a lot of miles to and from the VA and other doctor’s appointments with ol’ John Hough.

All you folks around my parents’ age have been the core of this local church: members and leaders who serve and lead and give and sacrifice.

It would take me all day to catalog what I’ve learned from you and what you all mean to Meghann and me. I couldn’t even begin...

The point is, the older generation has so much to teach us. We learn from those who have gone before us, some of the most important lessons there are.

What we learn from Simeon and Anna, these senior saints, is to see Jesus for who He really is.

This part of the story is my favorite for this main reason. It begs the question, “When you look at Jesus, what do you see?”

What do you see?

You’ve maybe seen this floating around the internet this year. [Picture/Slide].

I think it’s hilarious. I totally saw “severed toe” before I saw Jesus.

We have some ornaments the kids have made that make me question what exactly we have hanging on the tree.

What do you see?

Perhaps what is most common this time of year is a sweet, sentimental picture of Jesus.

A nice, little nativity. A cute little scene. It’s pretty sweet, if you think about it. Mary, Joseph, baby, a handful of farm animals with accompanying shepherds; three wisemen anachronistically placed nearby.

What a number of people see when they look at the nativity, however, is a baby with very little bearing on our daily lives. He’s just a baby we see for a few weeks in December. And then it’s out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

That might be your view of the situation, I don’t know. I think it’s probably easy to have a sentimental view of Jesus, especially at this time of year. It’s sweet and quiet, cute and cuddly. It’s just a baby, after all. “Silent night, holy night, all is calm...”

What do you see?

A good number of people see Jesus as a kind of Santa Claus. Maybe you think Jesus mostly only cares if you’re nicer than you are naughty. Maybe you think He’s watching you, checking His list, deciding whether or not you’re deserving of His blessing…deciding whether or not you’re deserving of His grace…deciding whether or not you’re deserving of forgiveness.

A good number of people wrongly see Santa when they see Jesus.

What do you see?

As Richard mentioned last week (and Tyler a little the week before), the shepherds listened to what the angel of the LORD had told them and ran to see Jesus, the Son of David, and saw in Him the glory of God. They saw in the baby good news of great joy.

What do you see?

When the Magi came to Jerusalem looking for the One who was born king of the Jews, all King Herod saw was a threat. He was disturbed, we read. Jesus threatened his position, his power, his place.

The birth of Jesus was threatening, disturbing, troubling.

What do you see? What do you see when you look at Jesus? Do you have eyes to see who Jesus really is?

Simeon saw the baby in Mary’s arms; he approaches, knowing there is more to this child than meets the eye.

Simeon has been given eyes to see who this tiny infant really is, eyes to see what this baby brings to him and to the wide world.

Simeon takes the newborn into his arms and, with everything he has, with all his might, does just as Mary and Zechariah and the angels do before him—Simeon praises the Lord for the gift of this child; he lifts his voice and sings one of the very first Christmas songs in all history (vv. 29-32):

Luke 2:29–32 NIV

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

It was Jesus he had waited for all these years. It was Jesus he longed for. It was Jesus promised to Him and Jesus who would cause Simeon to burst forth in faithful, joyous praise—praise for this child and praise to the Lord for His indescribable gift.

For me, the most stand-out line of his song is verse 30—For my eyes have seen your salvation…

There is a significant equation in this remark. Simeon is looking at Jesus as he holds Him in his arms, and he sings to God, “…my eyes have seen your salvation.”

What do you see? Simeon clearly saw:

SALVATION

To see Jesus is to see God’s salvation. They are inseparable.

In some mysterious, unfathomable, extraordinary way we can’t begin to fully grasp, but that Simeon sang confidently: this child is Himself salvation.

My eyes have seen your salvation.

Salvation is even in Jesus’ name. Luke 2:21 says this: On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He was conceived.

In Matthew 1, an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph and tells him that Mary will conceive via the Holy Spirit and she will give birth to a son, and (v. 21) you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.

There it is. “Name Him Jesus because He will save His people.” Jesus = Salvation. The name Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which simply means: the Lord saves.

Joshua led the people of the Lord into the Promised Land, saving them. So, too, will Jesus save His people and lead them all the way home.

“He will save His people from their sins, so go ahead and name Him Jesus so that’s clear to everyone.”

“What’s His name?” Simeon asked as he took the baby in his arms.

“His name is Jesus,” said Joseph.

I imagine Simeon smiling, eyes glimmering, tears welling up; Simeon looking down at the child and whispering just loud enough for the two of them to hear: “Well, of course your name’s Jesus…of course it is!”

My eyes have seen salvation. That’s what Simeon saw.

What do you see? What do you see when you look at Jesus? Do you have eyes to see who Jesus really is?

Simeon’s temple counterpart, a widow named Anna, was there in the temple on the day Mary and Joseph brought Jesus there.

Like Simeon, Anna had the eyes to see who Jesus was. She went right up to Joseph and Mary and Jesus, and gave thanks to God.

She spoke about the child.

What in the world did she know about the baby? She had never seen the kid before. She wasn’t familiar with anything Mary or Joseph were told about their newborn son; she couldn’t have been.

But Anna, a prophet, had been led there at that moment, to this baby and His parents to thank God for this baby. We presume she’s thankful to God for having sent His Messiah—the Anointed One, the Promised One, the One who would rescue His people.

When Anna sees the baby, she sees

REDEMPTION

Anna gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

The redemption of Jerusalem is another way of referring to the deliverance that the Messiah would bring. Anna, and many along with her, were long-expecting the Messiah to come.

And here, in this baby visiting the temple that day, is the One God had promised.

The Messiah has come.

Redemption—liberation, deliverance—has come.

Anna spoke to all those who were waiting for redemption, and she spoke about this child.

I wish we knew more of what Anna said that day. We don’t know what she said, but we know she was pointing everyone to Jesus.

When Anna looked at Jesus, she saw redemption. And she was thankful to God.

Many years later, two men were walking on the road to Emmaus. They’d left Jerusalem after the Passover. They were lamenting the fact that Jesus had been crucified. They didn’t realize it was the resurrected Jesus who had come up beside them on the road and asked what they were discussing.

Their faces were downcast. They were talking about Jesus of Nazareth, and that He had been crucified. They said,

Luke 24:21 (NIV)

21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.

Anna, in the temple, spoke to those who were looking forward to the redemption of Israel. 30-some years later, these two men had hoped that Jesus was the One who would redeem Israel.

Anna saw the Redeemer that day in the temple. The two men on their way to Emmaus were, little did they know, speaking to the Redeemer.

When we see Jesus, we should see deliverance, liberation, redemption. God has come to rescue His people. God has come to redeem us.

Colossians 1:13–14 (NIV)

13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

What do you see? What do you see when you look at Jesus? Do you have eyes to see who Jesus really is?

I pray you see more than a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. Don’t leave Jesus in a manger, far from the details of your life, separated from your deep need.

I pray you see your Savior. I pray you see salvation, full and free; redemption, deliverance and rescue.

When you look at Jesus, what do you see?

Many years ago, John and Laile invited us over. They showed us around their house. We paid a little extra and got the VIP tour.

Down one hallway, they have a bunch of framed pictures. And they were pointing out each picture to us, telling us who’s who. Kids, grandkids, Randy.

As we got the end of the line of pictures, there’s a portrait of Jesus. John pointed to the picture, as he had the rest, and said, “He’s my favorite person.”

That struck me then, and it moves me still. More than family and friends, more than any other person, Jesus is the most important person in the room.

A baby, of all the people at the temple that day, was the focus of Simeon and Anna’s attention.

And that’s just how it should have been! Jesus is salvation! Jesus is redemption! He should be our focus, today and every day.

He’s no mere baby. He’s the Lamb of God who has come to save His people from their sins, the One who died and rose again.