The Consolation Of Israel

Well good morning beloved. If you can please open your

Bibles to Luke chapter 2. I'll be examining this morning verses 22 to 40.

When you do have that please do stand for the reading of God's word. Again Luke chapter 2 starting in verse 22.

Hear ye this morning the word of the Lord. When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the

Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the

Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and there was a man and this man was righteous and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel and the

Holy Spirit was upon him. 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. 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. You're prepared in the presence for all peoples a light for revelation to the

Gentiles and for glory to 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 rising of many in Israel 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.

And there was a prophetess Anna the daughter of Pheniel of the tribe of Asher and she was advanced in years having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin and then as a widow until she was 84.

She did not depart from the temple worshiping with and 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.

When they 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. May God bless reading his word you may be seated.

Sovereign Lord we do come before you thankful for the appointed times and seasons in which we have received in which you have placed us in.

Lord we thank you that we receive even now this morning in your word a beautiful vision of redemptive history being worked out by the consolation that came through Jesus Christ.

That in the visitation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ you've appointed for the fall and for the salvation of many.

That in Jesus Christ you have given us a rock of offense a rock of ages in which we must now confront in which we must now decide whether we shall build our lives or whether we shall be brought to pieces because of this great rock this great rock of ages that you've appointed even for us today even this morning.

We pray Lord that you'd give us your grace your peace and your power to receive the consolation which was promised in times past and receive it with joy and thanksgiving in Jesus name amen.

Well brothers and sisters as we continue on in the series in the gospel of Luke we're now at a very interesting point in the narrative of Christ's life still.

We are not in his earthly in the beginning of his earthly ministry in terms of the appointment that came through John the

Baptist as he was baptized. This is a unique account amongst the gospel narratives. Most of the gospels often begin either with the the narrative of his birth and then jumps right into his ministry with John the

Baptist but here we receive some insight in Luke's gospel. Remember who Luke is.

This is a man who is a scholar who's a historian who's a physician who has taken his time to hear various viewpoints various narratives of the life of Jesus and he's compiling it and as he's compiling it he's bringing together some data points that we just frankly don't see in the other gospels and as he's bringing us this narrative of the early life of Jesus he gives us insight as to what it looked like when he was presented at the temple.

Now this is a big deal. Today we don't live by temple worship but in the old testament and the beginning of the new testament temple worship was still very much the center and citadel of true worship and so according to the customs according to the tradition that had been passed down in holy scripture when a child a male child was born a firstborn son that child was brought forth to the temple to be dedicated.

Now interestingly enough this is where many modern evangelicals and even some brothers and sisters who baptize infants get some of their ammunition for child dedication or for child baptism.

They see a custom a tradition that was in the old covenant and they say well certainly we need to have an equivalent today in the new testament church.

Now that is in itself kind of a fallacy we don't have to necessarily come up with an alternative to something that's in the old covenant just for the sake of doing so but interestingly enough we do have here a case in which

Christ of course is brought to the temple and it says in verse 22 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. So when a woman gave birth at that moment according to the old covenant she was considered ceremonially unclean because she had just delivered and she was still in a time of uncleanliness and purification therefore she had to be brought to the temple for purification the child alongside her also and it says in verse 23 as it is written the law of the

Lord every male who first opens the womb should 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. And so here we want if you're following along today's notes

Mary brought the child to Jerusalem just so you know last week I didn't give you notes this week I'm giving you lots of notes.

So Mary brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and for her purification according to the law.

Now again I want to I want to emphasize a difference here between presenting a child and baptizing a child.