When you see Jesus

Book Context: Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke. He wrote these things to make sure that we might be certain about the things that have been written about Jesus.

Prior Context: Luke’s introduction gives Theophilus and us a great certainty that the things we will read are true and sought for carefully.

M.O.T: Evangelistic

C.I.T: Knowing Jesus gives them hope eternally by trusting in Him, which caused Israel to look forward to their redemption.

Thesis: Seeing Jesus spiritually gives the believer hope after death, and anticipation as we wait to see our Lord.

“When you see Jesus”

Read

Introduction:

1. Your eyesight is a valuable thing isn’t it? Not many of you would trade anything for your eyesight. If you offered me millions upon millions of dollars for my eyes, I wouldn’t take it, because my eyes have much value to me. If I gave up my eyes, I would be able to see my beautiful wife anymore, that’s not worth any amount of money. I wouldn’t be able to see the wonderful creation that God created. I wouldn’t see the sun anymore, or the trees and flowers. I wouldn’t be able to see the blue sky and ocean on the beach. There is much that I would miss. But let me tell you, I would give that all up for one look at Jesus, the one who died for me. I haven’t seen Jesus before with my physical eyes, but I have seen him with my spiritual eyes. I have seen him inside the Bible. I have seen his compassion to heal people, his mercy to forgive sinners. I saw him touch a leper and cleanse him. I saw him feed over 5000 people with only two loaves of bread and five small fishes. I saw him put the soldier’s ear back on when Peter cut it off. I have seen his power to calm storms and cast out demons. I saw him on the cross as he bled and suffocated for my sins. I saw him rise up from the grave on the third day, and I saw him ascend to the right hand of God. And one day I will see him physically as he is. I’m telling you when you see Jesus, it changes everything. Not with your physical eyes, but with the eyes of your heart.

2. Here we are going to see two people that Luke brings to our attention. Both have seen Jesus spiritually with their spiritual eyes. They have trusted in the savior to come and are saved. But they give us a spiritual picture of what it is like to see Jesus, because when you see Jesus it changes you. There are three facts about seeing Jesus that are a result in the life of a believer.

When you see Jesus.

#1 You are Ready to Die

1. Last week we saw the births of both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ the Savior. Jesus is now 8 days old in this scene, and his parents have taken him to the temple to be circumcised according to the Law of Moses given to him by God. That is what we see in verses 21-24, they take Jesus to the temple as an 8-day old baby and circumcise him as well as offer the proper sacrifice that was required of them. While they are in the temple there is a man that comes up to meet them, this man’s name is Simeon. Simeon the Bible says was a “righteous and devout” man, “looking forward to Israel’s consolation”. In other words, he was looking forward to the revealing of the savior who would deliver them from their sins! And the Bible tells us that he has the Holy Spirit on him, and the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that the Savior was born, and he would get to see him up front in person! I don’t know if this came by a vision or a dream, but we know that it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit of God. What a cool promise! Imagine if you were told by an angel that you wouldn’t die until you saw Jesus! First off you would have a promise of life up until then. And then you get to see the greatest gift of all to mankind by God himself, you get to see God as a baby before your die! The Savior of the world. The Spirit of God it says guided him into the temple to see Jesus. Mary and Joseph bring Jesus in and Simeon takes Jesus up into his arms and praises God! This man gets to hold the light of the world, the one who would die for all the sins of man, the sacrificial lamb of God. And what is his first response after praising God? (Ask Students) He says in verse 29-30, “Now Master, you can dismiss your servant in peace, as you promised. For my eyes have seen your salvation”. Simeon had seen Jesus, the Savior, and he is now ready to die. When you see Jesus, you are ready to die. Not ready as in you desire to die, but that you are prepared! You are prepared to meet the Lord because you have the righteousness of Jesus credited to your account. You cannot stand before God forgiven and enter into heaven with him without knowing Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord, having repented of your sins, turning from them, and trusting in the Lord Jesus. You must see Jesus with the eyes of your heart! Bowing your knee to him and asking for mercy, then following him no matter the cost.

2. Have you seen Jesus? Are you prepared to take your last breath? This is not a scare tactic, this is reality. You don’t have all the time in the world your life could be taken from you when you leave this place tonight, do you know Jesus? I remember as a teen, so don’t think I am making fun of you. I remember as a teen that I thought I was invincible. And it wasn’t an outright statement that I made like, “I am invincible, and I know it!”. I just lived as if I was never going to die. I always thought I would be in high school, I always thought I would play football, I always thought life was about my wants and desires, and I thought I could do most anything without consequences. But that isn’t the case, I have had friends in high school that are already dead. We see the reality of Kobe Bryant recently; life can be taken in a moment. Are you prepared to die? Have you seen Jesus? Because when you see Jesus, you are ready to die. Why? Because you have hope in Jesus.

#2 He WILL cause Division

1. Simeon amazes both Mary and Joseph by the things he was saying about him. He blessed them and then makes some interesting statements. He first says this Child Jesus, would cause the “fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed”. Simeon says that Jesus would be opposed, this word means to be rejected, push against and refuse. Jesus didn’t come to bring peace on earth, he is not like the Miss USA beauty contest where everyone of the winners wants world peace. Jesus doesn’t desire world peace, and he didn’t come to do that. But you might ask, didn’t the Angels say, “glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to people he favors.”? You are right, but the peace talked about there is peace with God, not with the world. You see Jesus offers us peace, we go from enemies of God to children of God, our sins are washed away, we get to be with God forever. That is peace. But Simeon says he will cause the rise and fall of many and will be opposed. Why is this? First you need to understand this rise and fall has to do with those who humble themselves and trust in Jesus. If you lower yourself and see yourself as unworthy of God’s grace and ask for mercy in Jesus, then you will be raised up by Jesus. But if you think you don’t need Jesus, he is just some add on, some religious figure among many religious figures, then God himself will cause you fall and demise ultimately in a place called hell forever. He will be opposed. Why would the greatest person ever who is God himself be opposed? The greatest historical figure ever will be opposed, and he is still opposed today! It is because Jesus is a stumbling block. Telling people that they are sinners who deserve Hell is an offensive thing in our culture and has always been offensive. Telling the world that Jesus Christ is the only way is an offensive thing to people because we live in a world that doesn’t like singular truths which is the only kind of truth by the way, they want many truths. They want to believe that you can go to heaven if you are a Muslim or a Buddhist, or an atheist, or an agnostic, or a whateverist. But Jesus is the only way, this is why he will be opposed. And teens understand this, if you follow Jesus there will be division in your life. You will have people who don’t like you because you are a Christian. Even in your own family you will have division because you believe Jesus is the only way and you believe that sin is wrong, and when you call out people for their sin things get ugly. Just be ready, Jesus causes division, he is an opposed savior.

2. The second thing Simeon says is he is a sword that pieces the soul, and “the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed”. This is another reason Jesus is opposed, because he shows us who we really are. How many of you in here are people pleases? You want people to like you. Most of us if we are honest like it when people like us and want to be around us. We want people to think we’re fun, and nice, trustworthy, and kind. Seeing Jesus reveals who we really are. He pieces the soul because you realize he had to die for your sins. He reveals the hearts by showing your sinfulness. Jesus called people out, and he calls us out today. Jesus is the one who said if you just look at someone with lust in your heart, you are an adulterer. He is the one who said, if you hate someone you are a murderer. Jesus reveals the conditions of the heart. That’s why people hate him. Jesus himself said in , “[the world] does hate me because I testify about it—that its works are evil”. Be ready, when you see Jesus He will cause division in your life. If you stand for truth according to the Bible, you will cause division. Why do you think the culture is changing so much? Why is gay marriage okay in our world? Why is adulterer a joke in our world? Why is okay to look at porn, and sleep around? Why is the divorce rate so high? Why is there cussing on every movie, and blasphemy saying OMG or Jesus Christ every couple minuet? Why don’t they say oh my Allah? Or oh my Buddha? It is because the world hates Jesus. And it will hate you too if you follow him. Be ready.

#3 You will look Forward to Your Redemption

1. There is another person we meet; this is a woman a prophetess, and her name is Anna. She is very old and a widow. This kind of is a sad picture because she was married for seven years it says. Then her husband died, now in that culture you could get married very young. She was probably 13 years old when she got married, seven years later at age 20 her husband dies. For the next 84 years she is alone as a widow. This would put her at 104 years old when we meet her in the temple that day Jesus is circumcised. The Bible says she didn’t leave the Temple, this doesn’t mean she never left, but that most of her days were spent in the Temple offering praises to God though fasting and prayer. It says at that very moment, this probably means as Simeon is holding Jesus Anna makes her way over and begins to proclaim thanks to God and speak about Jesus to everyone in the temple who were looking forward to the savior. This old woman walks over there slowly, her eyes are heavy, she is probably thin because of the fasting so fairly healthy for her age. And she begins to tell everyone about Jesus. Maybe she said, “this is the one we have been waiting for! This baby will grow up to become and man and die for our sins! Maybe she quoted that said he was pierced for our transgression and crushed for our sins, punishment for our peace was on him and we are healed by his wounds”. And she begins to tell everyone believe on this child, for he is God’s own Son here to save his people from their sins. Notice how it said she was telling this to people who were looking forward to their redemption. No one can force you to believe on Jesus. No one can make you ask him for mercy, no one can make you repent of your sins and trust in Jesus to be saved. You have got to choose that yourself. But when you see Jesus, I promise you, you will look forward to your redemption. We have those moments in life when you look forward eagerly to something in a positive way. You look forward to getting your driver’s license or getting a car. You look forward to graduating high School and going to college. Maybe you looked forward to getting your first cell phone or gaming system. You guys will experience this one-day Lord willing; you will look forward to your bride coming down the aisle to marry you. Ladies you will look forward to that one man who proposes to you, then you will look forward to preparing your wedding day until you walk down that aisle to see him standing there waiting for you. When you see Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will look forward to the day when he comes back and you meet him face to face. You will wait with wonderful anticipation as the time gets closer every day for you to meet him. You will lose the fear of dying, and rather happily welcome it when it comes.

2. Anna lived 104 years old, not many of us will make it that long. So, the question is, are you ready to meet Jesus? Have you put your trust in him and cried out for mercy? Have you seen Jesus? When you do you will be ready to die. He will cause division so don’t be shocked, and when you see Jesus it will give you hope in looking forward to the day you leave this earth and meet your savior. If you don’t, would you call out to Jesus today? Would you leave this place trusting in Jesus?