First Sunday after Christmas

The Law of Moses prescribed that forty days after the birth of a firstborn son, the mother and son would go to the temple for the rite of cleansing and purification. Joseph and Mary, who were devout followers of God, did as the Law required. They brought Jesus to the temple and offered the necessary sacrifices. There they met Simeon, an old man who had been waiting his whole life for the coming of the Messiah. But unlike the patriarchs who had lived before him—Abraham, Moses, David—God had promised Simeon that we would not die until he had seen the fulfillment of the promise. Simeon took the child Jesus in his arms, and uttered the beautiful words that have become part of our liturgy, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, for I have seen your salvation with my own eyes.”

Our gospel text begins with the next verse. Mary and Joseph marveled at what Simeon had said about Jesus. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed” (Lk 2:34). Simeon, speaking by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, prophesies about Jesus. Many in Israel will fall because of him, and many will rise. Jesus is himself the dividing point. He is the rock upon which many will fall and be crushed. And he is the Rock of salvation upon which the Church is built. Many will fall and many will rise because of him.

Most people will admit that Jesus was an important historical figure, but the Bible claims much more than this. Jesus is the very center of all human history. And every person on earth will be judged by his or her relationship to Jesus. There is no middle ground. Your eternal state depends entirely on your standing before Jesus. Every person will either fall or be raised according to this.

The world may admit that Jesus has something important to do with salvation. They’ll say that he offers one of the ways to eternal life, but the Bible teaches very differently: Jesus is the only way. If you belong to Jesus, you will be raised. If you do not, you will fall. There is no middle road. This is exactly the sort of language that gets Jesus into trouble today. People can tolerate him if he claims to offer one path to God, but when he claims to be the only way—and he does—then his message cannot be accepted. The preaching of the cross always arouses hostility and opposition? Why? Because Jesus says that this is only way to the Father.

Simeon prophesied that this would happen. Jesus is a sign that is opposed. His words are mocked. His very name is ridiculed. Tell me, can you think of one other deity whose name is used as a curse word? Of course not. The Buddha is no threat. He never claimed to be the only path to God. He never claimed that all humanity would fall or rise in relation to himself alone. Today you can teach a Muslim prayer in our schools. You can read from the sacred Hindu texts and quote the wisdom of Confucius. No one will bat an eye. There’s room in our society for all sorts of religions that do not claim to be the only truth. You can even teach about the Flying Spaghetti Monster. But mention the name of Jesus and all hell breaks loose. Read Romans Chapter 1 in a public forum and you will receive death threats. Why? Because Jesus is divisive. He does not play nice with the other religions and other gods. He claims to be the only God, the only truth, the only way to heaven. Take it or leave it, but there is no middle ground concerning Jesus. People either hate him or love him. They will either fall or rise because of him.

Simeon then said to Mary, “And a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Lk 2:35). Because of the opposition to Jesus, Mary’s heart would be broken in the way that every mother dreads: She would watch her son die, unable to protect him, unable to comfort him. Simeon foretells the anguish that Mary would feel as she stood at the foot of the cross. “A sword will pierce your own soul.” I don’t think there is any anguish on earth greater than this. No mother should ever have to outlive her child.

After Simeon, another believer came forward and began giving thanks to God for the Christ child. Anna, who had been a widow for eight-four years after being married for seven years, which would make her at least 115 or 120 years old. She began to speak of Jesus to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem (Lk 2:38). Some translations use the word “ransoming.” Either word implies paying a cost. In order to buy back his people out of their slavery to sin and death, Jesus had come to pay what was required. Simeon knew the cost: a sword will pierce your heart, Mary. He spoke of the Crucifixion. Simeon and Anna were Old Testament believers, waiting for the ransoming of Jerusalem. The Jewish sacrifices had long taught that ransom came only by sacrifice and blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. The cost of our ransoming was the holy, precious, and innocent blood of our Savior. Nothing else would do.

Our Lord, was only forty days old when the blood of the sacrifice animal was shed for the ritual purification. But he was already preparing to shed his own blood, for the purification of his beloved people, his bride, the Church. And not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world. Simeon and Anna saw Jesus, and recognized him as the eternal Sacrifice, long before he climbed Calvary’s hill. They believed in the ransoming that was yet to come and were covered in his blood even before it was shed. In the same way, all the saints of old were saved: Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, and David – saved just as you and I are: by faith in the Lamb of God who alone is the sacrifice for sin.

There is no other sacrifice. Nothing else can remove sin. Nothing else can cause you to stand before God, clean from every stain, righteous and holy. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And this is exactly why Jesus caused so much division during his ministry, why the people today are still divided by him. The world has plenty of room for one more savior among saviors, one more path among many other paths. But it opposes Jesus because he is the only Savior, the only path, the only Ransomer and Redeemer. Many will fall because of him, but every one who receives him, as did Simeon, Anna, and the saints of old, will stand before him on the Last Day without fear. Because Jesus has performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, we will on that day, enter into our own city, the heavenly Jerusalem. And there we will join Anna, and all the ransomed people of God, never leaving the temple, but praising him day and night forever. Amen.