Sunday, December 24, 2023 AM

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for gathering us this morning on this Christmas Eve. I thank you that every Sunday we rejoice in the resurrection of our Savior, our King, your Son, Jesus Christ.

And I thank you that on this Sunday, the gift of your Son. I pray that you would help us at this time as we come together to commune with you by the person and work of your Son in the gift of your Holy Spirit, that you will be pleased by our worship, by our gathering.

And as we think about these truths from your Word, I pray that you would work them deeply within us, situate them just right, as only you can as our Creator. Take what we see of Christ today in this Word and situate it into the nooks and to the crannies of our souls, fortify the very spine of our lives with the light of Jesus Christ.

We pray these things for his sake. Amen. I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2, we'll be reading verses 25 through 35. We've been working our way through the carols of the gospel of Luke.

Mary went first with Magnificat. She magnified her God, her Savior. And then Zacharias blessed the Lord, blessed be the God of Israel, Benedictus. The angels then came and sang glory to God in the highest, Gloria.

And now we will consider Simeon as he gives praise to God and says, you may now release me. All these titles from the Latin translation when first they were recognized as songs to be sung. Church, Christ is given.

He is given indeed. He is given indeed. Please stand with me as we read Luke chapter 2, verses 25 through 35. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.

And the Holy Spirit was upon him. 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. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and to the glory of your people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him.

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against. Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. The world is restless. The winds of passion toss to and fro and every man a doomed sailor in a swamped boat, the captain of his own demise, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life, a perfect storm, perfect for the drowning of men who are chained to passions they have no ability to transform.

But there is one who says to the winds, peace. There is one who says to the waves, be still. There is one who raises the spiritually dead and releases them from enslaving passions into the new life of freedom, that of fearing God.

Do you remember Jesus and his disciples on the Sea of Galilee? Do you remember that in the peace, in the calm, in the sudden cessation of the storm, when the winds halted in reverence and the waves bowed low in still homage to their Creator and Master, do you remember what filled that quiet fear?

The disciples only thought they were afraid before, but now they were in a boat with a man who just told the waves and the winds what to do. And now they knew fear. How many questions get answered? And how many unanswered questions lose their urgency?

And how many fears and lingering doubts fall away when we are stayed and stilled before the face of God in that kind of reverence and awe, befitting the weight and light of Christ? That is the true nature of communion.

What does it mean that we are in communion? It is not simply that we are all in the same boat. We are all in the same boat with the God-man. That is different. As creatures, we are brought into living, active relationship with the Creator by the mediating person and work of Jesus Christ.

And there is no communion with God unless first we have the Incarnation. We do not have communion with God without the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. We do not have communion with God without the Gospel, without the person and work of Jesus Christ.

It is fitting to celebrate communion on Christmas because it is due to the Incarnation that we are in communion with God. John 1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. This very Word, in John 1 .14, This Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.

Glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. This One is our peace. Jesus Christ is our peace. He is our rest. He is our comfort. Simeon, confronted with the Lord's Christ, finally laying his eyes on the consolation of Israel himself, praises God and says, Release me now.

Dismiss me now. Release us now into Your peace according to Your Word. Simeon is presented to us for consideration. What kind of man was he? What did he desire? What did he say when he met Jesus, when he greeted the Lord of glory?

Simeon is a great name. It just means hearkening. Pay attention. Listen. Simeon is a good name because we first hear of him as the secondborn of Israel. His mother, Leah, named him that because she said the Lord had heard how she was unloved.

She was the lesser wife of Jacob, or Israel, whose favorite was her sister. So Leah calls him Simeon. The Lord has heard that I am unloved, so He has given me another son. And yet even in the naming of him, there was a recognition of he's not going to be the favored son.

The Lord heard that I am unloved. There's going to be another who is the favored son. Now the name not only invites God's hearkening and hearing of Leah's sorrow, but also it invites the bearer of the name to pay attention, to hear and to hearken.

And this Simeon certainly does that. The Holy Spirit is upon him, and he hears from the Lord. Here is Simeon. He is burdened with the sorrows of Israel. He is looking for the consolation of Israel. And what does he hear?

That the comfort is going to come in the gift of a favored son. First consider his character in verse 25. Behold, Luke is writing to his patron Theophilus. He's told him he's going to lay out everything very orderly, so as to fortify the faith of this man who believes, but wants to be instructed in his belief.

And so Luke wants Theophilus to consider Simeon. The Spirit wants us to consider Simeon. Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout. Behold, have you considered God's servant Simeon?

Here is a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil. He is just, he is devout, right in his ways. Whatever he grabs onto, he does so with reverence for God. Here's Simeon. So Simeon is being presented as the Israelite exemplar.

No better kind of Israelite than Simeon. If you want an example of somebody who is living in the shadows of the Old Covenant, but is clinging to all of the hopes of the New Covenant, here is Simeon. The whole nation of Israel is under the covenant curses of God.

This is why they are oppressed by the Romans. This is why there are famines and diseases and disasters and deceits all throughout their nation. Israel is under God's covenant curses, but here is one among them.

Here is Simeon. He is one of the born-again faithful remnant, and he undoubtedly groans at the state of his nation. In fact, he is looking for, waiting for the consolation of Israel. But what can he do?

What can he do but wait? As faithful and as just as Simeon is, he can't stand in for the whole people. He can't be good enough and do everything right enough to change God's approach to the whole nation.

Because Simeon is a sinner, just like Joseph, just like Mary. He can't bear the curse away from Israel. He can't save his people from their sins. He is but one amidst a sick and measly flock. He is not the favored son.

He is fully fixated on the one who is the favored son. He is waiting for the consolation of Israel, the comfort of Israel. Notice verse 25 continues that Simeon is waiting for. The original means that he is toward the receiving of.

It's like he's leaning out with his hand outstretched about to receive something. He's on the cusp of seeing the comfort of Israel, the consolation of Israel. Notice how consolation in your translation is capitalized, or it should be.

He is waiting for the consolation 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, until he had seen the Messiah of Yahweh.

Simeon had hearkened unto the word of the Lord. He knew the promises, and he was waiting for, longing for, the consolation of Israel. Now, Simeon may be thinking about his coming death. After all, the assurance that was given to him is that he would not see death, he would not die before he saw the Lord's Christ.

Now, we're not told how old Simeon is, but the older we get, the more we think about death. The more we think about all of the unresolved matters that we're going to have to leave behind, the things, the complications, the turmoil, the troubles, that we never thought we would see when we were young.

But now, having grown old, we wonder how in the world this is all going to be resolved. Simeon is wondering, am I going to see the comfort of Israel before I die? And the Holy Spirit personally assures Simeon that, indeed, he will.

I think Simeon is an elderly man with not many years left, and he, like the old covenant, was coming to an end. And yet, Simeon gets up every morning. Something pulls him out of his bed. Something sustains him through his days.

He is looking for the consolation, the comfort of Israel. And what is going to comfort Israel? And not just a little bit, but a full solace of Israel. There were a lot of answers to that question in Simeon's day.

A lot of variety of opinions about what would bring the comfort of Israel, what the consolation of Israel actually consisted of. Just like there are many opinions about that in our day. What will be the consolation of Israel?

Still hotly debated. But, let's put the debate to rest, what does God say? What does God say? What does the Holy Spirit reveal? Here is a just and devout Israelite, a Jew who is seeking God's promises.

And what is he assured of by the Holy Spirit? That his faith will be rewarded. The Holy Spirit tells him that he will indeed lay eyes upon the consolation of Israel, and this is no one else than, and nothing less than, the Lord's Christ, the Messiah.

The Messiah is the consolation of Israel. Indeed, the comfort of all humanity, the blessings of all the families of the earth, depend upon the seed of Abraham through Isaac and Israel. Israel who becomes a nation structured in God's image, receiving promises that are consolidated and rest upon one king, the son of David, the Lord's Christ.

And what does Simeon confess? Verses 27 through 29. So he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the customs of the law, Simeon took Jesus up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.

Just like you said. Here is the answer to all the conundrums. Here is the one who is going to unsnarl all of the problems that have been weighing upon me, weighing upon the faithful, wondering how God is going to keep His promises.

Lamech, who was ninth from Adam, looked around at his sexually immoral, violence-soaked world, and believed God's promise of the seed of the woman. And so he named his son Noah, meaning comfort. And he said, this one will give us rest.

Lamech said, now that I have seen this son Noah, I can depart in peace. God told Abram, who looked up in the stars of heaven and who believed in the promised seed, God told him in Genesis 15, 15, and you will go to your fathers in peace.

You will be buried in a good old age. Why can he go to his fathers in peace? Because he believed the promise of the seed. Israel himself, so bereaved and mournful, when finally he set his eyes upon his favored son, Joseph, in Genesis 46, 30, Israel said to Joseph, now let me die.

Now I can depart. Now I'm at peace, since I have seen your face because you are yet alive. And now in our passage, Simeon, led by the Spirit, meets Jesus' parents, led by the law, and they meet in the temple.

And Lee looks upon the infant Messiah, and Simeon says, now, Lord, you may release me into your peace. Here's the answer. I'm satisfied. This is good. I don't have any nagging questions left, having put my eyes upon the consolation of Israel.

Isn't that interesting? Simeon has read but the prologue of the gospel, but he closes his eyes, closes the book, leans back, and says, I'm good. He's just read the prologue, but he is absolutely convinced of the glories of the epilogue.

And in faith, he can rest. Faith in Christ brings him rest. Faith in Christ brings him peace. So many questions to answer. Just how will it all work out, Simeon? No matter. I've seen the consolation of Israel.

I know God is going to keep His promises. And so he may sleep the sleep of the righteous, and he may die in faith, never having moved his bookmark forward a single page. Now, Simeon, as a just and devout Israelite, a born-again believer led by the Holy Spirit, that's just about the best kind of old covenant believer one could hope to meet.

And the Holy Spirit leads him to Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Christ, the Son of God. And in this one, Simeon is assured that all the promises made by God will find fulfillment here. In other words, there is no comfort and there is no peace, there is no resolution for Israel outside of Jesus Christ.

And if that's true of Israel to whom are the covenants, how much more to all the rest of the peoples of the earth? To what is our comfort? What is our comfort? The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism asks, what is your only comfort in life and in death?

The child is compelled to answer, that I am not my own, but belong, body and soul, in life and death, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Israel has no comfort other than belonging to Christ. The nations have no comfort other than belonging to Christ.

So what about you? What about you? What consolation do you seek? You are one who is made in God's image. Will you seek for comfort elsewhere than in the image of the invisible God? Will you look elsewhere other than to Jesus Christ himself?

Like Simeon, we are to come to the King with all we are and bless God for all he is. I have sat at the side of people just about to die. And the number of things that they list that are unresolved. All these things unresolved.

This person doesn't know Jesus. I never was able to contact so and so. We never resolved the argument we had 40 years ago. All these things unresolved, intensified by the lack of time left. But even in the everyday of folks who aren't expecting to pass away soon, who are we looking for?

Who are we looking at for our comfort? Who is our peace? Who are we looking to? By whose authority are we assessing what goes on in our lives? Whose instructions are we following in order to be in right relationship with God and with one another?

Who is informing our value system to know whether we are spending our lives and our resources in a way that pleases our Creator? Christ is the light of the world. In his light we may have peace. Who is our comfort?

Who is our consolation? Christ is given. He is given indeed. Release us now into your peace according to your word. Light of the world our faith increase and make our hope assured. Simeon contentedly may depart now into God's prepared rest for him.

Not simply because his personal needs have been met. It's not that he's saying, well now that my personal list, my bucket list has now been completed. Now I may depart in peace. Notice he's been looking for the consolation of Israel.

Do you know how many people that impacts? How is this all coming together? He's asking not small questions. He's asking big questions. And he may now have peace because he has put his attention, his focus upon Christ.

The comfort that Simeon receives, that we receive as a sort that impacts the whole world. Remember that Paul said to the rulers, these things were not done in a corner. God did not send forth his son in a secret way.

God set forth his son publicly. Publicly. And all of history is the artifact of God's sovereignty. And all of creation is evidence of his goodness and power. And in the incarnation, in the giving of his son, God has revealed to us his grace.

And he has reassured us of his glory. Revelation of grace, verses 30 through 33. Simeon says the reason why he may depart in peace is this. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, to the ethnoi, to the nations.

Not only is this salvation a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, but this salvation is also, notice, the glory of your people Israel. After saying that, Joseph of Mary marveled at those things that were spoken of him.

So what is Simeon saying? He sees that the salvation that God has prepared long ago, and has long been preparing, is now evident before him. Preparations were long in being made. Preparations were built in even prior to the fall of Adam and Eve.

Look, there was a tree of life. And look, there was a bride formed from the wound of Adam. But then also, all the promises God made through all the generations, and all the shadows that we see, the types, the pictures, the covenants God made.

And we have all the everyday governance of God, and also the many interventions, the once in a century interventions. And all of it, all that God did was preparation for this salvation, for this Savior whom Simeon now sees.

And Simeon says the salvation was prepared before the face of all the peoples. It was prepared before all the peoples. How is that? Because Israel was the canvas upon which God painted his redemption for the world.

The renewal of the image of God, the need for that renewal, the provision of that renewal, was writ large in the shadow lands of Israel. Israel was as the stars and the moon of the night sky, testifying of the coming dawn, which would break upon all nations, and that light is none other than Jesus, the Son of Mary.

Simeon says you have been preparing the salvation before the face of all nations, and here He is, here is the Savior. Now what did the Father say by the spirit of His Son? Isaiah is extremely helpful here, Isaiah chapters 40 -55, but so often He calls Messiah by the names He first used of Israel.

Example in Isaiah 42 verses 6 -7. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you as a covenant for the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house.

Who is God giving as a covenant for the nations? What did Jesus say about His body and His blood? He gave Himself as the new covenant, doesn't He? And not just for a few, but for the nations. This is a big change.

When Christ offers Himself as the covenant, He offers Himself, His own body and blood as the new covenant. No longer is the prime consideration, are you in Israel? The question now is, are you in Christ?

And that transformation, that move from shadows of the old into the light of the new, this transformation did not come quietly, like snow gently covering the countryside. It came like an avalanche. The full glorious weight of all that covenant significance, stored up for centuries, let loose and came down in a single generation.

Things are going to change, which is why Simeon says what he says next, verses 34 -35, and the reassurance of this glory would certainly come to pass. Verse 34,. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is destined for the fall and the rising of many in Israel.

A whole bunch is going to change. And for a sign which will be spoken against, they're not going to like Him. Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also, because He's going to die. And the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

Everything is going to get exposed in the light. You see what's going on here? Now, new parents holding an infant, receiving a blessing from a faithful Israelite. Oh, a blessing, yes, a blessing. And the blessing is, He's going to cause havoc.

And He's going to die. And everything's going to come out. Wow. This is reassurance of the glory of God. The glory of God never shows up in such a way that everything stays the same. When the glory of God shows up, everything gets readjusted and put in orbit around Him.

Jesus was brought by His parents. Everything was done for Him according to the law. In due time, Christ was born of a woman, born under the law, and He's flawless concerning the law and comes as its fulfillment.

Remember what Simeon said. This salvation is the glory of your people Israel. Meaning what? That Jesus Christ is the weight and the light of Israel. That whatever significance Israel had, it is Christ's entire.

The consolation of Israel, you see, cannot come to pass without the consummation of Israel in Christ. The same for anybody who's made in the image of God. Do you think that we have been created before the face of God to walk around and bear significance and glory unto ourselves?

Or does it all belong to God? And is Christ the heir of all things? Has He been given the name which is above every name? Has He been given all authority in heaven and on earth? No one, not a single individual, not a nation, not a tribe, nobody gets to walk around and bear glory as unto themselves for it all belongs to Jesus Christ.

Many will fall, many will rise, many will oppose, Jesus will die. One man for the people, a piercing sorrow even to his own mother's heart. That which was hidden will be revealed so that no sinner would ever be able to hide from the light that is manifested in the Christ.

When we come to this meal here this morning, what are we recognizing? We no longer bring a lamb, a first year lamb, spotless, into our homes and keep it there for three days, making sure it has no flaws.

We do not at the end of those three days slit its throat and catch its blood in a bowl. We do not spread the blood upon the mantle of our doors and the posts of our doors. We do not then bake bitter herbs and unleavened bread and butcher the lamb and eat it entire, burning all the remnant that was left over.

We do not celebrate Passover today. We celebrate Christ, who is the end of Passover, the fulfillment of Passover. When John said to his disciples, Behold, the Lamb of God, what was he talking about? When John records Christ on the cross, that He died before they broke His legs, and says, this was to fulfill, not one bone of Him shall be broken, he quotes from Leviticus, not one bone of it shall be broken concerning the Passover lamb.

You see, all the glory that belonged to Israel is Christ's. All the shadows have now come into the light. So now we gather and we recall that Jesus said, Take, eat, this is my body. Take, drink, this is my blood of the new covenant.

Because He's the Lamb of God. The children of Israel were to eat every last scrap of that lamb. Stuff themselves to the full. Because the picture was that they would be fully satisfied in that lamb, and it was offered to God as a spotless sacrifice, and in the picture, God was fully satisfied with that sacrifice as well.

It was the wave offering, the peace offering, wherein God and those made in His image would be at peace at the same meal. Communion. God satisfied in the lamb. The people satisfied in the lamb. Now, the picture is fulfilled.

The Father is satisfied in the Son, and we, by the Spirit, are satisfied in the Son as well. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for the time You've given to us as we have looked at Your Word and considered the glories of Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Thank You for giving us this season in which we may sing praises especially crafted to remember the wonder and the grace of the Incarnation. I thank You for this opportunity to share in this meal, to reflect upon the good that You have brought about.

I pray that indeed You would help us to be fully satisfied in Christ even as You, our Heavenly Father, is. It is for the sake of Jesus Christ that we pray. Amen.