Christmas Pt. 2

1:07Because you see, Christmas is like everything else in this world. If you invest too much hope in it, if you invest too much anticipation and eagerness and excitement into it, it can only disappoint you. Because nothing in this world can really live up to those kinds of hopes and expectations and anticipation. So I want you to imagine for a minute, if you've been waiting for your whole life, For something roughly 80 years. Or imagine if you and your community had been waiting for something for 400 years, or in another sense, for 2,000 years.

1:46That's the case in our text today. These two people that we're going to meet, Simeon and Anna, they've been waiting their whole lives for the Messiah. And the nation of Israel had been waiting 400 years for a new word from the Lord. And in a sense, the nation of Israel had been waiting 2,000 years ever since God had appeared and spoke to Abraham. The wonderful part about this story and what we read in the scripture today is that the disappointment that we experience when something that we've waited for comes and goes, like the Christmas holiday, that disappointment was not experienced by Simeon or Anna because they had been waiting their whole lives for something that could never disappoint.

2:32Or maybe more accurately, they had been waiting their whole lives for someone who could never disappoint. But I don't want to get ahead of myself here. Let's pick up where we left off 36 hours ago on Christmas Eve, for those of you who are with us, Luke 2:22. You see here at the beginning of this passage that 40 days after Jesus' birth, Joseph and Mary went up to Jerusalem to the temple to present themselves and their new son. To the Lord. And Luke makes abundantly clear that they went up to Jerusalem in obedience to God's commands. I just want you to follow along in the verses here and take a look at all of these references. Verse 22, according to the law of Moses. Verse 23, as it is written in the law of the Lord. Verse 24, according to what is said in the law of the Lord. Verse 27, according to the custom of the law.

3:35So, what exactly were they doing? Well, according to the law of Moses in Exodus 13 and Leviticus 12 and Numbers 18, women were ceremonially unclean for 40 days after they gave birth to a son. So Mary had to present herself to the priest after that time period and offer a sacrifice. She could offer a one-year-old lamb, but because she and her husband Joseph were too poor to afford a lamb, God allowed them in the law to offer a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.

4:06And so that's what they brought. But then every firstborn, animal, and child belonged to the Lord and had to be redeemed or purchased back, acknowledging that God was the giver of life and that the Lord was Lord of all animals and all people and all good gifts. So Joseph and Mary offer the sacrifice for Mary and then they redeem Jesus. Jesus, who would be our Redeemer, for five shekels. Luke is presenting Jesus' parents as devout and holy people who honor God with their words and their obedience. They did not see themselves as above the law just because their son was the chosen and promised Messiah, the very Son of God.

4:56And in Matthew 5:17, this is what Jesus said about himself. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. These were not empty words. Throughout his whole life and ministry, Jesus kept every one of God's commandments. According to every single witness, Jesus was a holy man who kept all of God's commands and who could not be rightfully accused of breaking any one of them. But isn't it amazing that even as an infant, Jesus had the law kept for him by his parents? God saw to it that he was born to parents who feared the Lord and who did everything in their power to keep his commands.

5:48So from his birth to his death, Jesus fulfilled the law of God perfectly and completely. And his life of obedience to the law is the very thing that qualified him to be our Savior and the Savior that so many Israeli. Israelites were eagerly anticipating. So in verse 25, we meet one of those Israelites. His name is Simeon, and Luke notes that he, like Joseph and Mary, is righteous and devout, and that he is waiting for the consolation of Israel.

6:17Now, that's a phrase that you find throughout the Old Testament, but especially in the book of Isaiah, which speaks often of God comforting or consoling his people by rescuing or saving them and delivering them from their sin and its consequences. A traditional Jewish prayer was, May I live to see the consolation of Israel. So people prayed that they would live long enough to see God's promise fulfilled in the coming Messiah, the Redeemer who came to deliver them not just from their enemies physically around them, but also from the enemies of sin and death. Well, friends, Simeon did live long enough. He was full of the Holy Spirit, and God revealed to him that he would not die before he saw the Lord's Christ, the Messiah.

7:03And sure enough, the Spirit leads him into the temple on the very day that Joseph and Mary come to present Jesus. Simeon could now die in peace because he had seen the consolation of Israel, the Lord's Christ, the one that the angels said came to bring peace on earth with whom, to those with whom God is pleased. And so with Simeon, we have yet another example of God keeping his promise. To his people. Over the last couple of times that we've looked at Luke 1 and 2, we've seen how he kept all of his promises in the Old Testament, that he would send the Messiah to be born of parents who were of the lineage of David, that he'd be born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem.

7:48We saw it when the angels spoke to the shepherds, who then went and found a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger, just as God said. And now we see it here with God keeping his word to an old man, a righteous and devout man who is waiting for the consolation of Israel. And Simeon not only saw the consolation of Israel, he scooped him up in his arms and he held him and he blessed him and he blessed God as he prophesied over him. What an amazing moment for Simeon. Many Israelites eagerly awaited the Messiah to come and deliver their own people, but see, they conveniently ignored all of the prophecies that stated the Messiah was going to come and save the Gentiles as well.

8:34And so as Simeon blesses God, you notice that he says in verse 32, take a look there, that the Messiah is going to be a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. See, Simeon did not forget God's promises to bless not only Israel, but the entire world through the Christ, which is good news for everyone who doesn't trace their lineage back. To Abraham. That's most of us, if not all of us, in the room today. And it's a fulfillment of God's first recorded words to Abraham in Genesis 12, 2, and 3.

9:09Take a look on the screen. God says this to Abraham, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you, I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. All of the families of the earth. Not just his own family, not just the families that would descend from him. No, God promised to bless everyone, all of the families of the earth, through Abraham.

9:47What a gracious God. It is remarkable that God would choose to pour out his grace and mercy on anyone. If he had only saved Abraham, or only saved Abraham's immediate family like he did with Noah and his family in the flood, that would have been kind and gracious of God because he is not under any obligation to save anyone. And yet, God kindly, graciously, mercifully promised to bless all of the families of the earth through Abraham, to send a son who would be light for revelation to the Gentiles as well as glory to your people Israel. Praise God. Praise God.

10:31Joseph and Mary marvel at what Simeon says. I mean, no matter how many times you hear something like that about your child, how could you not marvel? But Simeon also has more to say, and he's going to have some tough things to say, particularly to Mary. So I want to pick up in verse 34. Let's look there. And 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. And a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

11:17Those are tough words for any mom to hear, that your son, your baby boy, is going to be opposed to the point that a sword is going to pierce your own soul also. You will feel like you yourself are dying because of the things that are happening to your son. Simeon prophesied that Jesus is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel. Now, this fulfills a lot of Old Testament prophecies, what he's speaking here. I want you to look at Isaiah chapter 8 on the screen.

11:48But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense. And a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken. They shall be snared and taken. So Isaiah says that many are going to stumble and fall and be broken over God, the stone of Israel.

12:26And then if we go forward to the final prophet to Old Testament Israel, Malachi, and we look at what he spoke in chapter 4, verse 2, it says this: But for you who fear my name, the Son of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. So Malachi is saying that for those who fear the Lord, they will rise with the Savior. Some would fall over the stone and be broken, and others would rise.

12:58And friends, whether you fall or rise, that is entirely dependent on your response to God, whether you receive or oppose Him and His plan of salvation through the promised Christ. Paul confirmed this about his own countrymen when he was writing in Romans chapter 9. I want you to take a look there on the screen. He's reflecting on his Jewish family. What shall we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it? That is a righteousness that is by faith, but that Israel, who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness, did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. Listen to this. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone as it is written: Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

14:06See, as a whole, the Jewish people rejected their own Messiah, the Savior that God had sent to comfort and rescue and forgive and deliver, who alone kept every word of his law, his entire life. They stumbled over the stone. They were offended by the rock of salvation, just as God prophesied through Isaiah and Simeon, and as Paul confirmed in his own writing, years after Jesus rose and then ascended into heaven. My friends, it's so important that you don't make the same error, that you don't stumble over the rock of offense.

14:46Paul says over and over again in his letters that the gospel message is offensive. It is a stumbling block to Jews and it's foolishness to Gentiles. The message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, is either offensive or foolish to nearly everyone, and so they reject it. I don't want you to do that. I don't want you to make the grievous error of rejecting the person and work of Jesus, treating him the same way that we treat Santa Claus as a mythological figure based on a real historical person who may have been good and gracious and kind and everything else, but there's no real basis for belief in all of the other stories surrounding him. I don't want you to treat Jesus like that because Jesus is not like that. Saint Nicholas was a real person. He was a real Christian. He was a real follower of Christ. Santa Claus is a myth. Jesus Christ was a real historical figure who actually lived, actually died, and actually rose again, who claimed and proved to be the Messiah, and who calls all of us to repent and believe in him. As Simeon said, Jesus is God's salvation. He is the one who reveals and judges the thoughts of our own hearts.

16:11But you must understand that before he comes back to judge, he came the first time to save. So which will you be? Will you be one of the many who stumble over the rock of offense, who is broken? Over it? Or will you be one who rises because Jesus has lifted you up through being lifted up on the cross, through dying and being buried, and through rising again from the grave? We are lifted up, we are risen with him, raised with Christ through faith in him and him alone.

16:53Verse 36. And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Fanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was 84. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

17:32At the end of this section, we meet one more person, Anna, who is a fellow Israelite and a prophetess. And like Simeon, Anna is a very godly person. She basically lived at the temple, worshiping God with prayer and fasting at all hours of the day. So we can imagine her joy when she arrives one day to find Simeon holding the Christ child in his arms, blessing the Lord, prophesying over him. But you may wonder why Luke includes Anna in the story at all. I mean, she's called a prophetess, but she doesn't prophesy here, or if she does, it's not recorded in the scripture.

18:15So, what I think Luke is doing is in all of these accounts early in his gospel, he's showing us over and over again that Jesus is not a cult leader. Remember, he's writing this account decades after Jesus lived and died and rose again. Most of Luke's readers would not have met Jesus. Many of Luke's readers will not have ever met anybody who didn't meet Jesus. And so, what he's doing is he is showing us over and over again the type of people, the type of person that's making these incredible claims about Jesus. I want you to think about modern cult leaders who, according to scripture, seem the same as ancient cult leaders. They're often very ungodly people who attract other ungodly people as followers. And therefore, their claims are easy to dismiss. Because, you see, people seem to instinctively know that priests, that pastors, that missionaries, that spiritual leaders of any kind are supposed to be holy people.

19:25So, when you have cult leaders who are obviously not holy people, it's easy to Dismiss their claims because we all know, whether we're religious or not, that spiritual leaders are supposed to be different. There's not supposed to be hypocrisy. There's not supposed to be sin. There's not supposed to be the stuff tolerated. So Luke is showing us that Jesus himself and everyone associated with him was holy. His parents, Joseph and Mary, were holy people who did everything in their power to obey the law. Simeon was a devout and righteous person. Anna was a devout and righteous person. Everyone associated with Jesus was a holy person. And so you and I and all of Luke's readers can have confidence not just in Jesus' own claims to be the Messiah, but in the claims of all of these holy and righteous people who followed him and who said that he was the Christ.

20:25So Anna gave thanks to God for sending the Messiah, and then, like the shepherds before her, she went and began to share the good news with all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Because that's what you do with good news. You share it. Verse 39. And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, there's that phrase again, they returned into Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became. Strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.

21:08So, Luke ends with that final note that his parents, Jesus' parents, did everything that the law required. They sought to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, and they were not alone. So, you think about the nation of Israel and the people that were left at this time, and tradition had gotten in the way of true spirituality and obedience for so many Israelites. Apathy and unbelief and worldliness had derailed the faith of many other Israelites at this time.

21:42But, friends, throughout history, God has always preserved a remnant for himself, a faithful remnant, a group of men and women who continue to worship God and obey him and wait on him to fulfill all of his promises. That was true even during Israel's darkest days. It was true in the period of the judges, where it could be said that everyone did what was right in his own eyes. There were still faithful men and women in Israel.

22:14That was true during the period of the kings, when Elijah the prophet was convinced that he was the only one left. That was true during the 400 years of silence between Malachi's final prophecy and the angel of. Appearing to Zachariah to say that his wife, his elderly wife, would conceive a child, John the Baptist. God has always preserved a faithful remnant for himself. And at the outset of Luke's gospel, we see these people, Zachariah and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary, Simeon and Anna, these people are all waiting for the consolation of Israel, the redemption of Jerusalem. They are all part of the faithful remnant of Israel. They were all waiting and they weren't disappointed when Jesus came.

23:04Friends, when we assess the past couple of years and we look ahead to this next year, which seems to be starting off just like this year and the year before, it's really easy to get discouraged. And it's even easier to get discouraged when we look out at the landscape of our country and we see churches closing and lots and lots of churches shrinking and people who once seemed to be very faithful no longer worshiping with a local body of believers, some of whom no longer even profess to be followers of Jesus Christ.

23:46That can be very discouraging. But Christmas is a wonderful time to remember that God has kept every promise that He has made and that He will keep every promise that has not yet been fulfilled. And as the disciples stood looking into the heavens after Jesus ascended, two angels appeared to them and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? Jesus will return in the same way that you saw him go up into heaven.

24:22See, Jesus came to save us. He came to save every person, Jew and Gentile, who does not stumble over him and his gospel, but who turns to him in saving faith. And he's coming again, soon, to judge all people and make all things new. We've spent the last month preparing ourselves to remember and celebrate the first coming of Jesus Christ. And now we have to prepare ourselves for his second coming, when every thought from every heart will be revealed before God.

25:01Simeon was ready. Anna was ready. Are you ready for the day when Jesus returns because you have put your faith in him and him alone, believing that he is a revelation to the Gentiles and glory to the people of Israel, the one and the only one who can deliver you not only from sin's penalty in the future, but from sin's power in your life. Today, are you ready? Let's pray. Father, we know in your word that you sent John to prepare the way for Jesus, preaching a message of repentance and faith, so that all who heard him would be ready when the Messiah came, when John Himself would announce, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

26:36We have much more than just John preparing the way for the second coming of Christ. We are without excuse. You've told us that you are coming and coming soon. And so, God, we pray that you would help us to set our hope. Fully on the grace that is going to be revealed when Jesus comes again and our faith becomes sight, when our salvation is complete, when we are glorified forever in the new heavens and the new earth with you.

27:22God, help us in the days after the Christmas holiday to set our hope and our expectation and our anticipation on something that can never disappoint us. Because our hope is set on a person who can never and will never disappoint us. Give us the faith of Simeon and Anna. Faith of people who are willing to wait, believing that what's coming is worth the wait. Thank you, God, for your word to us. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

28:07Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.