My Father’s House
Luke 2:21-52
Luke chapter 2 is where we’re at. If you’re new with us, here’s what’s so cool to me. On a day when we had a bunch of families dedicating their children to the Lord, we actually find ourselves in the passage in Luke chapter 2 where Jesus, the baby, is dedicated and presented in the temple of the Lord. And just so you know, we didn’t plan that. God figured this thing out. And so it’s cool to be in this passage this morning. We’re going to pick it up in Luke chapter 2, verse 21.
I’ll start off this way. So last Monday morning, I’m up at 6 AM. I’m in the living room, nursing my third cup of coffee because I don’t know what you’re like, but I can’t even have conversations with folks before three cups of coffee at least, because I’m totally incoherent and don’t make sense. And so I’m in the living room, sitting in my chair with my little French roast. And our daughter, 16-year-old Annabelle, comes running in the living room. And she looks all panicked. She looks all flustered. And I’m like, “Baby, what’s going on?” She goes, “Dad, you’ve got to help me.” I said, “Baby, what is it?” And she goes, “My phone won’t turn on, and I have to go to school in a minute.” I said, “Well, baby, let me see your phone.” And so I try to mess with her phone. I’m pushing buttons and holding down buttons. Nothing will happen. So I said to her, “Well, darling, tell you what. Just go on to school, and then after school’s over, you come back home, and we’ll take your phone to get fixed.” She said, “Dad, how am I supposed to drive to school and be at school all day long without my phone?” I said, “Easy, baby. Pretend like you’re living in 1996, like I was when every single day of my life I drove to school with no phone.” Amen? She goes, “Dad, what if something awful happens on my way to school? What if something bad happens?” I said, “Tell you what, baby, if it will make you feel better, I will get in the car and follow you to your school to make sure you arrive okay.” And she thinks about it for a second. She goes, “But dad, how am I supposed to listen to music in my car without my phone?” I said, “Sweetheart, you know that magic box in your car, flashing the time? It’s called a radio. Turn it on.” She said, “Dad, who listens to music on the radio?” I said, “People with broke phones like you.” She’s like, “Dad, I just don’t know. I just don’t know. I’m worried. I don’t know that I can do this.” I said, “Baby, OK, fine. Give me your phone. You go finish getting ready. I will fix your phone.” She said, “Dad, I’ve already tried to fix it. It’s not fixable. It’s broke. It can’t be fixed.” I said, “Trust me. I’m a dad. And dads can fix anything.” She said, “OK, whatever you say.” She gives me the phone and walks out of the room. Now, I make sure she’s out of the room and she’s gone down the hallway. And then at that moment, immediately, I did what every dad does when he’s trying to impress his kids and his wife with his ability to fix anything. What did I do? YouTube. What did we ever do before YouTube? So I get my laptop. And I’m like, “YouTube, open up how to turn on iPhone that won’t turn on.” Bam, get a video. There’s like a sequence of buttons you have to push. It’s weird, man. And the thing magically comes on. I’m feeling pretty good about myself. I walk in my daughter’s bedroom upstairs. And I lay that thing down on her table. “Boom”. I said, “You’re welcome.” She looks at me. She goes, “How did you do this? This is amazing. What did you do? What did you do?” I said, “Sweetheart, I’m a dad. And dad’s know stuff.”
Now, here’s why I tell you that story, family. Okay, I know that not everybody is a parent, but some of you are parents. And some of you will be parents one day. Listen, here’s what every single parent up in here knows. Being a parent is a massive responsibility. Amen? Like gigantic, almost overwhelming responsibility. I remember when my wife and I first had our first daughter. We were living in California at the time. And I remember holding this little baby in my hands and just thinking, we have a human now to take care of, to watch over, to parent. I mean, it’s such a massive responsibility being a parent because you have to be able to do so many things. For example, you have to be able to help your kids troubleshoot first world problems, like broken phones and weird stuff like that. You have to be able to lead by example. That’s terrifying, right? How many of you parents know more is caught than taught? It really doesn’t matter what you say. They’re watching your life. And so you have to know to lead by example. And they’re watching. I’m supposed to teach them right from wrong and know how to navigate and discern right from wrong. And then on top of that, you have to provide for them. You have to provide things like clothes and shelter and McNuggets and the occasional Frappuccino. You’re providing for these kids and it’s just a massive responsibility being a parent. And that’s just if you have normal kids. I can’t even imagine the type of responsibility and the pressure you would feel raising the Son of God. Can you imagine that? And yet, that is exactly what God has called Mary and Joseph to do here in Luke chapter 2. We’ve been walking through Luke chapter 1 and 2 as a church for about seven or eight weeks now. And what we’ve seen is this young virgin Mary living in Nazareth, a town that’s not even mentioned in the Old Testament because nobody even cared about Nazareth. And she’s committed to be married to a man named Joseph. And all of a sudden, God calls this virgin. He sends his angel Gabriel to announce to this lady Mary that she has been chosen to give birth to the Son of God. Think about this. God intentionally chooses this couple, Mary and Joseph, to raise Jesus. Isn’t that fascinating? Out of all the couples in the world, out of all the people in the world, God intentionally chooses Mary and Joseph, from Nazareth, to raise His one and only Son. And at this point in this amazing story, Jesus has been born. The shepherds get the announcement and they go to see the baby lying in a manger and swaddling clothes and all that kind of stuff. And I don’t know about you, but I was thinking about this this week, coming off of last week’s sermon and the shepherds and the babies here. And this is totally pure conjecture. We don’t have this in the Bible, so don’t take notes on this. I have to believe as a dad and as a sinner who knows he’s flawed, that there was some point over the first few days after Jesus was born when Joseph probably huddled up with Mary and prayed something like, “God, please help us not goof this up.” Because I know me, and I know what I’m like, and I’m just asking God for His help so we don’t mess this thing up. I mean, who are we kidding? This is tons and tons of pressure.
God Used Devoted Parents in the Life of Jesus
And now we get to the middle of Luke chapter 2, and here’s why I think this is so fascinating. I think this is something we don’t talk about enough, but we probably should. It’s significant in the Scriptures. In Luke chapter 2, we’re actually about to get a glimpse of the parenting style of Mary and Joseph. How many of you parents know you all have a parenting style? Even if you think you don’t, you do. It’s called unintentional. It’s called accidental. The reality is every parent here has some sort of parenting style. We’re about to get a glimpse of the parenting style of Mary and Joseph. In other words, we begin to see just what kind of parents God has intentionally chosen to raise His one and only Son, Jesus. Luke chapter 2, starting in verse 21, “And at the end of eight days, when He was circumcised, He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.” And at this moment, we have the very first shedding of blood of God’s Son. He’s circumcised in obedience to God’s law. Verse 22, “And when the time came 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.” You see the theme here? A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
God Used Devoted Parents in the Life of Jesus
So right out of the chute, this actually brings to the first point for today. God used devoted parents in the life of Jesus. I want you to consider this, because again, I feel like this is something we don’t talk about a whole lot and we totally should. We kind of skim. At this point, a lot of us have done the church thing for maybe a minute. We skim over the Christmas story like we’re familiar with it, and we don’t slow down enough to really consider what’s happening here and how significant it is. I want you to consider this truth, that God used devoted parents in the life of Jesus. And here’s what I mean by that. How many of y’all would agree that because God is God, one of the things that that means is that God can do anything He wants to do? It’s sort of like bullet point one or two on the resume. He can do whatever He wants to do. That’s what makes Him God by definition. And so here’s what that means. One of the things that means is that when God sent His one and only son, Jesus Christ, into this world on a mission to save broken sinners like all of us, you know what He could have done? He could sent Jesus into the world as a fully grown 30-year-old man. If He wanted to, He could have just sent Jesus, boom. He could have skipped all the baby stuff, skipped all the awkward middle school years, skipped puberty, and got right to the main mission. Preaching, teaching, healing, casting out demons, dying on a cross, atoning for our sin, rising from the grave. He could have totally done that. Because God can do it however He wants to do it. But instead, isn’t it fascinating, out of all the possibilities, God intentionally chooses to give Jesus parents. He gives Him parents who are going to raise Him for years before He officially begins His active ministry in the world. And right out of the gate, what we’re clearly seeing about these two parents, Mary and Joseph, is that these two parents are completely and totally devoted to God. I don’t want you to miss the significance of what we’re seeing here about how they parent about the character of Mary and Joseph.
Mary and Joseph Obey God in Naming Jesus
Incidentally, there are two specific ways that we’re seeing their devotion here. How do we know they were devoted to God? How do we know they loved God and obeyed God and walked with God and cared about God so much? Well, the first way that we know it is from verse 21. So look at verse 21 again and watch what it says. “And at the end of eight days, when He was circumcised, He was called Jesus.” Who was he called Jesus by? By Mary and Joseph. He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. So consider this. We saw back in Luke chapter one, the angel Gabriel shows up to Mary and says, “You’re going to give birth to the Savior. You’re the chosen one, blessed and highly favored. You’re going to give birth to Jesus, and you shall call His name Jesus. That’s going to be His name, which means God saves. You’re going to call His name Jesus.” Additionally, if you read that same sort of story over in the Gospel of Matthew, you find that Joseph is all freaked out because this virgin betrothed to him is now pregnant, and he’s going to put her away quietly and just not get married to her. And an angel appears to him in a dream and says, “No, you’re going to marry this girl, and when the baby’s born, you’re going to call his name Jesus.” And so what we have here, is that in obedience to what God said, through the angel Gabriel, back in Luke chapter one, they named the baby Jesus just like God had commanded them to do. What if they had done it differently? Think about that. What if Mary and Joseph would’ve been like, “You know what, Lord, we’ve been thinking about this and we will give birth to this child, Your Son. But we’re not real fired up about the name, Jesus. We kind of like the name Gary. Can we go with Gary? We love the name Gary. We’ve always just loved the name Gary. We found a baby book and it rhymes with Mary, Mary and Gary. Can we just do our own thing?” Now, that seems a bit hokey, but there’s a reason we’re being told right here in verse 21 that they named him Jesus, the name given to the angel before he was conceived in the womb. There’s a reason this is being emphasized to us. They obey what God said by naming the baby Jesus. Why? Because how in the world are they supposed to teach their child to honor the Lord if they themselves aren’t willing to honor the Lord? That’s one of the maddening things about parenting. I can’t really expect things from my kids that I’m not willing to do myself. How can I expect my kids to love God if I don’t love God? How can I expect my kids to read God’s Word if I never read God’s Word? How can I expect my kids to care deeply about local church if I don’t seem to ever care deeply about local church? I can’t expect things from them that I don’t do myself and so with submission to what God said, they named the child Jesus. It’s fascinating to think about that for the rest of His life, every single time they cry out for Jesus, that name itself is a reminder that they are submissive to the Lord. Jesus, come make your bed. Jesus, come to dinner. Every single time they cry out the name, it’s a reminder they live under the authority of God and what He says goes.
Mary and Joseph Believe and Obey the Written Word
Now, there’s a second way we know that they’re so devoted to God. They believe and obey the written Word. I don’t know if you missed that or not. One of the things that is being emphasized here in this text is how high the view that Mary and Joseph have for the written Word of God. They have this high value for the Word of God. How do we know? Look again at verses 22-24. “And when the time came for their purification, according to the law of Moses, as it is written in the law of the Lord, according to what is said in the law of the Lord.” In other words, what’s going on? This couple loves Scripture and they obey Scripture. They believe the Bible and they don’t just appreciate the Bible, but they believe the Bible and they obey the Bible. And think about this for a second. High view of Scripture, high view of the written Word of God, high view of what God said. And these are the kind of parents that God intentionally chooses to raise His only son. This is not some accident, this is not random. The reality is, there’s a powerful lesson that we’re all supposed to learn here. God wants every parent to have the same kind of priorities that Mary and Joseph clearly have. Notice that God is central in their life; He’s not on the periphery. God is the center of their lives. Their devotion to God, not their career, not their extracurricular stuff that tends to push God out. Not their money, not their bottom line, not their lake house somewhere, it’s God. God is the center, everything else centers around Him. You see it? And again, these are the kind of parents that God chooses for Jesus. And I wonder, for those of you who are parents, and for those of you who are just here and you love Jesus and you adore Jesus and you worship Jesus and you follow Jesus, you know you’re saved by Jesus, is He the center of it? Do you have a high view of the written Word of God living under His authority and obedience?
Difficult Circumstances Are Never A Reason To Stop Trusting God
Now here’s the deal. There’s something else that we learned about this couple in verse 24 and I don’t know if it stuck out to you or not, but it’s significant. So what’s being described here is the fact that Mary and Joseph are in obedience to the written Word of God. They’re taking place in a rite of purification and this is something that a woman would need to go through after she gave birth to a child, as written in Leviticus chapter 12. You can read about it in Leviticus 12 and this is what every woman who loved God in Israel would do in the temple to offer sacrifices as an act of purification after the birth of a child. And here, it tells us the kind of sacrifices that they brought and notice what it says in verse 24. “And they brought to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.” Now how many of y’all had no clue that a turtle dove was a real thing and you thought it was just in that dumb Christmas song? Now this is significant because it leads us to point number two. Difficult circumstances are never a reason to stop trusting God. Mary and Joseph were not living life on an easy street and this verse right here is actually a powerful clue to us that Mary and Joseph did not have a simple, easy life. God didn’t choose them because they had no worries, no distractions, no issues, everything was fine for them and they were really financially secure so He picked them to raise His son. But instead, just like a whole lot of us in this room, they were actually in the middle of some very difficult circumstances. Life was actually extraordinarily hard for Mary and Joseph. We know this because of what they just brought as a sacrifice to the temple. We’re just clearly told that when they came for this purification, they came into the temple with turtle doves and pigeons. What does that tell us? Well, you have to read the law that they were obeying in Leviticus chapter 12, which tells us what a woman who’s just given birth to a baby is supposed to do in the temple as a rite of purification. Leviticus 12:6 says, “And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb, a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering. And he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law of her who bears a child, either male or female.” We don’t see a lamb anywhere. They didn’t bring a lamb for sacrifice. Where’s the lamb? They brought turtle doves and pigeons. What’s going on here? Well, you have to read the next verse. It’s because of this, ”And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtle doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.” Do you see it? In other words, Mary and Joseph are below the poverty line. They’re not middle class, and they aren’t upper class. They’re poor. They’re destitute. They have to bring a poor person’s offering to the Lord. And yet, consider this. What do we see these two poor peasants who can’t even afford a lamb for the temple doing here in this passage? They’re obeying the Bible and they’re worshiping God. You know why they’re obeying the Bible and worshiping God even though they’re poor, even though they can’t afford a lamb, even though they can’t afford a lot of stuff? It’s because, unlike a whole lot of 21st century Americans who have way more material possessions than these folks ever had, they have not allowed their unfortunate circumstances to taint their love for God. You know what their attitude is? Their attitude is, “Hey man, I can’t afford a lamb for the offering, that’s cool. Where are the turtle doves? Because I’m still going to bring my sacrifice to the Lord because God’s goodness does not depend on my bottom line. He’s good and He’s still God.” This is the kind of couple that God chooses to raise His only Son.
Sometimes It’s God’s Will For You To Wait
This is what true Christianity is always supposed to look like. True Christianity is trusting God and trusting His heart even in the valley of the shadow of death. And these are the parents God chooses to raise His Son. Now pay close attention to what happens next. In verse 25, watch what happens next. “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.” We talked about this before. Notice how many times the Holy Spirit is referred to by Luke in the Gospel of Luke. This is one of the reasons that a lot of Bible scholars refer to the Gospel of Luke as the Gospel of the Holy Spirit. It’s always talking about the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit, the movement of the Holy Spirit. It says in verse 26, “And it had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” So watch what’s happening here. This is so fascinating. So we have this old guy, this old man named Simeon. Every indication is that he’s a very old guy. And at some point in his life, God had promised him that he was going to lay his own eyes on the Savior before he died. Can you imagine? Simeon, before you pass away, before you die, before your life’s over, you’re going to see the Promised One. You’re going to see the One who comes to deliver our people. But then interestingly, the promise is made, but then interestingly God made Simeon wait. And this brings us to the point that no one’s going to like today. Number three, sometimes it’s God’s will for you to wait. Yay. I totally realize nobody wants to hear this. Does anybody here enjoy waiting? You’re like, “Yeah, my three favorite things are taxes, a hair on my cheeseburger, and waiting for God to do something in my life. “Yeah, I love to wait.” No. None of us thinks that way. None of us enjoys waiting. We don’t like it, we don’t want to do it. None of us thinks this way, but here’s what’s so fascinating. Have you ever read the Bible? Have you ever read the Scriptures? Have you ever paid attention to the fact that it seems like God has this ongoing pattern throughout the Scriptures, Old Testament and New, of this habitual pattern of always forcing His people to wait on stuff? I’m not going to lie to you. It’s almost as if the season of waiting is very important in our spiritual formation and development. It’s like there are always these seasons of waiting. For example, Abraham and Sarah were promised a baby, and then what happened? They had to wait, didn’t they? Jacob wants to marry Rachel, and guess what Jacob has to do? He has to wait 14 stinking years to marry Rachel. Joseph has to wait for years in a prison for a crime he didn’t even actually commit. Remember what happened with David? David’s an anointed king, but then he has to wait for a long time before he actually becomes the king. And then we get to Simeon here in Luke 2, and Simeon found out he has to wait to see the Savior. He has a season of waiting on that promise to be fulfilled. And let’s be honest. We don’t like to wait. We don’t enjoy waiting, but the reality is that some of us feel like we’re in a season where we’re waiting on God. We feel like we’re in this season right now where there’s something significant that we’re waiting on God to do in our lives, and it just isn’t happening. Sometimes we get sick of waiting for God to do stuff. And if we’re honest, we’re a lot like the five-year-old in the back seat who’s constantly asking God, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” And we feel like God’s kind of ignoring us. “God, I really want to get married; I really want a spouse. God, I want to get married, and I’m not married, and there are not even prospects right now. I feel like that’s something you would want. I know I have a desire to get married. I want to get married. Are we there yet?” And God’s like, “Nope, not there yet.” “Lord, I really want to have a baby, and I don’t understand why we’re struggling with infertility, and it hurts. It’s sad and I don’t like it, and I can’t even bear to be around people that have children right now. I’m just struggling. Would You give me a baby? I know that You can, so will You? Are we there yet?” Not there yet. “God, I want a promotion, or at least a new stinking job, because I can’t stay in this place. And it’d be nice to have something different. Are we there yet?” Not there yet. “God, I’ll be honest, I’d like some recognition. I feel like I’ve been giving a lot, and I’ve been working real hard, and it would be nice for somebody to see it. Are we there yet?” Not there yet. And this can get frustrating and maddening for us. And the danger is that some of us get really frustrated while we’re waiting and even start to question our faith. We start to question God while we’re waiting. This is the dangerous part about getting frustrated with waiting, because I don’t know about you, but while I want God’s resources, I just don’t really want His clock. Anybody know what I’m talking about? I want what God can give. I want what I know God can give, but I don’t want God’s timing. Because I have a time frame, and I feel like my time frame makes more sense to me. I feel like my time frame is better. Because it seems like oftentimes, the Lord’s clock ticks very slowly. Here’s that passage in 2 Peter chapter three, where the Lord says, “With me, one day is like a thousand years.” And I’m like, “No kidding, you can say that again. Amen. It’s my life verse. Are we there yet?” But what if the season of waiting is actually the point, What if the season of waiting is actually where God wants to do the most in you? How many of y’all know that God’s more concerned with doing something in you than for you. What if God actually isn’t a means to an end? What if our God actually is the end? And what if the season of waiting is not just something that I need to push through so I can get what I want, but what if instead a season of waiting is actually a blessing from God? Because in the season of waiting, that’s where God is. God’s at work, and maybe what He’s trying to teach me in a season of waiting is how to be faithful while I’m waiting, how to serve Him, how to love Him, how to give to Him, how to walk with Him, and how to worship Him while I’m waiting. Anybody can love God when they get what they want. The question is, will I love Him, will I serve Him, will I be faithful to Him while I’m waiting? Simeon’s promised something, then he has to wait. When we catch up with him in his life, where is he? He’s at the temple serving the Lord. He’s not bitter about what he hasn’t seen yet. He’s not disappointed. He’s just being faithful in the midst of a season of waiting.
I was convicted about this this week, because I thought about what would happen if my attitude towards the Lord kinda shifted from, “Are we there yet?”to “Hey, Lord, I’m going to be honest with You. I have no idea where You’re driving me right now. But I just want You to know that I trust Your driving skills, and I’m really enjoying the long ride with You. So we can take the scenic route if You want. And I’ll tell you what, Lord, I’m going to try not to be a backseat driver, because I know I’m a dumb sheep.” What if the waiting is the point? God’s doing something in you.
Death is Not An Enemy For Those Who Know Jesus
Now watch verse 28, “And he [Simeon] came in 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, he took him up in his arms and blessed God.” Did you see that? Simeon just grabbed the baby and he took him up in his arms and blessed God, and he said, verse 29, “Lord, now you’re 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 of revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
This actually brings us to the fourth point for today, which is that death is not an enemy to those who know Jesus. So if that point right there doesn’t cause you to become borderline Pentecostal, I don’t know what will. That death is not an enemy for those who know Christ, see, that’s the magnificence of the gospel. When you know Jesus, repent of sin, and meet the risen Savior, death no longer has a sting. Now, I want you to notice in this text, how different is the way Simeon talks about death and dying. Notice how it’s so radically different from the way a lot of people in our culture talk about death and dying, even people in the church. Even in the church, we get so freaked out about the thought of death, not wanting to die, not wanting to talk about death. If there’s a vaccine for death, I’ll take it. We get all freaked out, and twisted out of shape about death. Did you notice how different Simeon is when he talks about it? We’re told in this story, he picks baby Jesus up into the air, and it’s like he’s just won the Super Bowl. He screams out, “Finally, I can die!” Finally. He says it a little bit differently and it’s important the words he uses. Look at verse 29. He says, “Lord, now you’re letting your servant depart in peace.” See, here’s what Simeon knows. When he dies, all he’s going to have is peace. Why? Because he has met the Savior. And this is why this is so incredibly significant and powerful. When you meet Jesus, death becomes a whole lot like your car, it’s just something that takes you where you want to go. You don’t have to be afraid of it. Why are you going to live the rest of your life terrified of something Jesus already beat? He defeated death on the cross. He rose again. He’s got the victory over it. There’s no sting of death for the believer, for the one who’s met Jesus. And by the way, now would be a good time to remind you of the good news of the gospel, because some of y’all are here today and you need to hear the good news of the gospel. And it’s this: God loves you. He made you and he loves you. And the proof of God’s love for you is right here in Luke chapter two, as the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, becomes flesh, and He lives the perfect life that you would never live, and He dies on a cross, the death you deserve to die, and He rises from the grave, defeating death, hell, and the devil, so that you could call God your Father. So that you could be a child of the living God. Put a pin there, we’re coming back to it at the end of this story. So that just like John chapter one says, “to as many who believed in Jesus, to those who gave the right to be called children of God.” The greatest miracle this universe has ever known could happen in your life, that He transforms you, He transports you from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of the Son that He loves. Do you know Jesus? Have you trusted in Jesus? Have you turned from sin and placed your faith in Jesus? He’s come to save you from your sin, and Simeon knows this. What does he call Him? A light of revelation to the Gentiles. That’s us, most of us.
Now, watch verse 33, “And His father and His mother marveled at what was said about him.” I guess they did, right? “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 the sword will pierce through your own soul also.’” And most Bible commentators believe that what Simeon’s indicating there to Mary is what’s going to happen when she watches her own Son, Jesus, be crucified on a cross, and as she watches Him die on that cross, it’s going to be like a sword that pierces her soul. “And a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
There Will Always Be Many People Who Oppose Jesus
Now, this actually brings us to the fifth important point for today, there will always be many people who oppose Jesus. Welcome to a broken world. There’s always going to be many people who oppose Jesus. Now, what tends to happen is that a lot of people, even a lot of Christians, look around at a world, at a culture, where it seems like a whole lot of people hate Jesus and hate the gospel and hate the things Jesus teaches and hates Jesus’ Word and hates what Jesus stands for and militantly hate all those things, our temptation can be to think that if so many people collectively hate Jesus and all that He stands for and all that He said, maybe this stuff is not true. Because why would so many people hate what’s true? But here’s what you have to understand, when we look around at a broken world and see so many people who hate Jesus and hate His truth and hate what He stands for, that is not proof that the gospel isn’t true, It’s proof that it is. This is what Simeon’s indicating here. What does he do? He pivots, Do you notice the pivot? He goes from holding Jesus up in the air and celebrating the fact that He’s coming, and he starts telling Mary that because Jesus has arrived, opposition’s coming now, too. Pain is coming and it’s like a dark stormy cloud on the horizon. It’s coming because the enemy hates the gospel and hates the mission of Jesus, and notice what Simeon refers to Jesus as. He says He’s a sign that will be opposed. Do you see that? He’s a sign that will be opposed. In other words, the implication is that Jesus is like a sign that nobody can ignore. And this is what we’re going to see, in the rest of the Gospel of Luke. Jesus will go in and He’ll teach and He’ll preach and He’ll do His thing, and some people are drawn to Him and love Him and flock to Him, and then other people, typically the religious people, want to kill Him. Nobody’s neutral. This is what Simeon means when he says that He’s like a sign that a lot of people will oppose.
Have you ever been riding down the road and you saw a sign that you couldn’t ignore? You saw a sign on the side of the highway or a sign on the road and it caused a response in you. You know, as a pastor, one of the things I’ve noticed is that churches are notorious for this. Have you seen this? Especially where I’m originally from. My wife and I are originally from Macon, middle Georgia. And down there, Macon actually has, more churches per capita of any city of its size in America. There are churches everywhere. And it’s funny because you have First Baptist Church and Second Baptist Church and Third Baptist Church and Fourth Baptist Church. They all used to be one church, but then they didn’t plant a church, they splanted. It was a church split. And they called it a plant, but now all of these splant churches have their own signs out front. You know, the marquee signs with the letters you put in? And some of them are crazy, man. It’s like they get the craziest person in the church and ask if they’ll be the sign guy. He’ll change the sign for us on a weekly basis. Do you know there are actually websites devoted to how insane some of these signs are? I don’t know if they actually thought through the implications of what they put up. because if you emphasize one word differently, you get a completely different message. I’ll show you what I’m talking about. For example, “Don’t let worries kill you, let the church help.” Yeah, come on down here, we’ll serve you to death. We’ll work you to death. How about this one? “Our church is like fudge, sweet with a few nuts.” Yeah, praise the Lord. I like this one right here. “Whoever stole our AC units, keep one, it’s hot where you’re going.” Somebody got a little salt, somebody’s bitter. You need the gospel, man. “We love hurting people.” No, it could be, we love hurting people, or we love hurting people. Just depends on the word you emphasize, right? Or my personal favorite, “Do you know what hell is? Come hear our preacher.” It’s not funny, man. So here’s the thing, these are all signs that you can’t ignore. They’re signs that provoke a response, and fascinatingly, when you look at this text, that’s exactly what Simeon says Jesus is going to be like. You know what Jesus is going to be like? He’s like a sign that nobody can ignore. You’re either going to love Jesus, or you’re going to hate Jesus, but you can’t be neutral when it comes to the real risen Christ. The message of Jesus provokes a response. Because can we be honest? The message of Jesus is a hard message. Jesus comes in and says, “Repent of sin, I’m the only way to God, I’m it, trust in Me for your salvation, there’s no other way.” And I understand there are some people who don’t think Jesus really taught that. Jesus had a message of love and peace, and people have just twisted His message over the years. Family, can I tell you something? I promise you that they didn’t kill Jesus because He was giving out free hugs. The gospel message is strong and it provokes, and this is why Simeon says, He’s like a sign that’s going to be opposed. And Mary, a sword’s going to pierce her soul. They’re going to kill this boy.
A Christian Heart Should Be a Grateful Heart
Now look at verse 36, “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. And 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.” Now, this brings us instantly to our sixth point for today, a Christian heart should be a grateful heart. I want to hang out here for a second. A Christian heart ought to be a grateful heart. Now I want you to consider something here. Here’s what we know from the text we just read. This woman, Anna, this prophetess, had experienced a very difficult life. It’s clear right here. This was a hard life. What do we know about her? She’s been a widow for decades. It’s difficult enough being a widow in 2022. Could you imagine being a widow for decades in the first century in Israel? Her husband died when she was very young. We have no indication whatsoever that she had children. Every hint that we have is that she didn’t have any children to speak of because she never leaves the temple. She’s there all the time, just serving and praying and fasting. And what else do we know about her? She’s extremely old. She’s up there in the neighborhood of 100 years old, which means she probably has back pain and neck pain and bunion pain and leg pain. And these are the days before CVS or Walgreens. They didn’t have prescription drugs, which means back then, if you hurt, you just hurt. But interestingly, here’s a woman who has every reason to complain, every reason to grumble, every reason to murmur, but fascinatingly, what are we told that this lady’s doing after she meets Jesus? She’s giving thanks to God. Do you see that? Her heart is full of gratitude, and she’s just praising, she’s thanking God. She has every reason to grumble, complain, and be upset. She’s thanking God. There’s a really important principle right here. Followers of Jesus who are saved by grace ought to be the most grateful people on the planet. Can we just talk about that and establish that? The reality is we should be the most thankful people on planet Earth. Here’s why. Since Jesus Christ has rescued us from sin, we get to know God, y’all. Let me say it again for those of you who didn’t grasp that. We get to know God, forever. We get a right relationship with God. We get to be known as children of God. We get to call God our Father. No longer enemies of God, but saved, adopted as sons and daughters. So consequently, we ought to be the most thankful, grateful people on the planet, and yet how often are we the people who complain the most? Is anybody willing to be guilty with me? I mean, if you can’t say amen, say ouch, right? We ought to be grateful. We ought to be excited. We ought to be so thankful because of the richness of what we’ve experienced in Christ by grace, and yet how often do we complain and grumble about the dumbest things imaginable? How you doing? I’m tired. I’m tired. I’m just not sleeping well. I’m tired. Not sleeping well. Oh, you’re not sleeping well? On your feather mattress in your temperature-controlled home with your fuzzy socks on? Poor little baby. You know what I saw the other day? I was sitting at Starbucks. I got my laptop open. I’m reading. I’m studying for the sermon. I’m sitting there. This guy storms in the door of Starbucks and says he needs to see the manager. Turns out this guy had been in the drive-thru line, got something, and didn’t like what he found in the bag. So he comes in and wants to see the manager. The poor barista lady didn’t know what to do. She’s like, “I’m sorry, sir. I’m sorry, sir. What seems to be the problem?” Here’s what he said. He said, “One side of my bagel is thinner than the other. Where’s the manager?” Poor little baby. I’m thinking, are we seriously complaining about this right now? One side of my bagel. You know what, dude? One side of your brain is thinner than the other. Like, what are we talking about here? Seriously? That’s your complaint? You drove here in your car that you have, this nice car with leather seats with money in your pocket to buy your bagel, which most people in the world can’t afford, and one side of it was thinner than the other. You poor little baby, right? And yet, how often is that us? Followers of Jesus who’ve tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and yet we find so many reasons to complain and to murmur. And I love that that’s the word the Old Testament uses, “murmur”, because that’s exactly what it sounds like when we complain, isn’t it? Murmur, murmur, murmur, murmur. My favorite old dead preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “Jesus wept, but He never complained.” Wow. “Many people are born crying, live complaining, and die disappointed. They chew the bitter pill, which they would not even know to be bitter if they had the sense to swallow it whole in a cup of patience and water.” Anna is supposed to be a powerful example for all of us. She had an unbelievably difficult, grueling, hard life, but instead of complaining about it, she’s giving thanks. Why? Because she’s got the indescribable gift of Jesus. Doesn’t matter what the world throws at her. She has Jesus. She’s unbelievably blessed, and she knows it. And that should be every follower of Jesus.
You Never Age Out Of Pursuing God
Now, there’s a seventh point for today that I want to point out real quickly, and it’s this. You never age out of pursuing God. One of the reasons I so love this text right here, is I love how both Simeon and Anna are older in age. They appear to be elderly, and yet, they never got to a place in their life where they were like, “You know what? I’ve done the God thing for a long time now, and I’m getting older, and I’m not getting any younger, so I think it’s time to retire. I think it’s time to put down the Bible and pick up the pickleball racket, and I’m just going to be done with this. I’m just going to move down to the villages in Florida and focus on my shuffleboard game, and thanks for the memories, Yahweh.” They don’t do that. Instead, they are still serving God in the church. Where do we find them? They’re in the temple. They’re in the temple serving God, worshipping God, walking with God. Show me a church where the older, wiser saints are pouring their lives and their time into the young, dumb ones, and I’ll show you a healthy church. That’s what every church ought to be like. Every church should be a place where older, wiser saints are spending time with the younger, dumber saints and helping us out. This youthful arrogance that’s in our culture today is ungodly. This lack of appreciation for those who are older and wiser is ungodly, and it’s foolish. I remember having a conversation with a brother who was like an older, wiser guy, and I praise God for him and for his friendship. He was like, “Man, I wanted to be a musician in a church, and I went to this one church and I asked if I could audition for the band, and they told me I was too old.” God forbid, man. I love the fact that Simeon and Anna are in the church. They’re serving. You never age out of this stuff.
And then we get to verse 39, and we’re about to fast-forward 12 years and we’re going to see the first spoken words of Jesus ever recorded for us in all of the Gospels. First thing Jesus says and it starts in verse 39. Check this out. “And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, 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. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.” By the way, that’s another indicator that they’re devoted to God. Why? Because according to the law, only the men who were 21 years or older actually were required to go to the Passover in Jerusalem. But here we have Mary going and Jesus going. Why? Because they want to go because they’re devoted to God. It’s not a have to, it’s a get to. They love God. So the whole family’s going to Passover in Jerusalem, verse 42. “And when He was 12 years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know about it.” What? “They did not know it, but supposing Him to be in the group, they went on a day’s journey. But then they began to search for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. And when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem searching for Him.” Now, let me ask you a question. Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a bad day. The next time you have a really bad day, I want you to look on the bright side. At least you didn’t lose God. First off, perspective. My dog died, I wrecked my car, I found a hair in my spaghetti, but at least I’ve never lost God. Things are looking up. How does this happen? So they go to Jerusalem for the Passover, Mary and Joseph, and then they leave and they bail and they left Jesus. Where’s Jesus? How in the world could that happen? Well, first thing you need to understand is this is an age before helicopter parents. They didn’t keep their kids on leashes like we do and wrap them in cellophane. Kids were more feral back then. You had feral kids everywhere. So here’s what would happen. So when you would travel to Jerusalem, you would typically travel in a huge, massive crew of people because that was actually a form of protection. It made sure that people couldn’t rob you or beat you up, like the story of the Samaritan and all that kind of stuff. And so you would travel with a ton of family or maybe the whole town you were from, and they would all travel together. And so they’re with a huge party of people, a huge crew of people traveling together, and who knows? For all we know, Mary was separated from Joseph and they were with friends and they were talking, and maybe Mary assumed Jesus must be with Joseph. Maybe Joseph assumed Jesus must be with Mary. But all we know is they get a day away and there’s no Jesus. Now, how many of you married folks in here, ever have arguments with your spouse? Of course we do because we’re sinners. We’re sinners and so we have arguments with our spouse. And by the way, can I just tell you something? This is one of the reasons I love this story so much because it makes Mary and Joseph human. I love the fact that even Mary and Joseph blew it as parents. Amen? I love the fact that one day in eternity we’re going to be going, man, one time I had this argument with a 16-year-old and it just went south and there’s going to be Joseph going, oh, man, keep your head up. I lost Jesus. Right? Now, I know this is conjecture, but I’m pretty confident they probably had a spat. Maybe had a little argument when they realized Jesus wasn’t there. Just saying. Joseph looks over at Mary. What kind of mother are you? How do you lose God’s son? How do you lose the Son of God? If I’ve told you once, Mary, I’ve told you a thousand times, don’t lose the King of the universe, don’t lose the King of the universe, don’t lose the King of the universe, and what do you do? Mary looks over at him. Excuse me, why are you blaming me? Aren’t you supposed to be the spiritual leader of our home? You’re the man who’s in charge of his family, right? Taking care of the family. And besides, do I have to do everything? I packed up the tent, fed us breakfast, and carried a baby for nine months in the desert. Can’t you be a parent? Always out in your shed building stuff. Come on, man. I don’t know how it went, but I have to think they probably had a little bit of a conflict on the way back to Jerusalem. So now what are they doing? Now they hightail it back to Jerusalem on a search for God’s only Son. But the crazy thing is, during the Passover, did you know the population of the city of Jerusalem would swell from 70,000 people to 200,000 people? So now there are hundreds of thousands of people and they’re running around Jerusalem looking for Jesus. Can you imagine running up to complete strangers? Excuse me, have you seen a little boy about this tall? Knows a lot of the Bible because He wrote it. Really good at water skiing without skis. You seen this kid? This is crazy stuff. Where do you even look? Where do you go? Watch what happens in verse 46, “After three days, they found Him in the temple. Sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. And when His parents saw Him, they were astonished. And His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.’” And maybe it’s just me, but I’m thinking if I’m Jesus at this point, I’m going, “Dude, you’re the parents.” Verse 49. These are the first spoken words of Jesus in all of the Gospels.”And He said to them, ‘Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?'” Now for clarification, what’s fascinating here is in the original Greek, it actually says, “Did you not know I must be in my Father’s…” It’s blank. This is why some translations say, “Did you not know I must be about the business of My Father?” “Did you not know I must be in my Father’s house?” The point is it’s this mysterious moment where the implication is, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s stuff?” Now look at verse 50. “And they did not understand the saying that He spoke to them. And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.” Do you see that? “And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and He was submissive to them, and His mother treasured up all these things in her heart.” I want you to notice, those of you students in the room, teenagers in the room, I want you to notice that even Jesus Christ honored His mother and father. Even Jesus Christ didn’t pull the “I know more than you do” card, and He could have. He was submissive to them. “And His mother treasured up all these things in her heart, and Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Wow, this is incredible stuff, y’all. This is the one time in the Gospels we get a glimpse of the actual childhood of Jesus. We’ve seen Jesus as a baby, but this is childhood, and this is the one moment where we see it in the Gospels. And here’s what’s so fascinating. What did we learn from that one single sentence? What we learned from that one single sentence that Jesus speaks right here, the very first words He ever spoke that are ever recorded for us in the Gospels is this. Here’s what we learned about Jesus. Jesus knows exactly who He is, doesn’t He? He knows exactly who He is. And the reason why in verse 50 we’re told that Mary and Joseph, “What is He talking about? What?” They had no idea what He was talking about. The reason it says that in verse 50 is because you’ve got to understand, beloved, go back and read the Old Testament. Nobody in the Old Testament ever spoke like this. There was never anyone in the Old Testament who referred to God as their Father. Listen, in the 36 books of the Old Testament that we have, 14 different times God is referred to as a Father, and it’s always in reference to the nation of Israel. It’s never in reference to an individual. And now we have Jesus going, “I’m in my Father’s house. I’m in my Father’s stuff. I’m about my Father’s business. He’s my Father. I’m His son.” This was earth-shattering stuff to them. What? When you go and read the Gospels, you’re going to find that another 60-plus times Jesus specifically refers to God as His Father, and every single time He prays, He starts off by going, “My Father, Father,” refers to God as His Father. And see, beloved, here’s what’s so fascinating to remember. You have Mary and Joseph, and they’re all freaking out. “We lost Jesus. We lost Jesus. How’d we lose Jesus?” They’re running back to Jerusalem, looking everywhere for Jesus, because they believe that they lost Jesus. And what Mary and Joseph don’t yet understand on this day is that 12-year-old Jesus was never the one who was lost. We were lost, and they were lost. And Jesus has come to seek and to save those who were lost, so that by faith, we might also, by grace, be able to become children of God who love to be in the house of our Father. Jesus knows who He is. Do you know who you are today? Do you know with confidence that you’re a child of God? Jesus came, lived the perfect life, died on the cross, rose again, so that you could be called the child of the living God by faith, that we might be children of God. Family, that’s what He wants, that we might be children of God who were devoted to God just like Mary and Joseph were, that we might be children of God who continue to trust God, even when life was hard, just like Mary and Joseph did, that we might be people of God who wait patiently on the Lord, just like Simeon did, that we might be people of God who were confident in the face of death, because our hope is in Jesus as our Savior, and the sting of death has gone away, just like Simeon did, that we might be people of God who have grateful hearts instead of complaining, murmuring hearts, just like Anna did, that we might be people of God who never age out, children of God who never age out of pursuing God and loving God and worshiping God, just like Simeon and Anna, because listen, family, we know that because of what Jesus has accomplished for us through His life and His death and His resurrection, God is our Father too.