Untitled Sermon (43)

Jesus: Circumcision and Dedication

Luke 2:21-39

There are a lot of things that we do not know about Jesus, especially as a child. There are actually only three things we do know or three events that we know about but there is much in those three events that tell us a whole lot about Him. We know about His birth. I’m not going to talk about that much because we all know the story so well. But His birth does declare a fulfillment of prophecy in that He was from the tribe of Judah and a direct descendant of King David. We also know from His birth that He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin in the city of Bethlehem all according to prophecy. There is more but I think we already know those things. The second event we know about in His childhood is His dedication at the Temple, we will talk about that today and we know about His attendance at the Temple when He was 12 years old and we will look at that next week. Those are the only events we have concerning His childhood. But there is a lot to talk about in each of these events. Tonight we will look at Luke 2:21-39 Jesus’ dedication at the Temple. Let’s pray then we will get started.

This passage we will look at this evening is the only passage that covers Jesus circumcision, naming and dedication. I do not know why it is not in the other gospels but it is not. So let’s go ahead and read the entire passage of Luke 2:21-39 21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.22 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 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” 25 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. 26 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. 27 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, 28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:29“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; 30For my eyes have seen Your salvation 31Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,32A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34 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 35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”36 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; 37 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. 38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. 39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth[1]

You know how I like to take passages apart and there is a lot to take apart in this passage but because of time we won’t be doing that tonight. There are three things I want to draw our attention to tonight. 1st The Messiah was recognized and received first in Jerusalem at the Temple. 2nd It was not the priests or the Levites that recognized and received Him it was simple, humble people who would recognize their needs. 3rd When He was recognized and received His person and His purpose was proclaimed.

First off Joseph and Mary were bound by Leviticus 12 to bring this newborn son to Jerusalem at the Temple on the 8th day of His life to have Him circumcised and to offer sacrifices, one on behalf of the first born son and the second as a sin offering for His mother. We will come back to that in a moment but the fact is they kept the Law. Jesus said that He did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it. Here the Law is fulfilled. When they arrive at the Temple they are confronted by two people we have never heard of in Scripture and never hear of again. In verse 27 it says that Simeon was brought there by the Holy Spirit to see what God had already promised him. He immediately recognized this baby as the Consolation of Israel, the One Israel could call on for salvation. Verse 28 says that Simeon, this unimportant old man who could now die peacefully, received Jesus (he took Him up in his arms is literally what that means). This was a devout man and when he saw His Consolation he did not hesitate to receive Him. Likewise Anna a widow who was willing to proclaim God’s word, a prophetess, when she saw Him immediately recognized Him and received Him as the One who would redeem Israel. Who He is was recognized and received first in Jerusalem at the Temple of God.

Second, it was not the priests, nor the Levites that recognized and received Him. It was the poor and the humble who knew the Consolation of Israel. According to Leviticus 12 the sacrifice and offering that had to be made for the first born son and the mother was a lamb for a burnt offering and a bird (pigeon or turtledove), unless the family was poor and could not afford a lamb then two birds were permitted. That is what Joseph and Mary brought when they brought the One that Israel could call on for salvation to the Temple. Just because they were both of the line of David did not make them wealthy and Jesus was born into a poor humble family. A Levite at the least had to do the circumcision but there is no record of them recognizing Jesus as the Savior but a devout old man with no credentials (he was not a priest, Levite, or government official), did recognize Him and when he did he received Him as the Savior. There was a widow, the lowest on the economic rung, who came and recognized the redeemer of Israel. I guess you could say that recognizing Jesus and receiving Him isn’t rocket science, it is faith. Paul says that God uses the foolish things to confound the wise. Those who had the most to lose on the earthly scale did not recognize or receive Him as Lord but those with everything to gain and nothing to lose did. Jesus came to save the poor in spirit; Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Third: When Simeon and Anna recognized and received the Consolation of Israel they began to proclaim Him and His work. This is what Simeon said in verses 29-32 29“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; 30For my eyes have seen Your salvation 31Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,32A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”33 He is God’s Savior, God sent Him for all the world to see, He is a light to reveal His salvation to the Gentiles and to show the glory of God’s people. And as soon as Anna heard this she began to tell everyone that was looking for the redemption of Israel.

You may be wondering what all of this has to do with us today. Well I’m going to do my best to tell you. The temple of God today is the church and in the church the person and work of Jesus Christ is revealed. In the life of the Church and her arms, legs, mouths…the members of the body of Christ, Jesus should be recognized and when He is recognized the lost will receive Him. Those who do not recognize Him much like the priests and Levites will not receive Him. But those who recognize that they have nothing to lose but everything to gain will receive Him because they recognize that He is the One they can call out to for salvation. When the Temple of God, the Church recognizes the Consolation of Israel, the Savior of His people, we will proclaim that He is God’s Savior sent to the world for all to see and know His salvation, they will see Him as the light to all who will believe. Jesus is revealed in His Temple the church, and the church will proclaim who He is and what He came to do. Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Lk 2:21–39). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.