Luke 2: Simeon

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0:00 Rest of us, we're gonna keep going through a couple of the characters of that Christmas story. We've been working through that with the kids. They're gonna talk about Simeon with Kirk this morning and so we can look at Simeon. If you're following along in the story, the Simeon comes in Luke chapter 2, so we can go back to Luke chapter 2 where we were earlier this week and pick up there. This week

0:37 here, this like week between Christmas and the start of the new year like is like kind of you know it's kind of weird especially I don't know for you but for me like with with Christmas being on a Wednesday it like I didn't even know what day yesterday I didn't know what day it was you know it's really kind of throw me off and this like text here with Simeon and Anna at the end of Luke chapter 2 would always fall on this Sunday in the church so and so when I

1:12 was in seminary and interning in Denver and then back in St. Louis for my last year this was always the week that they gave the seminary to preach. The pastor never wanted to preach the week after Christmas before the start of the year so I feel like I've preached on Simeon and Anna that this passage more than any other in my life you know which would you would think I would just phone it in I have three messages in the back of my brain that I could give you all but as I

1:46 got into the text I thought oh there's a spot here that I haven't thought about in this text which is silly because it's right there in front of us and so let's look at it first here starting in Luke chapter 2 verse maybe 21 at the end of eight days when he was circumcised he was called Jesus the name given by the

2:16 angel before he was conceived in the room just quickly there about that you know the circumcision was instituted all the way back like in in Abraham's time remember and God had made this unconditional covenant to Abraham going Abraham if you'll let me give you really good things I'm gonna give you really good things you don't have to do anything but let me give it to you and Abraham says it sounds like a good deal Abraham tried several times to mess it

2:49 up and he couldn't and God honored his commitment to Abraham and in a world in the ancient Near East where other gods were promising good things to people they would have to make sacrifices to those gods in order to get the gods to give them good things the worst of the gods would make you sacrifice your kids this was a common practice in the ancient Near East you would sacrifice a kid one of your youngest to the God this is what he implies he's gonna do with Abraham and Isaac right that he's gonna make him sacrifice Isaac to him like the other

3:22 gods but the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob flips it and says no no you don't have to give your kids to me I will give myself to your children when they are eight days old before they can make a choice before they can affirm or deny before they can accept or reject just because Abraham I love you and I'm committed to you I'll extend my covenant promise to your children and the sign that they're in will be the circumcision then they will know irreversibly that

3:54 they belong to the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and so this sign of circumcision though they didn't always practice it perfectly was a was a demonstration of the character of God of his one-sided commitment to his people and so it had fallen out of practice at several different points but Mary and Joseph recognized the intent and the purpose behind it and so they they sacrificed Jesus on the eighth day that's when you're supposed to do it I don't know why eight days it just when it happened but this is interesting I always

4:29 thought that they went to the temple for the circumcision but it doesn't actually this is one of the things I told you I've preached on this a bunch of times and I've always said they're going to the temple for the circumcision but you read it and it looks like maybe not actually right like they have the baby in Bethlehem and they are then Jerusalem is between Bethlehem and Nazareth right and so they circumcised and maybe they hang out in Bethlehem to get the census done get Mary recovered enough for a three-day journey back up to Nazareth and on their

5:02 way now they're going to go by Jerusalem and offer the right sacrifices for him and you notice we next week we'll talk about the Magi because it's pretty clear that the Magi didn't get there in time to see Jesus in Bethlehem right the star arose at the birth of Jesus they then start to follow the star but it takes a period of time remember we'll talk about this next week but they go to see Herod and they're like he's like when did the star appear and then they're like okay

5:34 go down he should have been born in Bethlehem then it says that they went and followed the star they didn't go to Bethlehem they said they followed the star to see where they should go they approached him at a house so anyway we haven't seen the Magi yet they're on their way back up to to Nazareth where the Magi will find them eventually maybe a year in a year and a half but on their way they stop in Jerusalem at the temple because there are certain sacrifices that you offer for the first born and they're going to do that as well they've done the circumcision they're going to do the sacrifices then they're going to go home

6:06 right okay and then so verse 22 and when the time came for these for their purification according to the law of Moses they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the law of the Lord every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord a pair of turtle doves or two-pidge two young pigeons there are specific sacrifices for each

6:37 situation you know they got to go there and buy them in the temple it's kind of a racket at this point but they do it good for them right verse 25 now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and this man was righteous and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him 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 and he came in the spirit into the temple

7:09 and when the presence of parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was the custom of the law he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said now he's gonna utter this famous prayer or like Psalm of praise to God that we call the nuktamidus I looked up nuktamidus because I don't know Latin and it's just like let thou servant let thou depart it's like the first couple phrases in Latin that Simeon will utter and whenever I've talked about this

7:42 before I usually talk about Simeon because it's compelling to me that this old guy who lives in Jerusalem who's like who for some reason still believes that the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob will honor his commitment to the promise to David and all that they will have a delivering king who sits on the throne forever and he's old and he's living in Jerusalem and he's got the Spirit on him and he's not living in the temple he doesn't he doesn't happen to just happen to be there when Mary and Joseph and see something distinctive

8:13 about them but he's led by the Spirit to the temple to go be there at the right moment when this young family that nobody knows about is moving into the temple with all the other young families to make the traditional sacrifices that all the young families make and usually when I talk about this I talk about what crazy generosity of God to bother with Simeon at all isn't it? God is caught up

8:45 in the like fulcrum on which all humanity turns for all time at the fullness of time God has just accomplished something that nobody else could imagine nobody else could do and even God can't undo he's bound the infinite God the unbounded God in the flesh of a child who somehow miraculously made it through the birth process though he was born in a manger with animals and now he's on a three-day

9:18 journey with this like family back up to Nazareth and he's got to safeguard him and get ready to run him down to Egypt to protect him from Herod trying to kill him and in the midst of this hey Simeon you don't want to miss this he brings Simeon into the story it's a great message another year I'll give it to you guys but look at what Simeon says this is what caught me I haven't really like spent a lot of time in the Nokdemidus okay so he took the boy up in his arms

9:53 and blessed God and said hey Lord now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel and his father and his mother marveled at

10:24 what was said about him and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother behold the child is appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is opposed and a sword will pierce your own soul too so that thoughts from many hearts will be revealed this Nokdemidus I'm going to read it Lord now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word for my eyes have seen this your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your

10:58 people Israel I don't know like Simeon is seeing something there that maybe Mary has an incline of and Joseph maybe can can begin to grasp but that's it right the shepherds didn't totally know Simeon looks at little baby Jesus and sees what the salvation for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and

11:32 glory to your people Israel Simeon recognizes that God is making good on a promise that will save humanity from death and not only Israel but a light for revelation to the Gentiles and so when I started to get into this you know Simeon they were way better educated on the scriptures at the time of Jesus I mean

12:02 just as a culture then you and I would be today they didn't all have written copies like we do they certainly couldn't pull it up at the command of their voice or with a few thumbs they had much less access to the scriptures but they had a general greater knowledge of the scriptures right so like the first level of school would be memorize all the Psalms right and you would memorize 150 Psalms and then if you got through that level of school you might start working on the prophets Simeon here is quoting a prophet not because he's

12:37 like trying to quote it but just because it's what's in his brain if he if he thinks about what God can do for humanity he remembers the words of Isaiah 42 you should look at Isaiah 42 with me it's a really cool chapter Isaiah is arguably the most important prophet if we can rank importance of prophets in the scriptures it's very he's very critical he he prophesies he

13:08 speaks for God remember what prophets are before Pentecost before Christ ascends and sends the Holy Spirit we don't have direct access to the Spirit of God so when God wants to communicate to humanity he comes with a spirit on a specific purpose or person for a specific purpose and they speak on behalf of God we call his people prophets Isaiah is a significant prophet he speaks for God two people folks write down his words Isaiah speaks in two distinct periods he speaks to the southern kingdom before they are conquered and

13:42 taken to Babylon he's up he's announcing that judgment will come and then in the second half he's announcing that restoration will return and this debated how he figured it out like because it's too long he died before the restoration happened so maybe he wrote it down and they sealed it there's a couple of clues that look like maybe that's it maybe he communicated to his disciples and some of his disciples wrote it down but in two distinct periods and in 42 it's towards the beginning where Isaiah before the exile is writing words of

14:13 encouragement to Israelites in exile that a Savior will come he's like looking two times forward into the future gifted by the Holy Spirit scholarship is like divided it's somewhere 750 to 580 BC they know it's before the the Babylonian captivity that he's writing this right and and so this

14:46 is somewhere 700 to 500 to 600 years before Jesus arrives Isaiah speaks chapter 42 okay chapter 42 verse 1 behold my servant who my uphold my chosen in whom my soul delights the theme here is Isaiah sees that there was a suffering servant a servant a someone who will serve Israel on behalf of God this

15:18 servant position is the one who ends up delivering right and he's describing it here behold my servant whom I uphold my chosen in whom my soul delights I have put my spirit upon him he will bring forth justice to the nations he will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street a bruised read he will not break and a faintly burning wick he will not quench he will faithfully

15:55 bring forth justice just pause for a second there I don't know how you do that did you catch it it's like saying he will bring forth justice then talking about how he'll bring forth justice then assuring you again he will bring forth justice look at it one more time I put my spirit upon him verse one he will bring forth justice to the nations then verse two he will not cry aloud in the street or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street a bruised read he

16:34 will not break and a faintly burning wick he will not he won't even quench a faintly burning wick this is someone who's bringing justice to the nations but not forcefully not abrasively not bombastically justice where people get what is appropriate and right where no one is abused or run over where no one

17:05 is exploited where things are set appropriate and right he's saying the servant will bring in remember we're talking to the kids what does it look like to live under the reign of Jesus it looks like justice but not at your expense not running over you not breaking you in place he won't even snuff out of faintly burning wick be gentle and just it's incredible contradiction Isaiah must they must have thought this guy's crazy remember

17:39 they're dealing with Babylonians who come in and lead them out on fish hooks who knock over buildings and you and I if we think about what does a justice look like now and here when people run on law and order what does that look like what images does that conjure can we imagine someone who moves in justice appropriate justice without running people over without breaking a bruise

18:10 read without snuffing out a sniffly dimly lit candle even Isaiah says this is what the one will look like verse four he will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands wait for his law it's the extended period he's not grow tired or weary this is good for us the day is still in front of us

18:54 Isaiah said five seven hundred years before Jesus came don't worry he is patient and will not stop until his justice covers the earth if we see injustice if we experience exploitation the misappropriation of

19:24 force or resources if we observe people being run over and abused we know he is not done patient and waiting for his justice to rule on the earth now this is this is kind of fun we're getting up to the part that's semi-enquotes but he's implying this whole chapter when he quotes this in the minutes so look at verse five thus says the God of the Lord who created the heavens and

19:57 stretched them out who spread out the earth and what comes from it who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it who is such a God who would claim that they could bring justice without having to yell in the street or break over bruised reads who is such a God who think he could wait and would patiently wait for his justice to cover all the earth even the coastlands who would be so presumptuous to suggest that this kind of justice

20:27 could rule the earth oh God says none other than the one who imagined creation into existence and breathed the breath of life into you he has the capacity to do it he started all the earth and he'll bring it to completion and he started you and you'll bring you to completion right all the way through until you are reached the fullness of who you were intended to be and so the prophet

20:57 speaking for God first says the suffering servant will bring justice and it's too beautiful to believe and so then it's how could this happen oh remember the world we're living in the capacity of God the ability of God is demonstrated in you walking upright in the day in your lungs working right in your the inklings of your heart towards generosity and mercy is evidence that

21:30 God has the capacity to do what he's claiming verse 6 I am the Lord I have called you to righteousness I will take you by the hand and keep you let's see I will give you as a covenant for the people of light to the nations to open the eyes that are blind to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon and from the prison those who set in sit in darkness I am the Lord that is my name my glory I

22:05 give to no other nor my praise to carve idols behold the former things have come to pass and new things I now declare before they spring forth I tell you this is the last piece and this was the piece that was really new for me did you catch the bit about light and darkness the nook dominus talks about a light to the Gentiles it's one of the famous phrase that pulls out Paul ends up using it several times in Acts to explain why he's preaching the good news of Jesus to the Gentiles and not just the Israelites this light to the Gentiles

22:35 and here when Isaiah speaking for God to people thousands of years ago talks about light and darkness I've always felt like this this comp this comparison between light and dark is like walking in purity and walking in impurity mess evil right and that this idea that there is that we take this I don't think this is a bad

23:08 idea I just think it's only one way to think about it and it's not the way Isaiah is thinking about it that we have to take this light and walk into places of evil that are dangerous right and that's how I've thought about it always but when I read this bit about light and darkness look at it again I am the Lord I have called you in righteousness I will take you by the hand and keep you I will give you as a covenant for the people a light for the nations to open

23:39 the eyes that are blind to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon from the prison of those who sit in darkness I am the Lord I think this light is more about turning the lights on so people can see what's true he's not contrasting a good world and an evil world we're all living in this world but there are some of us who can't see reality that it was made on purpose with intent and forethought

24:13 that the situation that is sitting in is something less than where it is going that there is a king who's over the long arc bringing justice back who won't bruise the break the broken read the bruised read right who won't snuff out the candle that we're moving in this direction living under the reign of the one who came in this way darkness is not some far corner of evil there are no far corners of the world there are just places where people are less inclined to

24:45 see things as they really are and God in his great generosity sent the servant down into the world to turn on the lights for people this is why he said more than anything else I have come the reign of God is here now this is why Paul exclaims with so much joy I can't believe it he said I've living under the reign of God I've been made a new creation there is I have the capacity for love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control I can

25:17 live under the reign of God now this is what's true that there are kings and there are presidents and there are boundaries and there are nations but all of these are passing away there is a king of kings who sits on a throne who never ends there is a prince of peace who reigns over all that in completion with the words of Isaiah is bringing us to a place where his justice reigns forever and we can start there now this is the degree to which you live in

25:55 darkness is not measured by your moral failing the degree to which you live in darkness is not measured by the way that you have contaminated yourself or gone into places that are dirty that's not what darkness is the degree to which you live in darkness is the amount to which in your outlook on the world you perceive that this world is all there is that's darkness that the justice we can

26:28 accomplish here is all we'll ever get that's darkness that what you can get for yourself is all you'll ever have so store up in storehouses hoard and keep manipulate and use to get the money the love the significance that you can extract because it's all you ever get that's the darkness the light you have been created on purpose not by accident you are being brought into a world that

27:06 endures forever this world here is not good enough for you but there is a king who has established a reign that will endure forever and he invites you into it and there is justice mercy provision protection this is the light of the world this is why Jesus can then say you are the light of the world because once you know what's true you can remind some folk

27:39 oh no look there is supernatural provision that we can't predict or manipulate there is unlimited second chances you are not bound to your some of your worst choices or your basest instincts oh no no the injustice here will not last forever all will be set to write he came once he'll come again and

28:16 set it all right let's pray that like simian we could consider Christmas and see what's true hey Lord thank you for this room of people that we get to be church together as we wait for your return embolden our faith this morning that in places of where the truth is obscured hidden over plot it out we might see your light your light would dawn in our hearts and minds remind us of what

28:47 is true and hold us in the truth your light until the day that you call us home in Jesus name we pray