Four weeks ago, we began a new series entitled: Batteries Not Included. There is nothing more frustrating than wanting play with your new toys and finding out the package had this hidden line - batteries not included.
We started this series by talking about the Hope, given in the understanding we are all created in God’s image and therefore worthy of his love, peace and joy so when your batteries run low this season, remember Jesus in breaking into our reality was the beginning of hope for us all. Then we talked about peace and shalom. The big idea was peace is not possible without an indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The third week, we talked about joy and more directly, the idea joy comes as a fruit of the spirit and is not possible without first acknowledging what God has done for each of us through the sending of his Spirit to guide us all and last week we talked about love. Not romantic movie love or rose colored glasses or even hormone induced love, but unconditional love of God for all of us.
Let’s be honest, It’s been quite a ride this Advent / Christmas season. The Celebration of Jesus birth doesn’ end for a week couldn’t be more soothing in a year like 2020.
The traditional scriptures for today tell us of the first days of Jesus life. The reading comes from Luke 2:22-40. While you are finding the scriptures in your Bible, let me give you a little context.
It was the “Law” for every new born male to be circumcised on the eighth day. Jesus' parents obeyed because it was considered the sign and seal of the covenant made with Abraham (Gen. 17). The Jews were proud to be God’s covenant people and Jesus' parents were no different. The law is mentioned five times in these nine verses.It was still important to them but it’s sad that circumcision had become an empty ritual for many Jews, because it proclaimed an important truth of God’s love.
Let’s take a look at the scripture
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”[a]), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
This ritual would be the start of several for Jesus. When he was forty days old, he would need to return to the temple to take part in purification rituals described in Leviticus 12. They would then also need to redeem Jesus since he was Mary’s first born (Ex 13:1-12). The process of redemption would cost the family a full six day week’s wage. A cost that would be hard for them to pay. In retrospect, what a deal! Redeem Jesus for weeks wage and have Jesus redeem all of us with his precious blood for eternity.
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss[c] your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Tradition has Simeon as 113 years old. There is no scriptural reference though. Suffice it to say, Simeon was old and had been waiting and watching with Anna for Savior to come. The Holy Spirit was active in these two. The scriptures move from celebration to prophesying. Verse 32 is especially profound. There in a Jewish temple before the ritual, Simeon is sharing what would be a controversial statement. Non-Jews would be invited into the covenant with God. He is predicting all that would take place from Mary having to witness her son’s death to the salvation of so many non-Jews or gentiles.
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
The name Anna means “grace.” There are 43 references to women in Luke’s account of Jesus’ life with 12 being widows. Widows didn’t have an easy time of it. They were not treated well. Anna devoted herself to serving God through worship (prayer and fasting). As a result, she was recognized as a prophetess, which meant she had been anointed with a special gift of declaring and interpreting God’s message.
It’s interesting to note that within that culture to establish a factual statement, two witnesses who were unrelated were needed to validate a truth. In the case of this event, two prophets Simeon and Anna were those witnesses telling the world about the inbreaking of God into the world through Jesus.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
How much did Mary and Joseph understand what was transpiring is really unknown. On two occasions (v19 and 51), we read how Mary stored up these events and pondered them. The word used means “ to put together.” Mary must have tried to put together what God's will for her, the family and for Jesus. I envision her doing her daily chores over the years and interacting with her son as he becomes a man. I bet there were a lot of times she thought about these two individuals at the temple and their predictions. What parent wouldn’t?
As Paul wrote to the Galatians,
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[b] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
So what are we to take from this incredible event?
First, while Jesus’ birth was prophesied for hundreds of years and Mary was visited by an angel during conception and the shepherds came by on the night of his birth, the Jewish society had yet to recognize something special had taken place. In this moment at the temple, the faithful had acknowledged the truth, the Messiah had arrived. A lesson we all need to imitate.
Second, we see that Luke depicts this new era as marked by an amazing outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. But he also shows that this same Spirit was at work in a similar way in the Old Testament in that the Holy Spirit was on the prophets like a shroud but not in them as the New Testament relays to us. The Holy Spirit is in you if you submitted and committed to Jesus. What a thought: you are blessed in a way the prophets of old longed for. All you have to do is ask for an infilling of His Spirit.
Finally, The birth of Jesus signifies the beginning of new reality. God is with us. Our first experience with Jesus begins a lifelong mission to announce and participate in the ushering in a little of God’s kingdom in the places we live, work and play.
To acknowledge this, let's head to the table...
For more about the author, please visit https://communitycenter.life/rev.bob.butler
