From Slaves to Sons

The Gospel of Luke and Simeon’s Prophecy

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel.

According to St. Luke chapter 2 verses 22 through 40. When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses they brought Jesus 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. A pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. 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. 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.

He 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 and said Lord now you are 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 for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel. And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother behold this child is appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel. And for a sign that is opposed and a sword will pierce through your own soul also.

So 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 until she was 84.

She did not depart from the temple worshipping 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.

And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord they returned into Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong filled with wisdom and the favor of God was upon him.

This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen. I feel like we're limping along with all the people that are sick. Well we'll just have to make best as we can. Our sermon today is going to be framed from our epistle text and I'm going to refer to it several times.

Adoption as Sons and Daughters Through Christ

Here again the words from the Apostle Paul written to the churches in Galatia and written to us by the Holy Spirit. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law.

I have to always point this out. The word redemption there is a slave term. It literally means to buy somebody off the slave block but not for the purpose of putting them to work in your own home or on your own plantation.

Instead the purpose here is to purchase them off the slave block for the purpose of freeing them. And the story goes on then here in our text so that we might receive, get this, adoption as sons. And although the text doesn't say it, I think it's important to note nowadays since everybody is so gender aware, this does mean women too.

Sons and daughters. And he has sent his Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying Abba, Father. Now Abba is an interesting term. It's not quite as familial as Daddy. But maybe a better way to translate that would be Papa.

So it's a little bit more of a term of endearment. So you are no longer a slave. Did you hear that? You are no longer a slave. But you are a son. And if you are a son then you are an heir through God.

Now to help us kind of get what's going on here. In our Gospel text we see Jesus is busy at work. Well at least passively so. I mean what do newborn babies do? They nurse. They fill their diapers. They cry.

Repeat. That's pretty much how the cycle goes. And Mom and Dad aren't usually getting a lot of sleep this early on. And so Jesus doesn't seem to be doing anything much except for being carried around and cared for like young infants are doing.

But there's far more than that actually going on. And our text tells us that. But in order to understand why that's so important I'm going to do something that I did last week. And that is refer to another one of my favorite movies.

Now I do this from time to time. You'll just have to understand. How many of you have seen and I'll have to clarify here because I'll be ambiguous at first. How many of you have seen the movie A Little Princess?

Maybe that caught you off guard. Yes I do like the movie A Little Princess. Now there are two versions if you're not familiar. One with Shirley Temple. But the one I'm referring to is the 1995 version.

With Lacelle Matthews and anyone? I'm going to give you guys homework. This is what it's coming down to. In order to understand these movies in my sermons you're going to have to get to know some of these movies.

But the story of the A Little Princess is a classic. And the reason why it's a classic because again it picks up on these very very archetypal themes that we find in scripture. And you'll note that the best movies all tell the same story over and over and over again.

The characters change. But generally there is some evil wicked character. There's an Edenic. A time when things are great. Things go terrible because the villain or villainess shows up. And things go bad.

Usually the situation gets dire. And the hero in one way or another. It's always weird how this works out. Ends up dying and rising again. And then the conclusion of the story always results in things being set right.

Well The Little Princess. Guess what? It's just like that. But it's a wonderful story. And the reason why it's a wonderful story is because it's a story of a father. And boy is that tough to find nowadays.

Good stories that actually portray fathers properly and well. And it's a father whose wife had died in childbirth. Giving birth to their second child. But their first child. A little girl. Her name is Sarah.

He's wealthy. He's well to do. He's British. Apparently he's into some kind of manufacturing or whatever. And he and his daughter travel the world. And the story picks up with them in a paradise like place in India.

And things are going just swimmingly well. However, World War I has broken out. And we see the father having to put on a uniform. And informing his daughter that she's going to be sent to America. To New York.

To a boarding school. The same boarding school that her mother had gone to. Because it would be safer for her there than for her to stay in Europe while he went and fought the war. So they drop her off at the boarding school.

And as good child stories go like this, everybody knows the lady in charge of the boarding school is wicked, terrible, and corrupt. And this is how the story begins. And so we have the daughter. She starts off wearing these wonderful, brilliant clothes.

And then having to don the uniform of this boarding school. And as the story goes, her father dies in battle. The British government confiscates all of his assets. And she is left penniless. This little girl.

And so the school marm is the wicked woman that she is. Of course she's jealous of this little girl. She decides she's going to keep her on. Give her a place to live out of charity. But in order to do that, she becomes the slave of the schoolhouse.

And her and this little African American girl, they are wearing threadbare clothes with holes in them. They are sleeping in drafty rooms and living under wretched conditions and being worked to the bones with blisters and bruises and all.

And so this is the story of this great love of a father for his child and then his dying. But somehow he rises from the dead. I won't explain how. You'll have to watch the movie. I don't want to give you the spoiler.

But there is a great resolve in all of this. And that is that eventually they are reunited. And that father-child relationship is restored. That is our frame. And you're going to see that Scripture and our Scriptures today actually teach this.

Jesus Born Under the Law to Redeem the Poor

Now to help us out a little bit here, I do want to show you something from the Gospel of Luke. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 3, Luke gives us the genealogy of Jesus. This is one of two places in Scripture where you can find it.

And I don't know if it's just me, but when I was a younger fellow, reading through these genealogies was a wee bit tough. It was difficult to stay focused. I consider this to be one of the dry, gravelly portions of Scripture.

And that being the case, I will spare you all of the details and we'll just jump close to the end so we won't have to plow through all of it. But you're going to note that Luke does something very different than Matthew does.

Matthew and his genealogy gives us three sets of fourteen generations. And he only goes back as far as Abraham because that's all that's necessary to demonstrate that Jesus is of the seed. He's the seed of Abraham, the one that's promised.

But Luke does something very fascinating. He takes it farther back than that. So starting in verse 36 of chapter 3, we read that Shella was the son of Canaan, the son of Ar-Paksod, and the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Canaan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, and watch the last phrase here, the son of God.

Huh. Have you ever noticed that? What was Adam's relationship to God prior to the fall? Son of God. Now this does not mean that Adam is deity, deity the way Christ is. However, this does show us that man being made in the image of God and reflecting the image of God perfectly in creation, that our relationship with God prior to the fall can best be compared to a father and child.

We are God's children, at least prior to the fall. And then with Adam and Eve succumbing to the temptations of the devil to be like God, they end up putting us all under a curse. And Jesus says of those who are fallen, in the Gospel of John, you are of your father the devil.

And so you'll note that being put into the dominion of darkness means being put under the tyranny of the devil himself. And our patriarchy switches from God to Lucifer. It's a terrible thing, but God is not satisfied with this setup, if you would.

And so this is why Christmas is so important, and why I will now again return to our Epistle text and hear these words. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

And how is it that Jesus teaches us to pray? When the disciples come up to Jesus, you know, they're doing Catechism 101 with Him, and so the question comes up, which naturally should arise, when we pray, how do we pray, Lord?

And Jesus says, when you pray, say, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, Father. You see, Scripture reveals that God is a loving, caring, concerned, brave, strong, powerful, determined Father.

What He lost, and what we lost in the Fall, God is determined to do whatever it takes is necessary to restore that relationship, so that He, like a good Father, can pick us up in His arms, give us a big hug, like only fathers can do.

That's what's going on. And so with this in mind, this picture in mind, let's take a look at our Gospel text now, in Luke 2. So there's Jesus, doing what infants do. Nursing, filling diapers, crying, repeat.

And He is, at this point, having to be carried around. But something very important is happening in this text, and don't miss it. Because Jesus is hard at work, He's hard at work fulfilling the law for us.

Because in order for our relationship with our Heavenly Father to be restored, and for us to go from slaves of the devil, and to sin, and to death, to actually being sons and daughters of God, there's a great price involved.

And Jesus, in order to meet that price, must be the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He must be sinless. That means He must keep God's law perfectly. And you're going to note that what we're going to hear are details regarding Jesus keeping the law.

But you're going to note that in order for Him to keep these portions of the law, He's going to need His parents' assistance. He's going to be passively obeying God's law for us. And so when we talk about obedience, we have to talk about obedience to the law both actively and passively.

And you'll note that Jesus is the passive obeyer of God's law here. And that's a vital piece of doctrine. The text goes on to say, 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. You'll find that, by the way, spelled out in very graphic detail in Exodus 13. And you'll note that what God required of Israel, remember the last and final plague of the plagues of Egypt, was the killing of the firstborn.

And every firstborn would have died except that they were redeemed by the blood of a lamb. And so moving forward, moving forward after the Exodus, God required that all males who opened the womb, that they be set apart and that they would be redeemed as well by the blood of a lamb.

Unless, and here's the interesting part, unless the family to whom that child is born cannot afford a lamb. And in that case, God in the Mosaic Covenant in the book of Leviticus offers an alternative sacrifice for those who are poverty stricken.

The alternative sacrifice is a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And that's what we find happening here. That in order to fulfill the Mosaic Covenant, Mary and Joseph, as poverty stricken as they are, go to the temple to fulfill the obligation of the law which Jesus is required to meet in order to redeem Him.

And they cannot even afford the lamb. That's how poor they are. And the thing I like about this is that we can't afford the lamb either. So God has to provide the lamb for us. And see, that's who Jesus is.

I think it's appropriate that they couldn't offer a lamb for the lamb. Instead, they can only offer two turtle doves because Jesus Himself is the lamb who will redeem us. Now, while this was happening, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.

And this man was righteous, devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. 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 Messiah.

And he came in the Spirit into the temple. It's as if Simeon woke up that morning and was brewing himself a cup of coffee. I mean, he's Jewish after all. Hebrews, you know, they make coffee. Just seeing if you're awake.

Just seeing if you're awake. Making himself a cup of coffee. And the Holy Spirit says to him, you better get to the temple because what I promised would happen is about to happen and you need to be there.

And literally, the way the Greek reads in this, it's as if he's making a beeline for the temple because he knows he's about to be late. So he came in the Spirit. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him, listen to these words, to do for him according to the custom of the law.

Jesus is obeying the law here. But he's doing it passively and his parents are having to assist him. Fascinating. To do for him according to the custom of the law. Simeon took him up in his arms and he blessed God and said...

Now, pause there for a second. Those of you who are familiar with the historic liturgy. The historic liturgy in the divine service after communion, there is a standard post-communion canticle. And the name of that post-communion canticle is called the Noctimitus.

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people. A light to reveal you to the nations in the glory of your people Israel.

And it always ends with the glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. It's a wonderful post-communion canticle. And it's quite appropriate to sing after communion because those who have had the Lord's supper and tasted and seen that the Lord is good, who feasted on His body and blood, given and shed for them for the forgiveness of their sins, they like Simeon are also recipients and witnesses of this salvation.

And they are able now to leave here or wherever church is being held knowing that they're going in peace. Peace with God. Peace with each other because of what Christ has done. It's very fascinating. But the lyrics for the Noctimitus come straight out of this text.

And those were the very words that Simeon spoke prophetically. So, when he picked up little baby Jesus in his arms. And it is appropriate for us to note here that our salvation is brought through the one who has a conception that is different than ours.

You see, King David in the Psalms says,. And by saying that, David was not saying that his mother was an immoral woman. When David says in the Psalms, he is confessing that what we confessed this morning at the beginning of the service.

That we are by nature sinful and unclean. That we are sinful from the moment of our conception. But Jesus' conception is different than ours. He is conceived in the womb of the Virgin. By the overshadowing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the one whose conception is different than ours. He is holy. He is righteous. He is the spotless Lamb of God. Come to take on the sins of the world upon Himself and go to the cross and bleed and die for our sins.

And so, this idea that Simeon, his eyes have seen God's salvation. This is most certainly true. He has seen the infant Jesus who will grow to be the man Jesus who will go to the cross so that all of us can be saved.

And by being saved once again be able to cry out to God, Papa, Father. And as his father and mother marveled at what was said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, it's important for us to note that everything was not roses and unicorns for Mary.

We know that she's poverty stricken and having the Messiah being born from her does not result in her receiving a windfall lottery winning. She still is unable to pay even for the Lamb, for Jesus. And now, Simeon prophesies over Mary and says, this child's appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is opposed.

Indeed, how many people today continue to vehemently oppose Christ? I think about the news that broke right before Christmas. Of course, Christmas time is the time when the liberal media wants to stick it to Christianity.

And there was some yahoo feminist who was literally claiming that Mary was a raped victim and that the Holy Spirit raped her. Read the text. She gave her consent. But again, the sign of Christ is opposed by many.

And what does the psalmist say? Why do the nations rage? Why do the people plot in vain against God's anointed? Futile to do so. And yet, the sign of the virgin-born Son of God will be opposed and is still opposed to this day.

And then, some very chilling words from Simeon, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also. And this is most certainly true. We learn from this Gospel as well as others that this same Mary was present when Jesus was nailed to the cross.

She was present at the foot of the cross when Jesus cried out His last and said, It is finished, and died. She was present when the Roman soldier took his lance and pierced his side and out came blood and water.

The Roman Catholic Church has a statue. It's actually quite well done. It's called the Pieta. The Pieta depicts Mary at the foot of the cross, holding the corpse of her Son, the Son of God, after He had been knocked down from the cross.

And the anguish that she must have gone through is written large on her face in that statue. And every time I see it depicted, I can always hear those words from the hymn that we sang last Sunday. What child is this who lay to rest?

That line that says, Nails, spear, shall pierce Him through the cross He bore for me, for you. Hail, hail, the Word made flesh, the Babe, the Son of Mary. And so Mary, in saying yes to the Holy Spirit, saying yes to the angel Gabriel, may it be done to me as the Lord has said.

It comes at a great cost. A terrible cost. The cost of watching her firstborn Son being crucified. But it was necessary. It was necessary because He is the salvation of Israel. It was necessary for this to happen, for her relationship with God to be restored.

So that the Virgin Mary could say to God, You are my Father. That was the cost for her sins, for my sins, for your sins. And so a sword truly did pierce her own soul through. So that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

Another interesting phrase in this prophecy of Simeon. And it makes perfect sense because Jesus says that when He sent the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin and unbelief. Which is exactly what the Word of God still continues to do to this day.

It strips us all bare and shows us that we are all guilty. And for some reason, some people having their hearts revealed for the sinful, muck filled cesspools that they are, repent and receive mercy and forgiveness from God.

While others, when the light is shown on their hearts, persist in sin and unbelief and bear a grudge against the One who would dare to tell them that they are a sinner in need of a Savior. The text goes on to say that there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher.

Anna the Prophetess and the Witness of Women

And I think this is a very fascinating thing here because there is a lot of controversy and a lot of error regarding the role of women in the church. There is one group of people who say that women can be pastors, but Scripture says they cannot.

There is another group of people who have an equally opposite error, who say that women have no right to teach anybody anywhere about Jesus, whether in church, whether in a school, whether in their homes, that this is the job of the men only.

To which I would say, are you familiar with the prophetess Anna? Yes, women not only have the right, they have the duty to tell people about Christ. And Anna did that. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin.

In other words, she was a widow for a long time. And then as a widow until she was 84. And women back then married 14, 15 years old. Do the math. She was in her early 20s when her husband died. And she remained a widow until she was 84.

So she did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Indeed, Christ is announced by both men and women. The glories of God and His salvation are being proclaimed, even to this day, by men and women. And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord.

Did you catch that? See, that's what's going on here. You're saying, what's Jesus doing? Answer. He's passively keeping the law for you. So that it can be said of Him that He is sinless. Had Joseph and Mary not done these things according to the law, who would have been charged with the sin?

Jesus. Isn't it interesting? There are aspects of God's law you are incapable of keeping yourself. It must be kept for you. Makes it seem like that whole law thing is quite out of reach in many ways, as far as being kept perfectly.

And it is, for every single one of us who are born sinful. So when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew, became strong, filled with wisdom.

And the favor of God was upon Him. The favor of God was upon Him. Here again, the words of our epistle text. I said I would return to it a few times. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those slaves who were under the law.

Garments of Salvation and the Father’s Restored Family

So that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, present tense, currently now, you are sons. God has sent the spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Papa, Father. So you are no longer a slave.

You are a son. And if you are a son, then you are an heir through God. Now, I referenced the movie A Little Princess. And I think it's quite fascinating if you watch it. The 95 version. Remember, 95. It's color.

You can see the stark contrast. Sarah as the slave girl whose clothes are falling apart and have holes in them and are that dull, beige, brown work color because that's the only clothes she's got. But when her father saves her and restores her relationship with him, and they are reunited, he dresses her and that other little slave girl in the most brilliant, white, beautiful clothes you've ever seen on a little girl.

She looked like a china doll. And see, that's a wonderful depiction of salvation. The clothing is all a big part of it. And that's exactly where the prophet Isaiah goes today in our text. Isaiah says in chapter 61, verse 10, I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh.

My soul shall exult in my God. For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He's covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress.

As a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.

And see, in the slavery to sin, death, and the devil, we were left practically naked in threadbare fig leaves that barely covered up anything. Falling apart. But God, in His great salvation, because of what Christ has done for us, in obeying God's law for us, both actively and passively, because of what He has accomplished, we now are clothed in these garments of salvation.

Clothed in the very righteousness of Christ. And listen to the brilliance then, with which these garments of salvation are described in Isaiah 62. For Zion's sake, I will not keep silent. For Jerusalem's sake, I will not be quiet until her righteousness goes forth as brightness.

Her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory. And you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. And you shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord.

A royal diadem in the hand of your God. In the blackness and coldness of sin, it's probably best to describe this as that terrible Christmas gift that no kid ever wants, a lump of coal. Have you ever been threatened with that gift?

You keep that up, the only thing you're getting for Christmas is a lump of coal. It's fascinating. But see, our Isaiah text makes it very clear, and all of the pictures of salvation in Scripture make it very clear, that that's really what we were, because of our sin.

Lumps of coal, which are only useful for burning in the fire. That's the appropriate use of a lump of coal. And yet, because of what Christ has done for us, we learn that being restored, and now being able to say again of God that He is our Father, that we are described like a royal diadem in God's hand.

It's as if because of Christ, we've gone from being a lump of coal to being a diamond. You can almost see Jesus in His nail-scarred hands, taking that lump of coal and pressing it together with both of His hands.

And it no longer being that, but being a beautiful diamond. This is a wonderful picture of salvation, of light, of clothing, of restoration, of a father and child being restored. All of this because this tiny, little baby was taken to the temple, and the law was obeyed for Him.

So that He can continue to be the spotless Lamb of God. And He continues actively at this point to obey God's law for us. To restore to us that lost relationship of a loving Father and His children. And you are those children, because you are sons.

You have been redeemed. When the fullness of time had come, God the Father sent Jesus, our brother, born of a woman, born under the law, to set us free from slavery, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

So you're no longer a slave. You are a brightly, brightly clothed, wonderfully loved by an everlasting, steadfast, strong, amazing Father in Heaven. And if you are a son, and you are, then you are an heir through God.

You have everything. You are no longer penniless, poor, naked, and destitute. Merry Christmas. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Oslo, Minnesota. 567 -44. We thank you for your support. All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message. And again, thank you for listening.