Luke 2
Jesus Presented in the Temple
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"), 24and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."
Simeon Sees God’s Salvation
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. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
27So 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, 28he 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."
33And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34Then 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."
Anna Bears Witness to the Redeemer
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; 37and 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. 38And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
Christmas is probably the most exciting season in the year. Both children and adults anxiously await the arrival of Christmas. I think, however, it is the children who have the most difficulty waiting for it. For many children Christmas is about opening presents and eating candy.
For many adults, it is about holiday bonuses, rushing to the mall, time with family, and Christmas decorations. In the glitter and sparkle of how Christmas is presented in our culture today it is quite easy for the true meaning of Christmas to be lost. What is the real meaning of Christmas and what are the origins of Christmas?
Was Jesus really born on December 25th? Did you know that Christmas was not even celebrated by early Christians and did not even become a Christian holiday until the fourth century when Constantine became the Roman emperor. Prior to the celebration of Christmas, December 25th in the Roman world was a pagan holiday known as Natalis Solis Invicti, the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun.
This feast, occurring after winter solstice, honored the Persian sun god, Mithras, widely worshipped throughout the empire. Another pagan celebration coincided with the Mithraic holiday, a feast honoring Saturnalia, the god of sowing and husbandry.
Celebrants exchanged gifts, feasted, drank, and fully gave themselves to debauchery. The priests of Saturn during the festival would honor their deity by carrying wreaths of evergreen boughs in their temples.
Since this feast was so popular in the empire, Constantine chose to reupholster it in Christian trappings to make Christianity more palatable to his subjects.
Even when Christmas was first introduced as a holiday it seems that most celebrants observed it for cultural reasons. Such even seems to be the case today. However in the story of Simeon and Anna we read that they celebrated their “Christmas” for the right reasons.
We see from the passage that Simeon was seeking the consolation of Israel. The word used here is the Greek word paraklesis, which means comfort, consolation, and exhortation. This is similar to the same word that Jesus used when He described the Holy Spirit as being the comforter.
Why was Simeon praying for the consolation of Israel? Israel was under the Roman boot. The Jewish people either lived under the harsh rule of King Herod who was as despotic as Saddam Hussein. Israel had lost her independence and the people were desperately crying out for a deliverer.
There are three qualities that Anna and Simeon have in their “Christmas” experience.
I. They had focus!
What really strikes me about Simeon and Anna is that they had focus. Anna, especially, seems to have focus. Consider that soon after her husband died she went to the temple to pray and fast every day. What did she pray for? Did she pray for a new husband? For her finances?
She certainly would have been justified in praying for a new husband because a family would have been her only source of income. There was no social security or government aid back then.
Scripture, however, states that she prayed for the “redemption of Jerusalem.” She prayed for the redemption of her people that would come in the form of the promised Messiah.
Simeon and Anna were focused because they had a dream to see the Messiah. Many people when they are going through difficult times pray for a miracle. There is nothing wrong with this. Simeon and Anna, however, were not praying for a miracle, but rather praying for the Miracle. There are those that seek the hand of God and those that seek the face of God and it seems that Simeon and Anna were of the latter.
II. They had faithfulness!
It says in this passage that Simeon had been “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” Later on we read that Anna had “served God with fastings and prayers night and day.” Anna’s faithfulness especially comes out in this passage. She was eighty-four years old and had been serving God in the Temple ever since her husband had passed away seven years after her marriage.
Since it was customary for Jewish women to marry in their teen years, I would guess that Anna was widowed sometime in her early twenties. If she had been widowed in her early twenties then she would have been praying at the Temple for over sixty years! Sixty years fervently praying at the temple! Now that is faithfulness!
To persistently serve God without immediate results is the real test of faithfulness. A senator once visiting Mother Teresa in Calcutta noticed the large volume of suffering people she and her coworkers had to care for daily.
The senator, overwhelmed by the magnitude of intense suffering around him, asked Mother Teresa: "How can you bear the load without being crushed by it?" Mother Teresa replied, "My dear Senator, I am not called to be successful, I am called to be faithful."
(Taken from Beyond Hunger, Beals)
The work of God is often slow. The great missionaries of the 19th century understood this. Consider for example, William Carey who toiled for seven years before he converted his first Hindu convert. Adoniram Judson took seven years before his faithful preaching won his first convert in that land.
It took fourteen years before one convert was won to Christ in West Africa. It took nine years to win the first soul Christ in New Zealand, and in Tahiti, it took 16 years before someone received Christ.
III. They had an encounter with Christ that changed them!
We read in the text of Anna’s response to her meeting Christ:
“And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” Luke 2:38
All of her life Anna had been living for the moment she would meet Jesus, and finally the time came. This encounter left her changed with a heart ignited with a new passion for God and to tell others about His redemptive plan! She had an encounter that changed her heart and impacted those around her!
We read in church history of numerous times of when someone had a life changing encounter with God and was stirred up to impact the world for Christ. One such person was John Wesley. After his Aldersgate experience at the age of 35, Wesley became ignited with the passion to share the good news of salvation by faith. Anglican churches, however, soon closed their pulpits to him because they felt he was too zealous.
Wesley eventually went throughout England preaching open air to the unchurched masses. Wesley rose every morning at five and often rode horseback up to fifteen to twenty miles a day. Wesley ended up traveling up to 250,000 miles and preached a total of 42,000 sermons. He preached up to the month before he died at the age of 88.
Consider the story of Hudson Taylor, the great 19th century missionary who went to China. Shortly after Hudson Taylor was converted he was given a church membership card. On it was written Ezekiel 36:26: “A new heart also I will give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”
“Dear Lord,” Hudson pleaded, “please take away my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh! Help me believe the promises of your Word! My heart longs for this perfect holiness.”
Hudson Taylor went to China and founded the China Inland Mission which at his death included 205 mission stations with over 800 missionaries, and 125,000 Chinese Christians.
I recently heard a new Christian song topping the charts by Casting Crowns called “If we are the Body.” I especially like the chorus of the song which goes:
"But if we are the body
Why aren’t His arms reaching?
Why aren’t His hands healing?
Why aren’t His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren’t His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way."
I recently saw the movie, Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey. In this movie, God endows Bruce with His powers. While there were some things in this movie I didn’t like, there was one thing I did like. There was one scene in the movie where God speaks to Bruce about the mess he has made. He says: “You want to see a miracle, son? Be the miracle.”
I think there is a lot of truth to that statement. Certainly there are miracles that only God can accomplish. I believe, however, that much healing would take place in our broken world if we chose to be the miracle. This is what Christmas is about.
It’s about the Miracle coming to this world in the form of Jesus Christ. It’s about those who have received Christ choosing to be His physical presence here on earth. It’s us choosing to be the miracle to a lost and dying world.
Anna prayed that Jerusalem, her community, might experience redemption. God answered that prayer by sending Jesus. This world still needs redemption. God may not be calling you to be a preacher like John Wesley or a missionary, but we too can be like Anna and share His love with those of us around us. Are you willing to be the Christmas miracle for someone this holiday season?
