Luke: Christmas at God's House (Luke 2:21-52, Jeff Kliewer)

The Prophecies of Bethlehem, the Virgin Birth, and the Root of David

Giveness of sin, we trust you for eternal life. And Lord, this Christmas morning, we say that we adore you. We worship you.

We delight in you.

We find all of our satisfaction in you. And what a great morning it is. So glorious, God. You've given us the sun to shine down, the beautiful blue sky. Just a glorious picture of the joyful day that this is.

Thank you, God. We trust you, God. We adore you, God. In Jesus' name, amen. But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the tribes of Judah, yet out of you will come the one to be ruler of Israel. When I read those words in college, I've shared this story before, that verse rescued me from falling away from God at a period of time.

Because I wondered, was this Bible that I was taught as a kid truly the word of God? Or is it something that I just learned from tradition? And when I opened the scriptures and let it fall open and I said, Lord, lead me to something, it fell open to Micah chapter 5, verse 2.

And it was a prophecy written hundreds of years before Christ came. And that prophecy spoke of Jesus, the Messiah, being born where?

Bethlehem.

And sure enough, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This week, as I studied for the Christmas Eve service, I was in Isaiah. And if you weren't here for the Christmas Eve service last night, I'd encourage you to read Isaiah chapter 7 through 12.

I was just captured by this text. And I hope you have been captured by it, too. It's really just one song that Isaiah gives. It relates to something that was happening historically, where Jerusalem was being under siege by Damascus and the northern kingdom of Israel coming together.

And Isaiah prophesied that this attack will come to nothing. The Assyrians will come through and destroy them. But in the midst of this, he gives the hope of a coming ruler over Israel, a coming king.

And those prophecies are, you remember them, right? Chapter 7, a virgin will give birth to a son, to a child. And we'll call that child what? Emmanuel, God with us. Amazing prophecy that a virgin would give birth to a child.

Then in the 9th chapter, he's still along the same train of thought. And he says, a child will be born. A son will be given. And the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Mighty God, Prince of Peace.

What a prophecy that is. We're told also in that 9th chapter that the light that will come will come from Galilee. And the people who dwell in the land of darkness will see a great light. And then finally, in the 11th chapter of Isaiah, we're told that this promised one, this son who would be given, will come from Jesse.

He'll be a descendant of Jesse, who, of course, is the father of King David. And as we trace the genealogy of Jesus, he descends from King David. But then in the 10th verse of chapter 11, we're told he's not only from David, as in a descendant from David, he, in fact, is the root of David.

He's both the root and the shoot.

How so?

He's the root because he's the creator of all things. He made Adam, who David comes from. And yet he comes into his world and is born, takes on human flesh, and becomes a descendant of the very humanity that he created.

So Jesus is both man and God. That's how he reconciles sinful men like us to himself. These prophecies are amazing. And this song that Isaiah sings is prophetic. He sees the Messiah 700 years before the Messiah comes.

I doubted this book for a period of time when I was in college. But when I discovered these prophecies again, I recognized that this book should never be doubted. This book is reliable. This book comes from God.

Only God could speak the future that way. Foretell the virgin birth. Foretell that the son given would be called mighty God. Foretell that he would be both the root and the shoot of David. So we're going to read the Christmas story this morning.

We'll be brief. We usually read the part about him being born, and then the shepherds coming. And we tend to stop there halfway through Luke chapter 2. But what happens after that is actually really exciting stuff.

It's kind of like the first Christmas celebration. Because on the eighth day, Jesus is brought to the temple. Now, we know the temple is God's house. Jesus comes into God's house and is presented there.

And some amazing things happen there. That's the second half of Luke chapter 2. So if you could find it. You guys going to somebody's house today? There's always interesting things that happen in the family, isn't there, on Christmas day.

There's always some strange event. Maybe there'll be an argument. Pray not. Maybe there'll be some interesting person who, I don't know, spits his dentures into his coffee or something. You never know what weird thing is going to happen at a Christmas party.

Well, some strange things happen in Luke chapter 2. But they're beautiful. They're exciting. And they teach us three important lessons. We learn from this story that we're going to read today. To obey God, to do so from the heart with zeal, and finally, to proclaim or prophesy about Christ.

We saw the prophets of old. Micah 5 .2, born in Bethlehem. Isaiah, virgin birth, son given, root and descendant of David. We saw these prophets foretelling Christ. Well, the New Testament prophets also speak of Christ.

In fact, the book of Revelation says that the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus Christ. We are all called to prophesy in that way, to proclaim, to foretell that Jesus is the son of God. So let's go forth doing that today after we've read this text.

Luke 2 .21 and following. And at the end of eight days, when he, being Jesus, was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.

As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice, according to what was said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.

Obedience to the Law of Moses and Redemption of the Firstborn

So Mary and Joseph, with their firstborn son, go to God's house to present Jesus to God. Now, what is this tradition? It goes back to the Passover. When on the day of Passover, the Egyptians were struck by God, and each of the firstborn children of Egypt were killed, but the Israelites were spared.

How so?

By the blood marking the doorpost. Again, a prophetic picture of the cross, the blood put on the wood that protects the Israelites from the wrath of God. Yet this angel of death goes out and kills the firstborn of Egypt.

When the Israelites come out, they're told, you must always consecrate your firstborn to God. The firstborn of your sheep, the firstborn of your donkeys, consecrate them to God, and the firstborn of your sons.

However, you don't kill your son as a sacrifice. Rather, you redeem your son. You take your son, and replacing that son with a sheep, a lamb, you sacrifice the lamb to the Lord, consecrating your son to God.

You do this on the eighth day. This came from Exodus chapter 12. Well, not everybody in Israel could afford to offer a sheep. And so look here in verse 24. We're told from Leviticus 12, eight, that if a family could not afford a sheep, what were they to bring?

A pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And so we learn from this story that Mary and Joseph are poor. They can't afford a sheep. They're here obeying the law of Moses. And here is the first major point that we need to catch.

Mary and Joseph are blessed by God. They're favored by God. They're obedient to God. Mary and Joseph are a picture for us of obedience. What did Mary say when the angel told her that she would give birth to a son who comes from God?

She's a virgin.

She wanted to understand, but when she heard what he said, she said, so be it. Let it be done to me according to what you have said. She obeyed God, and here on the eighth day, she's obeying the law of Moses.

So the law of Moses is still in effect at this point. At the cross of Christ, a lot of things change. But up until this point, sacrifices are still being offered. They need to make a sacrifice in the temple, and that happens here on the eighth day.

See the obedience of Mary and Joseph. Now something interesting happens. They're there just obeying God, offering a sacrifice when all of a sudden, verse 25 and following, 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. And he came in the Spirit into the temple 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 for the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. All we know about Simeon is that he's a very old man. We're not told his age, but we know from the context of what is said that he is very near to death.

He's so old that he's getting close to death's door. Yet the Holy Spirit had said that you will not die until you have seen the Lord's Christ. When Mary and Joseph come into the temple, they're carrying this baby to present to God, to offer a sacrifice in his place, to redeem him as their firstborn.

And Simeon takes the child in his arms and prophesies about him. Notice, Hebrews teaches us a body you have prepared for me. Jesus now in the flesh is the salvation of Israel and of the whole world. This body, this baby that he's holding is the sacrifice.

Yes, pigeons need to be offered for the time being, but 30 some years later, this baby will have grown up to die, to be a sacrifice that saves people from our sins. Simeon saw it, he prophesied it long before it happened.

He knew in his spirit because the Holy Spirit was confirming to him, this is the child. This is the one you've been waiting for. Micah said he'd be born in Bethlehem, here he is. Isaiah said he'd be born to a virgin, here she is.

Here's Mary and here's Joseph to whom she is betrothed. A descendant of David, a descendant of the king. Here is the Christ, here is the child he prophesies, but he doesn't only say happy things, does he?

Let's keep reading.

They're marveling in verse 33, the Savior is here, but 34, and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

You see, this is the Savior of the world, and he will cause the rising of many as faith is born in our hearts. We repent of our sin, we turn to the Savior, our sins are washed away and we spend eternity with him, but he is also that cornerstone.

Some build their lives upon the cornerstone, others, what? Stumble, and the rock that becomes the cornerstone for the church is a stumbling stone of offense to the rest of the world. He will divide the world.

God will divide the world through his Christ. This is what Simeon says, and Mary, a sword will pierce your heart. This path to forgiveness, this path to salvation must go through the Roman cross. He will be beaten, spit upon, a crown of thorns pressed down on his head, and Mary, you will see it.

Your eyes will see this firstborn son tortured and beaten and hung on a cross to die. A sword will pierce your heart. This is the prophecy that Simeon speaks. It's not all happy things, and by the way, that's one way you can know a true prophet.

Prophets who will only tickle ears and say good things all the time that you want to hear are likely not speaking from God. They're likely speaking to flatter us, to tell us what we want to hear, but this prophet says hard things, and the hardest thing you'll hear in the Bible is repent of your sin.

It's what we most need to hear. Repent of your sin. Turn away from that sin. Turn to the Savior. He will forgive, and he will abundantly pardon. It's a beautiful message, but it's hard to hear. Continuing on, we don't stop with this man alone, this old man.

Now we find an old woman as well, and like this old man, she will prophesy. Verse 36 and following. And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phineuel 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.

Now pause right there. Some translations, which I think I favor, read that it's been 84 years since her husband passed away, which would mean that she could be as old as 105, 110 years old. She's getting very up there in years.

This translation says until she was 84. That's possible as well. In either case, the text is drawing us to the point that she spent a lot of time without her husband. Her husband has passed away, gone to be with God hopefully, presumably, and she has been waiting on the consolation of Israel.

37, second part. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. Here again is a picture of obedience. We saw it in Joseph and Mary. They obey the law of the Lord.

We saw it with Simeon, who's there.

He heard a word from God.

He's been there waiting to see the consolation of Israel. Now you have this woman who's obedient to God, but not just a rote obedience, because see, there is a religious obedience that does not please God.

There is a kind of obedience where people think that they can be good enough. They know what God says is right and what God says is wrong, and you'll find some very moral people who choose the right and reject the wrong most of the time, at least in the eyes of the world.

And because they always do what's right and they don't do the things that they look down on and the people that they look down on, they feel good about themselves. They feel righteous. But it's a deceptive righteousness.

It's a self-righteousness. It's a religious righteousness. And the religions of the world promise you this righteousness, which is why religion has that tendency to puff up and become arrogant. But that's not Anna the prophetess.

Yes, she is devout. Yes, she is obedient. But I want you to see in verse 37 that her passion comes from the heart. Her obedience is something real, something based on relationship with God, because it says she worships.

Worship comes from the heart. It's in spirit and in truth. And she does it with fasting and prayer, night and day. See, she's in a secret place. She's in the temple at night when all of Israel is bustling and Jerusalem, this big city is bustling.

She's in the temple at night where it's dark and she's praying where only God sees her. She has zeal in her heart and she'll go days where she doesn't eat.

She fasts, why?

Because she wants to know God more. Let me give up food so I can focus my heart on God. This is a picture of zeal, of passion for God. It's not just a rote obedience to law, like I'm gonna be good enough so I'm better than other people and maybe God will accept me.

No, this is a heart to know God. This is a passionate woman. And when she sees Jesus come in, look at verse 38. 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.

She recognized him, didn't she? This morning is Christmas morning and you're sitting here, hopefully, because you recognize him. You're here on Christmas morning because you don't recognize him so much in the presents and the lights and the season.

You recognize him in the text. This is how we know him, the person, Jesus. She recognized him. So we've learned two things so far. And this is what I think is gonna speak to us going forward out of Christmas into a new year.

Number one, obedience, to obey God. Number two, to do it from the heart, with zeal. And finally, proclaiming. Notice, what does she do in verse 38? She speaks of him. Same thing Simeon did, right? When Simeon saw him, he took him in his arms and he spoke of him.

He spoke, he opened his mouth and proclaimed Jesus, savior, salvation to the world, light to the Gentiles. And a sword will pierce your heart. He preaches the cross. He preaches Christ. He opens his mouth.

That's the third thing. And the final thing. So going into the new year, three things to take with us. Let's be a people that truly obeys the word of God. And we do it with zeal, with passion from the heart.

And we do it with our mouths as well as our lives. Preaching Christ. Now there's one more story and you guys are probably familiar with this, but I think it's a beautiful picture to end with. It's not quite a Christmas story because it happens about 12 years later, but it's still the boy Jesus.

It's not yet his public ministry.

Let's just read it.

And we'll make a couple comments and be done. Verse 39, and when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.

His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group, they went a day's journey, and then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances. And when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him.

After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished.

And his mother said to him, son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you.

In great distress.

And he said to them, why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house? And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.

And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. In this final story, we see, I think, the same three things. Obedience, there was a custom, there was a tradition, that was a command in the law to go up for the festivals.

Of course, Mary and Joseph obeyed those commands. They would go to Jerusalem and they would do so joyfully. So much so they were in the moment, they just started going home without noticing Jesus wasn't with them.

But notice the passion of Jesus. When they went to the temple, he sat down with the leaders to talk to them. And that was the last they saw him. He did not disobey his parents. Catch this now. He was exactly where they left him.

They just assumed that after a certain number of hours, he would have come and slept with the group, the traveling party, and in the morning he would be with the group. He's 12 years old. In that culture, he's almost a man.

He's competent, they would assume. But he was exactly where they had left him. Sitting in the temple, talking to the teachers. Notice the passion of this Jesus. Not for one day or two days, but for three days.

I don't think he slept.

I think he stayed there hungry to talk about God's word. A passion for the word of God. And when they came back, he was still where they left him. And the text reminds us, if you see in verse 51, he was submissive to them.

He was obedient to them. This was not him rebelling against them. He was right where they left him. His zeal even surpassed that of Mary and Joseph. Notice another thing. Kids, pick up on this one. A 12-year-old boy, hungry to hear about God.

Hungry to ask questions, to listen. Kids, before you go to bed tonight, ask your parents some questions. Parents, you gotta be ready for that. That's why we gotta be in the word. When the kids ask you questions, ask about heaven.

Ask about Jesus. Ask about virgin birth and Nazareth and a light for the Gentiles. What do these things mean?

What does this story mean?

Who was Simeon again? Who was Anna? Let these things seep into your minds and ask questions and listen and think. That's how you grow in wisdom and favor with God. And parents, that keeps us on our toes when they do that.

You gotta be ready to answer. So let us be a people like this. Passionate for the word of God. Hungry, sitting, listening carefully to hear from God. So we're coming up on 2017. Do you guys do New Year's resolutions?

I do. I love the new year.

For me, something about the turning of the calendar means something to me. It always re-energizes me. It always refocuses me to say, what can I do better? And these are the three things that I'm taking and I hope you take them too.

In 2017, I want to obey the word of God. I want to be called an obedient child as my father sees me in heaven. I want to obey what's written in the text. But I don't wanna do it just out of ritual or religion.

I wanna do it from the heart. I wanna be zealous in 2017. I wanna be passionate about the word of God. When we study Luke, I want every chapter to be alive to me because I'm alive to it. Asking questions of the text, studying it.

I encourage you to do the same. Be passionate for the word of God in 2017. We're gonna go through Luke, hopefully for the first half of the year. And then Luke also writes the book of Acts. So I'd like to see us complete the second half of the year in the book of Acts.

If we could spend time walking with Jesus in the book of Luke and then seeing how the early church functioned in the book of Acts, that could be transformative for each of our lives and for us as a church.

2017 should be shaped by the word. But we have to be passionate for his word. We have to be willing to dig in each week, not just on Sundays. Let the sermon be a time where you hear from a different perspective, where you gain some new insight.

But you be in that chapter all week long. When we come back, we'll have a guest speaker because I'm out of town the first. But on the eighth, we'll be in Luke chapter three. Read it before then. Ask questions of the text.

Get ideas and begin to ask one another. Let's be talking about the text all year long. And finally, proclaiming. I would like for myself, I would like to proclaim Christ in the new year,.

Wherever I go.

Every person I meet at the gym or in ShopRite, I tell them about Jesus. Can that be a year for us, 2017, to tell people about Jesus Christ? Like Anna did. And think about this. Acts chapter two told us, when the Holy Spirit comes, he will give us power to be witnesses.

And when that happens in Acts chapter two, we're told from the book of Joel that your old men and your young men, male and female, young and old, shall prophesy. The Holy Spirit will fall on us so that we can speak.

That's what we saw in the text today. An old man, an old woman, and a young boy. Male, female, all speaking the same message. Let that be us in the new year. Preaching Christ everywhere we go, young and old.

All of us have a purpose. You know, what is his name? Sorry, I'm losing his name. Simeon. He was about to die, and yet he had a huge purpose yet to be served. Anna could do very little else but pray in her old age, but her prayers were powerful.

And she spoke very important words about Jesus. All of us have a huge purpose in the kingdom of God left to fulfill. However many days we have left, and we don't know how many of those are, let's let 2017 be devoted to Jesus Christ.

That's the Christmas message this morning. Let's pray, then we'll sing another one and we'll be done. So Father, thank you for this prophetic word that you've given us. I still marvel at it every day.

It has this peculiar glory that prophets could speak of Bethlehem 800 years before the Messiah was born there. That Isaiah could foretell a virgin birth and a light from Galilee and the government to be upon his shoulders, the root and shoot of David.

Prophets foretelling. Thank you for Simeon and Anna and the example of Jesus as a 12-year-old boy. We take these things to heart, Lord. Help us to obey in 2017. Help us to be passionate. Have zeal for your gospel and to preach your gospel in the new year.

Let your blessing fall upon this congregation. In Jesus' name, amen.