Several years ago, executives at the Houston airport found that they were receiving many levels of complaint about their baggage claim. It was just too long to stand and wait. And so they started looking at the options that they had. They obviously wanted there to be less complaints. And so what they did was they hired more staff and they reduced the time that it took the baggage to get from the belly of the plane to the baggage claim area. But their complaints didn't go down. And they were trying to figure out why, if they reduced this time, why were people complaining at the same rate that they had to wait too long for their bags? And what they realized after thinking through it was it wasn't necessarily the duration, it was what they were doing in the duration. It was only a one minute walk from where the planes were to where the baggage claim was. So they started taking the planes and making them further out so it was a longer walk to get to the baggage claim. And therefore they had to wait a shorter time once they got to the baggage claim and guess what happened to the complaints? They went down. Because it wasn't just the time that it took, it was this waiting and doing nothing that bothered people. So if they could walk and spend up most of those few minutes and spend that walking and not have to wait that long at the baggage claim, maybe the luggage was even already coming out, people were much happier. Because it was in the doing instead of waiting and doing nothing. Now isn't that kind of like the Christian life? The Christian life is a lot of waiting, is it not? I don't know about you, but when I think about how long we wait in our lives, whether that's waiting in line someplace or waiting at a traffic light, or like some of our people did this week, waiting for flights that get canceled and waiting on the next flight, waiting in traffic, just waiting. We spend a lot of time waiting. And if we Fill that time up. One of the things that I make sure I do is I always have a book with me, either in a digital device or with me, because if I get to a place where I'm waiting on somebody else or an appointment falls through or my appointment for wherever I'm going isn't there, I'm filling that time up. I'm redeeming the time with reading something. But if we're filling up the time while we wait, the waiting is not as devastating to us. Now in one sense, we're waiting, and every single thing we're doing is waiting for one event, isn't it? And that's for our Lord Jesus and His return. Everything we're doing now is rehearsal for the new heavens and the new earth. And we're waiting. We have no idea when that's going to happen, but we are waiting. And so, what do we do with that time while we're waiting? Are we filling it up for righteousness sake, or are we in obedience to God? Or are we filling it up with things that don't matter and have no eternal significance whatsoever? In our text this morning, we see people who were waiting. And they were waiting faithfully for the promises of God to take shape in physical form in front of them. And there's much to learn from them as we move through our text. There's much to learn about what they were doing while they were waiting. And then they're rejoicing when fulfillment happens, when the thing they were waiting for happened. And in one sense, we are living that life of joy because what they were waiting for, the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, has already happened for us. We are living in the joys of the new heaven and new earth that we've tasted here and we have not yet fully experienced. So there's a sense that we're waiting, but there's also a sense that our waiting is filled up with joy and obedience to God while we wait in a different way than our Old Testament saints in our text. So today our purpose is to continue to move through Luke chapter two. These chapters in Luke are long, aren't they? They take some time to get through, but to continue moving through chapter two, moving to the last technical birth story around Jesus, but to learn what it means to wait well. What does it mean to wait well as an obedient Christian? We can take the lessons from what we learned today, but we also see the joy that's wrapped up in the receiving of Jesus that should mark our lives for those who are in Christ now. And at the same time, we're going to see one of the reasons Christ comes is to divide people. And we want to make sure that we're on the right side of that divide. Amen. All of that's in our text this morning. Stand, if you will, as I read it. Luke chapter two, beginning in verse 21. And when eight days were fulfilled so that they could circumcise him, his name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days for their cleansing according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it was written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Sinion, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the comfort 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. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to carry out for him the custom of the law, then he took him into his arms and blessed God and said, Now, Master, you are releasing your slave in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the presence of all peoples. a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel. And his father and mother were marveling at the things which were being said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel and for a sign to be opposed and a sword will pierce through your own soul as well. that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow to the age of 84, she never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. And at that very moment, She came up and began giving thanks to God and continued to speak of Him to all those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. And when they had finished everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own city of Nazareth. Now the child continued to grow and become strong, being filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. The grass withers and the flower falls. Please be seated. In these verses we see five responses to the birth of Jesus, who is the comfort of Israel. Five responses to the birth of Jesus, who is the comfort of Israel. Now what I want you to do before we even get into this text, is I want you to turn to Leviticus chapter 12. Keep your finger here, but turn to Leviticus chapter 12. Leviticus chapter 12, beginning in verse one. Then Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, speak to the sons of Israel saying, when a woman gives birth and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days. As in the days of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Now on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then shall she remain in the blood of her cleansing for thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing, and she shall not enter the sanctuary until the days of her cleansing are fulfilled. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her menstruation, and she shall remain in the blood of her cleansing for sixty-six days. When the days of her cleansing are fulfilled, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or turtle dove for a sin offering. Then he shall bring it near before Yahweh and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, whether a male or female. But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtle doves or two young pigeons, the one for the burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her and she will be clean. Now back in Luke chapter two, in the passage that we had before us, this first response to the birth of Jesus is Mary and Joseph respond with obedience to the law of Moses. Now, there are three different things that they are being obedient to. You'll see that they circumcise Jesus according to the law on the eighth day. You'll see that Mary purifies herself. We just read that process. And we'll see also that they present Jesus at the temple. So these three things according to the law of Moses. Now if you look at your text in Luke chapter 2, I want you to ask yourself whether you think the law is important to Luke in the telling of this story. Look at verse 22 where we see law of Moses. 23, law of the Lord. Verse 24, law of the Lord. And then we see again in verse 27, They did something according to the custom of the law. And then at the very end, we see again in the summary statements in verse 39, law of the Lord. So the law of the Lord, the law of Moses, the law of God, encaptures this whole statement. And Luke wants us to see very clearly that the people are being obedient to God. Now, we don't want to just spend all of our time and say, well, what are they doing, their obedience, and look at all those texts. We could look at many texts, and I'll reference them, but this is the place for us to stop and understand what Luke wants us to see, and he wants to see an everyday life of an everyday family waiting on the comfort of Israel, the redemption of Israel, and being obedient every single day as they wait. Look at your text here as we see the first day that Mary and Joseph respond with obedience to the law of Moses. First they circumcised Jesus, verse 21. It was on the eighth day. We just read that. We could also look at Genesis chapter 17 verses 11 and 12 and other places to see this. On the eighth, when the eighth days were fulfilled so that they could circumcised him, circumcise him, his name was called Jesus, the name given to the angel before he was, by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. So this is a fulfillment of what the angel told them to do in chapter 1 verse 31, isn't it? You shall call his name Jesus. And so here we see obedience to the word of the Lord given through the angel, Gideon, to them. And they're obedient to it right at the beginning. They're in the midst of being obedient. It's in everyday life. Would every obedient Jew have done this? They would have presented their boys on the eighth day according to the law. They were found obedient in the things that they knew. But we also see Mary purifying herself. Look at verse 22. And when the days for her cleansing according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, And then we see the third aspect of obedience. They brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. So they're presenting their firstborn as the firstfruits and they're redeeming that firstborn according to the law of the Lord. This is all just everyday Jewish life for them. It's a momentous occasion. We can look at many passages of scripture. Remember the Passover and God's rescue of the firstborn of his people and taking the firstborn of all the Egyptians. This was a mark of God saying, listen, the firstborn are mine. Of all the flock, of all the human beings, they're mine. But I want you to redeem the firstborn of your wombs. So you keep them, but they're mine. You're redeeming them and now you're presenting them back to me. And this is what we find them being faithful to do. And we haven't mentioned, you'll see that these, the things that they're doing and then the law that they're conveying in opposite orders. And when we get to verse 33, we see this, they're bringing him to present him to the Lord. We think of Hannah bringing Samuel to present him to the Lord as God answered her prayer to open her womb, and that's what she did. Bring him to the temple, bring him to the Lord. But look at verse 23. As it is written in the Law of the Lord, and then we see a quote from Exodus 13, verses 2 and 12 and 13, the practice that we've just talked about. Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. Set aside for the Lord. Set aside for His purposes. Set aside for what God says to do. This was the way that God's people gave thanks to Him for opening their womb and giving them the firstborn child. And so they're being obedient to everything that they see in the law. So the last thing mentioned is the presentation, but the first scripture passage to support it is that presentation. Then verse 24, and to offer a sacrifice, this is returning back to the idea that we saw earlier in verse 22 about her cleansing. And notice that the sacrifice, according to the law of the Lord, is a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. Now according to Deuteronomy 12 that we just read, what does that tell us about Joseph and Mary? They didn't have a lot of money. Because instead of the land given, if they could not afford it, if they could not afford to give the land, they could give two of the birds that were given, one for the sin offering and one for the guilt offering. So this lets us in a little bit more. Remember what we've seen in these first two chapters. We see everyday people Sometimes they're in the city. Sometimes they're a priest. Sometimes they're in the country and they're everyday just common folk. Sometimes they're shepherds in the field. But God is revealing himself in all these different ways as his son is born according to those Old Testament prophecies to people who were waiting on this to happen. And we see clearly this waiting here. It blocks what we see in Sinian and what we see in Anna. So, we could go into much more detail about this. They're being obedient to the law. They're doing according to what the law said. But what we need to see out of this is their everyday constant obedience, even while they wait. Even while they wait for the promised Messiah. Now, we have the same kind of obedience in front of us as we wait, don't we? And like I said, we'll draw waiting throughout this passage, but they're being obedient every single day to what they know. This is our role as well. This is what we do as a people of God. This one marks us out. They will know us by our love, says the scriptures. And our love is directed this way toward each other and this way toward God. And we only love God because he first loved us. And that love is shown to God by our obedience. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John tells us three times in chapter 14. So our daily life should be this. This should be the practice of all believers, reading the word. studying and understanding the word, obeying the word, and teaching our children to do the same thing. And we're gonna see this in the last section of chapter two next week, where Jesus, when he gets to be 12 years old, he accompanies his parents, still being obedient to go to the temple on the feast day. So this is a family doing what God has told them to do. It seems so easy to us to say, yeah, well, I know I should do that, but are we doing this? Is every day for us marked out by understanding what God says and obeying it? Making decisions based on God's word and how he reveals himself in our life? Teaching our children to do the same thing? Equipping them with knowing the scriptures and how to read the scriptures and understand them? Catechizing them in the word of God? Is that something that we're taking serious? Are we doing this with our grandkids? Are we doing this in our daily life? When God says things like pray without ceasing, are we praying all the time? Now we're gonna meet Anna in a minute, but she is constantly praying in the temple. Now does that mean she never goes home? She never goes home to take care of herself or eat a meal? It doesn't happen often, but surely she does that, but her heart is turned toward God. And so this is, I want right from the beginning for us to ask ourselves, is my heart turned toward being obedient to God? Now I'm not trying to make us law keepers. Christ has come, He has redeemed us, and now we have the gift of the Spirit, and we read God's Word, and the Spirit leads us in the truth, and we are the people who obey that truth because He has redeemed us. Right? We're not the people who obey the truth so we might be redeemed. We're the people who obey the truth because we have been redeemed. We have had the affections of our Creator God set upon us. So I don't want to hammer this too much and I don't want to get into all the detail. I'm trusting the Spirit now to be talking to you that in your daily life, the things that you do with no consideration of God, The daily decisions that you make, the daily things that you do out of your own strength and your own confidence, instead of doing them out of the strength of the Lord, in the way that he's created you to do, giving you the gifts that he's given you, but you're doing it to his glory and obedience to his word. This is the people that we see before us. We see them coming, being obedient to what they know. So the first response is that Mary and Joseph respond with obedience to the law of Bosus. They've been given this child, and they do what the Lord says to do. The second response to the birth of Jesus, the comfort of Israel, Simeon responds with thanksgiving. Now when we meet Simeon here, we're going to see his character and God's promise, as well as his thanksgiving, which includes a prophecy fulfilled. Look at verse 25. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout. So again, another person All we know about him is he lives in Jerusalem, but that he is righteous and devout. He is one who is reading the word of the Lord, obeying the word of the Lord, devoutly doing what God would have him do while, look at the text, waiting for the comfort of Israel. Now look down at verse 38 as well. As I said, we'll meet Anna in a minute. But Anna began speaking to all those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. So this whole two witnesses here, added to the witnesses we already have of the angels and the shepherds, we're fulfilling the Deuteronomy passages that let all truth be affirmed by two or three witnesses. But we also have it framed that the center of our text is Jesus as the one who is the comfort of Israel, the redemption of Jerusalem. Now Israel and Jerusalem here are used interchangeably. We're not saying that he is the comfort of the nation and he's the redemption of just those in the city. This is the people of God. Just think of everything that we've learned in Isaiah about how Isaiah used Jerusalem sometimes, Israel, and he used Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom language, all moving us that God is sending a Messiah to redeem a people from himself from those who are from the Jewish nation and from all the nations of the earth. That's what's being brought to us here as well. And Isaiah is well represented. He's waiting for the comfort of Israel. Just remember what we've learned in Isaiah. These are not all the passages we could read, but here are four of them. Isaiah chapter 40 verses 1 and 2. Remember, this was that first change in Isaiah. The first 39 chapters being that historical account. And then verse 40, there was that automatic change in the tone and the mood of Isaiah. Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call out to her that her warfare has been fulfilled, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins. Chapter 49, verse 13. Shout for joy, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth. Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains, for Yahweh has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted. Chapter 57, verses 18 and 19. I have seen His wicked ways, but I will heal Him. I will lead him and pay him and his mourners in full with comfort, creating the praise of the lips of peace. Peace to him who is far and peace to him who is near. Chapter 61, verses 1 and 3, And the Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh and the day of vengeance of our God. to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a headdress instead of ashes, the oil of rejoicing instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of the spirit of fainting, so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that He may show forth His beautiful glory. This is the constant theme we saw in Isaiah week after week of God redeeming a people for himself and bringing them comfort. Yes, there would be sometimes comfort that was physical, but always the comfort was including or leading toward and primarily dealing with comfort from the penalty of sin, that they would have a right relationship with their God. And this was a man in chapter 25, or chapter 2, verse 25, Simeon, who waited for the comfort of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. Now what have we learned about the Holy Spirit so far in Luke? When the Holy Spirit is upon someone, what are we expecting to hear them do? Prophesy. To speak, right? When the Spirit comes upon them, they're coming upon them so that they would do the work of talking to people about God, praising God, giving insight into what God is doing. And so we see that. In verse 26, and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit was upon him, but in the past it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. That he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So here is a man who the Holy Spirit had come to him. We're presuming he's older. We're presuming that he's older and the promise is that he wouldn't see death. That he would see the Old Testament promises of the Messiah fulfilled. And these are promises that God keeps. Verse 27, and he came in the Spirit into the temple. You notice the role of the Spirit here? You think Luke's preparing us for something? You think Luke's preparing us for this idea of the Holy Spirit coming, especially as he moves into the book of Acts? The Holy Spirit is active in these first two chapters. They're active in moving the storyline along, and Luke wants us to see the Spirit's involvement from the very beginning. It had been revealed to him, verse 26, by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So Yahweh's Messiah. He would not taste death. He was guaranteed to live until the promised Messiah comes. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought the child Jesus to carry out for him the custom of the law, Isn't that amazing? Again, we're brought in the custom of the law, right in the middle, just to remind us, hey, they're being obedient to everyday tasks. And they come in, and he comes into the temple, and the parents brought the child in Jesus, and then he took him into his arms and blessed God. He takes the Christ child into his arms and blessed God. Now look what he says. Now master, you are releasing your slave in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation. Let's just stop right there. So here we have Simeon. The spirit has revealed to him. The spirit is upon him. He's directed by the spirit. You think this is a divine encounter? Directed by the spirit to come in at the exact time that the baby Jesus is being brought and he takes that baby in his arms And what does he say about this baby? My eyes have seen your salvation Now at the very least when somebody talks to you about what salvation is and they ask you at the very least you should say Jesus I mean, he picks up the Christ child knowing that he is the Messiah and he gives praise to God for his salvation in this baby. He doesn't give a theological treatise. He doesn't present the law and get them converted that way. He just says, thank you for this salvation. He understands all of the teaching of the Old Testament, that God would send the Messiah to redeem a people for himself. And that all those Old Testament saints are looking forward, and no matter how much they understood the promises of God, they're looking forward to when God would fulfill those promises and bring a Messiah for the Jews, bring a Messiah from Jerusalem. But we also know, through all the Old Testament, that that Messiah and God in the plans for the Messiah had a wider audience, didn't He? He was going to reach the nations. And we learn that so often in Isaiah. Just listen to a couple of verses here from Isaiah. Isaiah and references to Isaiah drip from this text. I'm not even reading all of them this morning. Isaiah 49.6 Yahweh says, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to cause my preserved ones of Israel to return. I will also give you as a light to the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Isaiah 52 10, Yahweh has bared his holy arm in the sight of all nations, that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God. Now this is the kind of thought process that Simeon has, promised that he would see the Lord's Christ, picks up the baby Jesus and said, my eyes have seen your salvation. You have promised it and you've kept your promise to me. But there's also a prophecy fulfilled in Simeon's Thanksgiving, isn't there? Look at verse 30. My eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the presence of all peoples. And then he describes it. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel. Now a light for revelation of the Gentiles, that is the language that comes throughout the prophets, and many times we saw that in Isaiah. We already saw that just a moment ago in Isaiah 49.6, but also Isaiah 9.2. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. Those who live in the land of the shadow of death, the light, capital L, will shine upon them. Isaiah 42, just after the verses we read earlier about the comfort of Israel, we see more of a description. Thus says the God, Yahweh, I am Yahweh. I have called you in righteousness and I will also take hold of you by the hand and guard you as a light to the nations, the promise to the Messiah that he would accomplish. Isaiah 52, 3 and 5. Incline your ear and come to me. Listen, that your soul may live. And I will cut an everlasting covenant with you according to the faithful loving kindness of David. Behold, I have given him as a witness to the people, a ruler and commander for the peoples. Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, and a nation which knows you not will run to you, because of Yahweh your God, even the Holy One of Israel, for He has adorned you with beautiful glory." Talking about the messianic hope and the Messiah, the one to come. Finally, Isaiah 60. Arise, shine, for your light has come, and listen, the glory of Yahweh has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and dense gloom the peoples, but Yahweh will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. Nation will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. Do you see all the references to the glory of God sitting upon the nation of Israel? Those are circumcised heart and the promises to redeem people from every tribe and tongue and language that are carried out by the proclamation of that Messiah. The glory of God rest on God's people Israel and then all the people come because the light shines upon them. This short prophecy and thanksgiving that he gives, this thanksgiving that he gives is completely saturated with the theology of Isaiah. It's completely overwhelming us with the theology of Isaiah. He says a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people, Israel. So he's not trying to separate this, he's trying to tell us that the Old Testament passages that informed him of the Messiah, the comfort of Israel that he was waiting for is given now to redeem those and that light of salvation will shine on everyone. And that light of salvation is Jesus, it is him himself. John Piper wrote a book several years ago, I think it was John Piper, that just said God is the gospel. And it itemized what God did in Christ to bring salvation. And so when we talk about the gospel, we want to be able to give it to people in such a way that they see Jesus. Yes, they need to see their sin and the need for Jesus, but if they don't see Jesus clearly, to whom will they turn for the forgiveness? To whom will they turn to see the light that is shining upon them ready to give them salvation? Simeon is a man who gives thanks to God because God miraculously promised him that he would not see death. And God honored that promise and he gives thanksgiving to God for what he has done. But there's a third response here. Mary and Joseph respond with marvel. And this is not something that is new to us. We've seen this responding with marvel or astonishment several times and we will see it even more. But look in verse 33. and his, that is Jesus's, father and mother were marveling at the things which were being said about him, about God, Yahweh, and about this gift of this baby. And Mary did this before. She marvels, she's astonished, but she also treasures up these things in her heart, doesn't she? These never get old to her. These never get old to Joseph or Mary. Do they get old for us? Does the simple picture of Jesus coming to forgive sins and that message that we have that David prayed for us earlier today that we would be faithful to take to the nations, does that get boring to us? Do we get passive with that because it's an also ran? Yeah, Jesus, he came, he forgave my sins. And then we move on to the next challenge. We move on to the next thing that we have to do. See, we should revel just in the thought of Jesus himself. revel in joy that the Lord has saved sinners, and we are counted among them. You can't start a prayer time with that thought without starting in joy, can you? You can start a prayer time by complaining to God, and believe me, He can handle our complaints. Amen? You can start a prayer time that way. But if you start a prayer time thinking about God and what He's done in Christ and giving Him thanksgiving for that, your whole prayer time changes completely. Because now you're looking for what else God is doing. You're thanking Him with joy that He has given you eyes to see Jesus, that you live in such a day that you have seen Him through the Scriptures, and that you are rejoicing that He has fulfilled His promises in this Son. This is something that should captivate us. It's the reason painters paint. who are believers. It's the reason songwriters write songs who are believers. It's the reason poets write because Jesus and the thought of him captivate them. Now you may see beautiful poetry, you may see beautiful paintings, but when you see someone with that gift who's motivated by the glory of God in their life, you as a believer see more, don't you? When you run into people who are loving Jesus, who are His child, they could be of a different language and you can't even speak their language, but the Spirit is drawing you together, why? Because Jesus has saved you both. Not because your theology is the same as theirs, but because Jesus has saved you both, and you possess the Spirit, and it results in an intimate rejoicing from there. Simeon is not tired, even as he has been looking forward to this comfort of Israel. Now the comfort is there, and he can't contain himself. He grabs the baby in his arms, and he thanks God. And Mary and Joseph are marveling at everything that has been said. Well, the fourth response to the birth of Jesus, the comforter of Israel, Simeon responds with a prophecy. So he's responded with a praise for prophecies fulfilled and promises kept, but he is also now responding with a prophecy in verse 34. And Simeon blessed them Now this is a hint here, right? When we said last week that the ideas of marveling and astonishing don't always lead to salvation in Luke, sometimes it's the musings of those who are lost. They're marveling at how Jesus can be such a good teacher, but they haven't come to him. Well, Mary and Joseph are not in that camp, are they? Because Simeon blesses them. Simeon sees their heart, that they're rejoicing over the same things, even though they're marveling at all of this. They're not marveling without complete understanding. They are seeing what's happening. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and assigned to be opposed. And he has a parenthetical thought about her own heart, which we'll return to, that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. Now here's the heart of it, isn't it? We can talk about Jesus's love all we want, but Jesus is also righteousness. He's also pure and holy and just. And he has come to redeem a people for himself, but in the preaching of the gospel of the water's part. And we have this language here that that we might be confused by, but I think it's very clear. This child has been appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel. So is this, first of all, when we say Israel here, this is an Israelite talking to Israelites, right? These are Jews talking to Jews, talking about the fulfillment of the Old Testament in Christ who has come from the Jews. But we know in our biblical theology that Jesus is coming not just to save Jewish people, he's coming to save Gentiles as well. It drips from every book in the Bible that this is God's plan. So we're using the language that he will cause the fall and rise of many in Israel because that's the language that they know and that is a true thing. But do not think that if you are not a Jew here this morning, this does not apply to you. Now is this the rise and the fall of one group of people? Or the fall and the rise of one group of people that first they fall and then they rise? Well, we've seen that. We saw that a lot in the book of Isaiah, didn't we? That the people of God were shown to be disobedient. They were vineyards that did not produce fruit. They produced stink fruit. They were cities that God destroyed. And yet throughout all of His judgment, there was a remnant there. Those people still went through that physical judgment, but the remnant, the ones with circumcised heart, God raised. So there is a truth to the fact, and you and I, we were born sinners separated from God, we fall, and then we're raised when we're saved. But I don't think that's what this is meaning. This is meaning that some will rise and some will fall. This is meaning that some will see the Messiah and be saved and some will trip over the Messiah. Some, the Messiah will be a stumbling block to them. This is where the separation of humanity happens and it happens at the preaching of Jesus. It can be demonstrated in all of our theological conversations in our lives, but it happens at the preaching of the truth of Jesus. Who He is and what He came to do. That there will be some who will rise because the Lord raises them, and there will be some who fall because they will trip over the stumbling stone that is Jesus Christ. And we'll come back to that in just a few minutes. But have that in your mind here. This child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel. and for a sign to be opposed. Now we're expecting good news here, aren't we? But yeah, here we have this Messiah, and there are gonna be people that are gonna trip and fall. There'll be many who will rise, but some will trip or fall, and there's gonna be opposition to him. Why would people be opposed to the good news of Jesus? And the answer's right in the text, isn't it? Because some will trip over Jesus. and they'll be opposed to him. And the gospels are full of this opposition to Jesus. You and I, in our teaching and evangelism, are, if we are evangelizing, now listen, if you never get opposition about Jesus and you're never evangelizing, isn't there a question you should be asking? Because when you evangelize, when you tell people about Jesus, listen, I can tell people about Jesus right here from this pulpit in this room and have opposition. You know that? So when we're in the outside and we're preaching and we're going to run into people that are opposed to him, this is the plan. The plan is for Jesus and his perfect wife to be offered to those who will believe and those who repented their sin and turned to him. But there will be opposition. He will be the sign that will be opposed. And then he gives this parenthetical thought. And a sword will pierce through your own soul as well. Now that could be at his death, mother seeing her child. That could be at the opposition, which is the closest antecedent here. But imagine being the mother of Jesus, seeing the opposition, seeing the persecution, seeing his death. It's going to pierce their own soul with grief as well. But then the thought is picked up, not only the fall and rise of many in Israel and a sign to be opposed, but also the end of verse 35, that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. Now this is what happens every time we preach Jesus. It's what happens in your life every single time that you hear the word of the Lord and decide that you're gonna reject it that day for that particular setting. I know what the Bible says, but your heart is being revealed. Now it may be a heart that's redeemed, but can a redeemed heart be in rebellion to God? Most definitely we can be. And it reveals when we read the word of God about his son, and there's some aspect that we say, not for me today. I'm not ready for that one. Maybe later. We see it for the lost people as well, don't we? Well, there's gonna come a time in the future with it. I've got time still. Luke and I had a conversation with somebody two weeks ago. That was the center of their argument. They agreed with everything that we said about their lostness and the truth of the gospel. And their reasoning was, I'm young, I have more time to live. I'll take care of that later. Jesus reveals the thoughts and intentions of men. The word of God that reveals Jesus is sharper than a two-edged sword and reveals the thoughts and intentions of men. So I want you to feel the weight of that this morning. I want you to feel the weight if you are outside of Christ and we're going to come right back to this. I just want you to feel the weight right now. If you're one of those people here who are thinking you can wait till later or thinking, well, I'm already saved, but I never do what he says. May the spirit convict you strong right now that if you never do what the Bible says, you are not in Christ. Do you hear me? You are not in Christ if you never do what the Bible says. If you read the Bible and do what you want and think that it would be okay because Jesus loves you, you are the opposite of what salvation looks like. Salvation in the heart of a man or a woman, that it produces fruit that looks like Jesus. And Jesus was always perfectly obedient to the Father. Now, I'm not saying you have to be perfectly obedient. If you think you are perfectly obedient, we have another issue to talk about, don't we? because we are those who are still fighting sin. But there are times that we go back down to where Satan is locked up and present our members to him again for unrighteousness. And there are times that we do that, and we do that knowing all the way. We talked about Jonah this morning in Sunday school. Jonah preaching a theology that is true, but in his life, he's being disobedient to God in every possible way. Every single thing in Jonah chapter one, the sea, the ship, the sailors, everything obeys God except the prophet. And the prophet does everything he can not to obey God and he's preaching good theology all the way to his destruction. So it's possible for us. Remember, obedience to what we know about God and how he's revealed himself to us is the way that believers live. And when we fail to obey, we repent of that sin and we wait for him to exalt us, James tells us this, and then we go on and we live for his glory. So this is an important statement, the rise and the fall of many. The solution is before us in who Jesus is. Well, the fifth response to the birth of Jesus, the comfort of Israel, is Anna responding with thanksgiving. Verse 36. And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. Now if we just stop right there, we know that Anna is from the tribe of the Northern Kingdom. The kingdom, the kingdoms, those tribes that are lost, right? So she is part of the remnant, the remnant of circumcised hard Israelites that God redeems. And we saw this in Isaiah as well. I keep going back to Isaiah because there are so many truths in Isaiah that Luke is going to assume we know. And he's done it here in this passage. That that remnant is not just coming. Jesus comes from the Southern Kingdom, and that's why the Southern Kingdom is preserved in a way that the Northern Kingdom is not, to preserve the Messiah coming to redeem his people. but there are people from the Northern Kingdom as well. Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher, she was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow to the age of 84. Now, the LSB makes it pretty clear of her age, a widow until the age of 84. The original language isn't so clear, and maybe your version isn't so clear. She could be 84 years old, or she could be 104 or 105 years old. Because she could have been married at 12, 13, 14 years old, lived with her husband for seven years, so 20, 21 years, and then lived 84 more years. The grammar isn't very clear for us in the original language. But at 84 or 105, what do we know about Anna? She's older. Shh. She's older. I'm going to come back to this in a minute. She's older, right? Both of these witnesses are older. They're toward the end of their life and God is choosing to bring them joy by letting them see and bring them into the presence of this Christ child. So Anna, she is one that is given this long description of her age, that she is an older woman, and it says about her, That she never left the temple. Serving day and night with fasting and prayers. So when we meet Anna, she's responding to Jesus with thanksgiving. We see her story, her devotion, her thanksgiving, and her witness. Her story, her devotion, her thanksgiving, and her witness. So her story is being in the temple, advanced in years, waiting, we'll see that waiting in just a moment, part of the people who are waiting, but we also see her devotion. Verse 37, she never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. Now, this is the perfection of what a widow looks like in 1 Timothy 5.5, right? Remember what Paul says to Timothy about putting widows on the rolls? This is the description of a woman who should be put on the rolls of the church. One who is full of devotion. one who is praying, one who's not a gossip and busybody in the church, but one who is spending her life in a way that honors and glorifies God. And this is Anna. She's fasting, she's praying, and she's in the temple all the time. So, listen, when you're in the presence of the Lord on a regular basis, and you're always trying to be in the presence of the Lord, guess what happens when the Lord reveals Himself through His Word? Guess what happens when you see things develop in your life? You're not trying to figure out how you interpret them. You're walking with the Lord and you know God's in charge of that. God's doing that. And that's what's happening here. She's in the temple night and day and at that very moment, this is another one of those phrases we're gonna see four or five times in Luke to draw our attention to something. At that very moment, she came up and began giving thanks to God. So her thanksgiving was at the same time she sees She sees this child being brought in. She sees Simeon and his praise and his prophecy. She's not deterred by the prophecy, but at that very moment, she begins to give thanks to God. Do you see a pattern here? That people, when they're coming into the presence of Jesus and contemplating what God has done in him, there is a thanksgiving that comes out of them. There's a praise, there's a joyful thanksgiving and praise that comes out of them. Now we of all people should be marked by that. Now can I just put myself out here as an example of one who fails? There are many days where I fight for that kind of joy and thanksgiving. Do you? And that's sinful for me. Because I'm a recipient of this grace. I'm a recipient of all the salvation that has been given to us. That we're seated in the heavenly places. All the blessings that David brought to us in his prayer this morning. I'm a recipient of that. And yet I can sit in my house and either grumble or be sad and have a hard time rising above that. That is the power of sin. The way we overcome that is to remember what God has done in Christ for us. That puts everything else in perspective. And I struggle with this at times. I'll just be in front of you and tell you this, but I don't wanna be struggling. I want to be overcoming in that. I want to be the one that in these truths that I don't have those times. Do you? Maybe you never have those times, but are you prepared when they will come? Are you prepared? Knowing what Jesus has done and who He is, that just the knowledge that you've been saved by God through Christ, you've been redeemed by the Creator of the universe through the blood of the Lamb, your eternity is set, your inheritance is secure, and no matter what happens to you in this life, the worst that can happen to you is that you will be in the presence of Jesus. And that to be something that transforms everything that you struggle with in this life. That's what's available to us as Christians. These people are living in that? Why? Because they're faithful every day as they wait to be faithful according to what the Word of God has told them. Well, let's look on at Anna. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God and continued to speak of Him to all those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. So they're not the only ones. Remember, they're in the temple. They're in the court of the women or the court of the Gentiles because women are there. And there are other people waiting for the same thing. And she immediately, once she sees the fulfillment, she can't help herself. What does she do? She starts telling people about Jesus. She starts telling them about Jesus. Where's our passion for that? Do we have a passion to tell people about Jesus? Or do we have a passion just to get on our own way and get the things done that we need to get done? I don't have time to stop for them today. They'll probably be back at the same corner panhandling next week. I'll wait and talk to them the next week at work. I don't have time to do that today. I've got another appointment to get to. She can't help herself. Look at what the text says. She continued to speak of him to all those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Now, do you think she went, are you waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem? I'm going to tell you about Jesus. Are you waiting? No, she's just talking about God and what God has done in Christ. And there are many who are waiting in the temple. And if they're in the temple and in the temple courts, what are they doing? They're being faithful to what they know to do on a day-to-day basis as they wait. So Anna has a story, she's full of devotion, she has a thanksgiving, and she has a witness that she gives to others. Well, there's a transition in verses 39 and 40 that we could keep here or we could move it into next week. I wanna deal with it here because of the time gap that follows it. If you just turn to, well, I have to turn the page, look at verse 41, and his parents would go to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he became 12 years old, So there is a time jump here from the time that he is a few weeks old and brought into the temple after the 40 days of cleansing, brought into the temple and all of this Thanksgiving and the witness from Simeon and Anna and then they return home and there's just summary statement of that life goes on and then we have a jump of years to the next section. So we're going to look at this just briefly. It really has to do with both. Verse 39, we see this begin this transition where the family returns to their home in Nazareth and Jesus continues to grow in strength and wisdom under God's grace. Verse 39, and when they had finished everything according to the law of the Lord, there's the bookends from all the way back up to verse 22. When they had finished everything according to the law of the Lord, They returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. So what are they returning to do? Live life, everyday things, to be faithful in the everyday things. Now the child, verse 40, continued to grow and become strong, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Now we'll develop this a little bit more next week, but this is the picture of Jesus. Jesus is growing as a young man. He is gonna grow in his childhood. This is the only place that we learn about, and Luke, it's the only place. Luke is the one who tells us about this stage of the life in the next verses that we see. He continued to grow and become strong, So there's a physical strength and a physical growing, but there's also a spiritual strength and a physical strength, a physical, a spiritual growing and a spiritual strength because he's being filled with wisdom. Now, what is wisdom? Wisdom is the correct use of knowledge, right? So he's growing in knowledge, but he's being filled with wisdom. And we're gonna see that expressed in next week when he's in the temple at 12 years old, but this starts at this stage that he is growing in knowledge because he's also being filled with wisdom. You can't have wisdom if you don't have knowledge. And the grace of God was upon him. God's favor rests upon Jesus. Why? because Jesus has come to accomplish the will of the Father. He has come to be completely obedient to the will of the Father. And that obedience takes him through oppression, takes him through persecution, takes him through death on a Roman cross, takes him being thrown in a grave. But it also has him raised from the dead on the third day And then several weeks later, being ascended to the right hand of the Father where he rules and reigns even now. So there's much before him that we don't understand if we're walking with Luke. The disciples have yet to understand. It will be revealed more fully when the Holy Spirit is given to them. But this summary statement reminds us that everything that Jesus is doing, the grace of God is upon him. Now I need to ask you, Where are you in relation to Jesus? Where are you? Have you stumbled over the stumbling block? That's the idea that is brought in this passage. This also comes from Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 8. Then he shall become a sanctuary to both houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many will stumble over them. Then they will fall and be broken. They will even be snared and caught. And later in chapter 28, so the word of Yahweh will be order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there. That's the way the people will be teaching it without any spiritual meaning. That they may go, here's the result, and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive. Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh, O scoffers who rule this people, this is the disobedient leaders who are in Jerusalem, because you have said, we have cut a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have made a pact. The overflowing scourge will not reach us when it passes by, for we have made falsehood our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves with lying. Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh, behold, I am laying a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. This idea is brought back in Romans as well, in the New Testament. It's picked up in Romans chapter 9. It is also later in Luke, in chapter 20. Verses 17 and 18, as he ends the parable of the vineyard owner. Remember, the parable is that the vineyard owner plants a vineyard and leaves, and leaves servants in charge of that vineyard. And then at the harvest season, the vineyard owner sends servants. And when he sends the servants, the people who are tending the vineyard, send him away empty-handed. He sends them back, and they beat them up. He sends them back again, and they beat them up even more. So then he sends his son, and they kill him. That's the parable. The parable establishing the Jewish response to the person of Jesus Christ. And here's how it ends. But when Jesus looked at them, he said, what then is this that is written? The stone which the builders rejected? This became the cornerstone. The chief cornerstone. Listen, everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust. Jesus is before you this morning. First Peter chapter two is another place where this is expounded and I'm not going to take time to go to because I'm out of time. But first Peter chapter two expounds this same idea and says that these are promises to those who will believe and not stumble. But there are also the curses of destruction for those who will not believe in Jesus and that end up stumbling. So you need to be sure this morning that you have not stumbled over the stumbling stone that you have bowed before the stumbling stone. Because if you bow before him, you will not stumble. He will bear you up. If you bow before him, he will save you as he's promised to do. You know, there's a living monument that you find all over Europe. And all over Europe, you find this, and there are little stones in the ground called stolpersteins. And those little stones are memoriam to all of the Jews who died in the Holocaust. And they're placed at the place in the city, at the last place that person was known to have stood before they took them away. And this is a moving monument. It's a living monument. People see it all over Europe. And once you see them, I'm told, you can't unsee them. And one of the creators that designs these stones says he thinks it's an appropriate monument for what happened in all of those concentration camps because to read the name, you have to bow before the name. Now, let me tell you something. The only name that's worthy of bowing before is Jesus Christ. And you do have to stoop to read the name Jesus. You do have to stoop to understand what he's saying, because you can't come in your own pride. You can't come in your own strength. You can't come idolizing your own self. You can't come saying, I've done enough to be saved. You have to come bowing before him so that you clearly see Jesus as the only deliverer from your sin. Will you bow before him today? Will you today bow before Jesus, see him clearly as he's revealed himself as a light to your salvation? As I pray, if you're helping serve the Lord's Supper, you come forward as I pray, and then we'll turn our hearts to the Lord's Supper. Father, we are grateful for your blessing to us through these words in Luke. We are thankful that you are a God who saves. You've saved according to your plan, and as you've said that you will save, And we pray this morning, Father, there is no one left within the sound of my voice that will stumble over your son, Jesus. That all of us by faith will repent of sin and trust in him. And that those of us who already believe in Jesus, that you'll just find us faithful in the daily whooping morph of life, reading your word. Falling more in love with your son and obeying you according to your plan and out of your strength. May that be so for us in Jesus name. Amen.