A REASON TO REJOICE!
Luke 2:22-32
INTRODUCTION:
A man was asleep in the bed one night when his wife leaned over and shook him and said, "Wake up, I think somebody’s breaking in!"
You see, this man had gone through this almost every night for the past 20 years, and he knew that the only way he was going to get back to sleep was to go and check it out. This had just become a formality, a regular routine…
This time, however, the wife’s worst fear had come true…as her husband made his way down the hall he spotted a man with a gun robbing the house!
As the thief was about to run away the man said, “Wait a minute, you gotta come with me and meet my wife."
With a confused looked on his face the thief replied, “Now why in the world would you want me to meet your wife?"
The man said, "Well, she’s been expecting you for 20 years."
In our passage this morning, we’re going to meet somebody whose life was characterized by expectation. This man’s name was Simeon; as we look a little bit closer at this story of Simeon, there are three aspects that we will find giving us “A Reason to Rejoice”.
The set up for the story goes like this…
READ vv. 22-24
Now, there are two reasons that Joseph and Mary came to Jerusalem:
The first reason was for purification. You see, back in those days, a woman who had become pregnant and given birth to a son was considered ceremonially unclean. And as a rule, the woman had to be purified from her bleeding, and so by offering a sacrifice she was permitted to once again enter into the sanctuary.
The second reason was to redeem the firstborn, which according to the law belonged to God. Think about that for a second…the Redeemer having to be redeemed! Well, Joseph and Mary were at the temple to take care of this which would have been five shekels. In today’s economy that would be about $7.50.
This brings us to our study. The first aspect is…
1. ANTICIPATION (vv. 25-26)
READ vv. 25-26
Simeon was a good man; he was a devout believer in God. He read read God’s Word, studied God’s Word and meditated on God’s Word.
Our passage this morning also emphasizes that this was a man of the Spirit. The Spirit was on him; the Spirit was in him; the Spirit moved him. And the Spirit revealed to him that he wouldn’t die until he saw the Messiah and so he is waiting.
The text doesn’t tell us when this information was revealed to him; we don’t know how long he’d been waiting. It could have been months, years or even decades. Regardless of how long it had actually been, I get the feeling that Simeon has been waiting for some time for God to fulfill his promise to him.
Not only was Simeon a good man, not only was he a devout believer, not only did he meditate on God’s Word, not only was he a man of the Spirit…but Simeon was also a patient man. He’s been living expectantly; he’s had a desire and a focus that he hasn’t given up on; he’s been anticipating the arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I gotta admit, patience is not one of my best qualities. You see, we live in the age of immediate gratification. “We want the world and we want it now.” But what we need to understand; what I need to understand is that God doesn’t work in our time frame. The bible teaches that a thousand years to us is like a single day to God.
But the truth is that waiting can be such a hard thing for us to do. Our schedules are maxed out; we don’t leave any time to wait for anything. We don’t take the time to truly get to know our neighbors and whether or not they know God because who’s got time for that? We may have 1,000 Facebook friends who can like us in an instant, but have we really taken the time to get to know who those people are and whether or not they have a relationship with Christ. We want our trials and tribulations to be solved right now. It used to be that something worth having was worth waiting for, but now if we have to wait it’s almost not worth having.
This now brings us to the second aspect…
2. ADORATION (vv. 27-28)
READ vv. 27-28
The day that Simeon had been so patiently waiting for has finally arrived. He’s in the temple, doing what he usually does, and in walks this young couple carrying the promised Messiah!
Now we don’t really know exactly what this man was expecting, who he had pictured in his mind: maybe it was a great general, a king who would take the throne from Herod and establish justice and righteousness in the land again, or a great religious leader who would turn the people back to God? He was given this great promise from God that he would see the one and now that day has come. Simeon was looking for the hope of Israel and….it’s a baby! But this baby would grow to meet every human need and defy every expectation. In many ways we are all like Simeon.
How many times do we cry out for God to deliver us when we are in need? How many times do we turn to the scriptures and read the promises that God answers prayer and so we pray. Finally the answer comes and we barely even recognize it because it’s nothing like what we expected. We begin to wonder, is this of God? Is this His answer to our prayers?
Like Simeon, we are in desperate need. The world around us is broken. Sin is running wild, it’s out of control. As believers, we are looking for something better. So like Simeon we go to our temples, our places of worship, and we wait for that one thing…that one person…that one situation that will change everything and time passes by.
Then one day, when it’s least expected, in through the gate of the temple comes the answer to our deepest desire…Jesus Christ. He’s no longer a child; He comes as our risen savior. Simeon knew immediately that this baby was the Messiah. Can you imagine what it must have been like for Simeon?
Can you see him moving quickly toward Mary and Joseph?
Can you see his eyes filled with tears.
Can you see his quivering hands and trembling body.
Can you see him taking the child from Mary…staring at Him with adoration; worshipping God and then giving this most magnificent acclamation.
READ vv. 29-32
The third aspect is…
3. ACCLAMATION (vv. 29-32)
Simeon knew that he wouldn’t live to see this child’s deliverance plan unfold. He was left to die in peace because his eyes had seen the Savior, but I’m sure he left with questions. We too are left with many questions. Jesus comes on the scene and promises to fill the void that we can’t seem to fill ourselves. But somehow it just doesn’t seem to fit, because our expectations and Jesus’ answer to our needs seem to conflict with one another. We’re told that if we work hard and live right, then we will see the blessings of God and enjoy all the world has to offer.
Jesus comes promising us that He will meet our every need: food, family and friends, clothing. But He doesn’t promise to meet them on our terms. Jesus invites us to partake in this abundant life, but in order for that to take place we must die to ourselves; in order to die to ourselves we must surrender our lives to Jesus. And so the battle continues, Paul talks about it in Romans 7. The world pulls one way and Jesus another. Jesus gives us peace and joy that can only be found in our relationship with God. Meanwhile, Satan whispers in our ear, “Did God REALLY say…?”
The temple court was busy that morning, it always was. The people pushing and shoving each other trying to carry out their religious obligations. Mary, Joseph and Jesus were just one family among many. There were other women there for the purification rite; nobody noticed that the answer to their deepest needs was in their midst.
CONCLUSION
We have a reason to rejoice…Jesus is here this morning! He is the answer to our deepest needs. But sadly, He goes unnoticed by the majority of the people. They go on about their busy lives, worshiping gods that promise but can’t provide all the while missing the Savior who died so that they might live. Aren’t you glad that we have a God who always keeps His promises? Will you stop and notice? Just like Simeon, God doesn’t want any of us to die before we have seen the Savior of the world. Can you say with Simeon that your eyes have seen the salvation of God? Will you follow him?
