Jerusalem

Matthew 2:1–6 KJV (WS)

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

Luke 2:25–38 KJV (WS)

25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. 33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. 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. 36 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; 37 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. 38 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.

Introduction

Life before smart phones.

How many of you share your location with someone else?

Isn’t it crazy that we can do that?

I can’t imagine what that would have meant for my life as a teenager.

I think would have actually been better.

My parents might have been a little more permissive with me if they could have tracked me.

Back then, do you remember saying, call me when you get there?

Now, you know because you can see it.

Idk very many parents who let their kids track them.

I would have loved to have that ability as a teen.

Mom and dad are on their way back, quick clean up this mess.

Mom and dad are on their way back, quick stop fighting.

Instead we had to like have a look out watching for lights in the driveway.

You don’t need to be out of the house to catch your kids by surprise.

You can easily sneak up on them while everyone is in the house.

That’s a lot of fun.

This morning we want to look at some of the ways Jesus was received at his first advent.

For some, Jesus was not a surprise, they were ready for him and had been watching for his arrival.

For others though, Jesus’ was a shock because they were not ready for him.

More than just a rehearsal of a well-known event, I hope this will have some practical applications to our life as well.

Some people in Jerusalem were ready and waiting for Jesus. Luke 2:25 - 38

Simeon and Anna had been waiting for the arrival of the Messiah for decades.

Anna was at least 84 years old and had been a widow for many years.

After her husband died, she had dedicated her life to serving God in the Temple.

Luke calls her a prophetess.

Simeon was also waiting for the Messiah.

We are not told how old Simeon is.

We assume he is old.

The Bible does not tell us.

He had been specifically promised that he would not die until the Messiah had come.

God had told Simeon through the Holy Ghost that he would see the Messiah with his own eyes.

Simeon sees Jesus first.

He had been led by the Spirit to enter the Temple on this day.

He was looking for Jesus on this day.

The temple was a busy place.

Many babies were being brought to the Temple.

How would he recognize the baby and the young family?

The passage says that the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon.

The Holy Spirit is always pointing people to Jesus.

Simeon immediately goes to meet the baby.

He takes Jesus in his arm and begins to prophesy.

He also resorts to praising God for allowing him to witness the presence of the Messiah.

Anna was not directly led to the Temple on this day.

Instead it seems that she was in the habit of spending as much of her time as possible at the Temple.

We have a lot of Anna’s in our church.

Not the widow or aged part.

The consistent, reliable service part.

Notice how God is able to direct people to where they need to be both by special appointment and by regular attendance.

Simeon may not have been at the Temple that day if God had not specifically led him there.

Anna was going to be there because she was always there.

Whether by obedience or consistency, Simeon and Anna were ready for Jesus’ first advent

Others in Jerusalem were not ready for his arrival. Matthew 2:1-6

The wise men are one of the most recognizable features of the Christmas story.

We know them and study their story often.

When they ventured into Jerusalem asking about a baby, nobody seemed to know what to make of them.

Herod had recently completed his life-long quest to be named King of the Jews.

This had come to him at great personal cost.

Herod had proven that he was ready to pay any price and bury any body to get what he wanted.

When the wise men arrive in Jerusalem seeking the new born king of the Jews, it set the city of Jerusalem in an uproar.

Now, no one really knows the exact timing of all of these events.

It would be expected that Jesus would have gone to the Temple at 8 days old in our previous passage.

Most believe that the wise men didn’t show up until Jesus was almost 2 years old.

So, the events at the Temple had already happened.

The messiah had already been in Jerusalem and left, and yet these people were totally oblivious.

Evangelists like the shepherds, Simeon, and Anna had proclaimed his arrival.

You would think that the religious leaders of the day would have picked up on reports of this baby that had been born.

It would seem reasonable to expect that they would have explored the veracity of these claims.

I just don’t get the feeling that they took them seriously.

That is, until the wise men show up and start asking questions.

The wise men don’t know about the social and religious structures of Jerusalem.

They just show up and start asking questions.

Word gets to Herod quickly.

He calls the religious leaders in and asks them what all of this means.

They tell him about the prophecy surrounding Jesus birth.

Herod directs the wise men to Bethlehem.

But we know that he is not interested in worshipping Jesus.

Instead, he views Jesus as a threat and will seek to eliminate Him.

We will talk about that in a few weeks.

This morning I have tried to draw a contrast between the types of reception Jesus received.

Application

At Jesus’ first advent, there were those that expected him and there were those that were not ready for him.

I wonder which group you and I would have fallen into?

Would you have been like Simeon and Anna waiting for the promised Messiah?

Would you have been like Herod and the spiritual leaders who were so distracted by their own self promotion?

We don’t have to deal with hypotheticals because there is a coming second advent.

Jesus will come back.

It could be very soon.

Just like the days of his first advent, there is nothing preventing Jesus from coming back today.

So the question is not…

Will you be like Anna and Simeon who were ready and waiting for Jesus’ appearance?

Will you be like the ones in Jerusalem who were troubled by his arrival?

The question is are you ready for Jesus to return?

Have you been saved?

Jesus came to earth to pay the price for our sins and to save us from the punishment we deserve.

He took that punishment for us on the cross.

If we believe that and we repent of our sins and seek forgiveness, then we can be saved today.

That’s the only way to be ready for his return.

Maybe you’ve already done that.

I ask you this morning, are you waiting and watching for his return?

Are you living in a way that says “I believe my king could come back at any time?”

Conclusion

We celebrate the 1st advent but there were some who did not.

They were not ready.

As we consider Jesus’ birth, let us not make the same mistakes that they did.

Let’s be ready for Him to come back.

Let’s be watching for Him to return.