“The Righteous Remnant”
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:08:09
0 ratings
· 9 viewsFiles
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning, if you have your Bibles turn with me to Luke chapter 2 and we will begin in verse 21. Luke chapter 2. As you are making your way there, I hope that you will make it a priority to be with us on Wednesday evening as we take time to remember what Christ did for us on the Cross. We will eat a meal together beginning at 6:00 and then take time to focus our hearts on the Lord. I also want to encourage you to be with us next weekend and invite your lost friends and we celebrate the Risen Savior. What a wonderful and exciting day Easter Sunday is. Every Sunday is important, but I get really pumped up for this special Sunday, so I hope that you will plan now to be with us. We have 2 service times next Sunday. Our first service will be at 9:00 and the second service will be at 10:30. We hope to see you there. Stand with me as we read the Word of God.
21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
22 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 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
You may be seated.
When it comes to the court of law and basic legal rules and regulations there is an extreme importance of having a person’s testimony confirmed by many witnesses and even credible witnesses. I heard about a famous trial that is coming up where the defense team will bring over 400 witnesses to the stand. That is a ton of people who the defense team seem to think can bring evidence to prove the defendant innocent.
In the Old Testament Laws Deuteronomy tells us that having just one witness was not enough.
15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.
As we begin this Gospel, the author Luke testifies that Jesus was born as the Son of God, and Jesus was the Messiah that Israel had been waiting for. Jesus would also grow up and become the Redeemer, who would save His people from their sins. But, it was important that there were some credible witnesses to testify to this. Luke has already shown us that there was a small righteous remnant like Zechariah and Elizabeth and even Joseph and Mary and the shepherds who have announced the birth of Christ. However we now see a few more witnesses to testify to Christ’s true identity and mission.
The first people to give witness about Christ were His very own parents. The other two as we will look at were Simeon and Anna. We know that Joseph was a righteous man as we see from the Gospel of Matthew.
19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
And Mary’s righteousness is very clear to us by what she said back in Luke chapter 1.
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
We see here that Luke confirms that Mary and Joseph were righteous as they were obedient to the Law of God. And so, obedience is the mark of true love for God.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
There are 4 important truths that I want us to see today from our short text.
1. The Importance of Christ’s circumcision.
1. The Importance of Christ’s circumcision.
21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Eight days after Jesus was born His parents bring Him to the temple to be circumcised. Besides the health benefits for this and the sign of the Abrahamic covenant that circumcision was the mark of Israel’s national identity. Circumcision was also an object lesson to show us the need for spiritual cleansing from sin. But, Jesus did not need a cleansing from sin, Jesus did not need a new heart, so why in the world would He need to be circumcised???
The answer is that as Christ came into the world He came in order to remove the sins of His people. Our guilt rested on Christ, and it was your sin and my sin that needed to be removed. The first Adam was to keep the law but failed to do so. The next Adam in Christ came into the world to bear the law’s curse so that Jesus could deliver us from it. We know that Jesus came to fulfill the law. Paul tells us in Galatians that Jesus was born under the law.
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
The Lord’s circumcision served to fulfill all righteousness, and Christ alone kept God’s law perfectly as He lived His life. So, because Christ did this, His righteousness was credited to believers.
2. The Importance of the Name Jesus.
2. The Importance of the Name Jesus.
21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Again we see the righteousness of Mary and Joseph as they obey the angel’s instruction from Luke chapter 1 to name the baby Jesus. This really was an act of the obedience of faith. Here is how Paul puts it in Romans chapter 1.
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
The name of the baby was so important that they are both told to name the child Jesus. They are both told independently what the baby’s name was to be and that was Jesus. In Matthew chapter 1 we see the reason for the name.
21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
And here in Luke chapter 2 verse 21 we se the young couple completing their obedience to God by naming the baby Jesus. The name Jesus was a reminder of their following the Lord and their obedience, but it was also a reminder that Christ came to save those who were lost.
Do you know what is behind the name of Jesus? The word Jesus simply means Savior. It is the same word as Joshua in the Old Testament. After Israel’s first leader Moses passed away, Joshua took over and led his people into the Promise Land. In the Old Testament the name Joshua was synonomous with victory and conquest as God helped Joshua and His people subdue their enemies and claim their promised land. All the promises that the Lord made to Israel were fulfilled and because of this we as God’s people can live in victory. We can trust God today because victory comes from Him and through Him.
The choice of this name was not just by chance, but by the very will and decree of the Father. In fact, the name Jesus is very striking and instructive. As Jesus stepped down from heaven and came to this earth, He was not just the Savior, but also the King, Lawgiver, Prophet, Priest, and Judge of fallen man. But, behind all of these names we also see the Lord’s mercy, grace, help, and deliverance from this sinful world. Church, Jesus is truly our deliver and redeemer. As we prepare for Easter Sunday and stop to remember what Christ has done for us on the cross, may you ask yourself do I know about the Son of God? Is Jesus my Savior? This is the main question on which salvation hangs. My prayer is that you wouldn’t just know about Jesus, but that you would truly experience Jesus as your deliverer from guilt and the power of sin, so that you can be set free from Satan’s bondage.
3. The Importance of Purification.
3. The Importance of Purification.
22 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
Mary and Joseph showed their righteousness by obeying the very words of God. As the Scriptures were revealed to them they believed. Verses 21-24 are rooted in the Mosaic Law and help us to see the instructions for purity after the birth of a child.
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. 3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.
6 “And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, 7 and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. 8 And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”
After giving birth to a son, Mary waited 40 days before her purification was finished and her and Joseph could come to the temple and worship. What we see here is that this couple faithfully followed the Law. After this time Mary and Jospeh bring Jesus up to Jerusalem to have Him circumcised and to present Him to God. They were not presenting Jesus for priestly service, but they were dedicating His life to God. Mary and Jospeh obeyed God in doing this. Again, although Mary and Joseph were sinners and far from perfect, this shows us that Jesus had righteous parents.
I want to stop here for just a quick moment and speak to parents. Parents you have a tremendous influence on your children. More so than the schools, friends, and other influences that they may have. What our children see as faith, is often shaped by our faith and our love for God. Of course the opposite side to this coin is true as well. Our children also see all of our faults and hypocrisies. But please here me today. This is why believing, righteous, obedient parents are a tremendous blessing to their child. This is not always easy especially when we have to discipline our children or speak the truth in love to them. However, our obedience creates a context for our growing children to see the need for his or her own obedience to God.
So, Mom or Dad are you spending time in God’s Word? Are you obeying God’s Word? Do you know that you have children who are watching you and observing you? Our children will learn about God as they watch us, so make sure to have a love for God and a love for His Word.
4. The Importance of Presenting Jesus.
4. The Importance of Presenting Jesus.
22 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 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
There are two things that stand out to us about the righteousness and obedience of Mary and Joseph as they present Jesus to the Lord. In fact, these two things would be costly.
1. The first thing that stands out to us is that as Jewish parents brought their first born child to the temple there would be a redemption price that would be paid for the child. Jesus being His mother’s first born son and not belonging to the tribe of Levi, but from Judah, Jesus would be exempt from the temple service by His parents paying five shekels of silver.
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”
47 you shall take five shekels per head; you shall take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs),
Commentator William Hendrickson says, “On this 40th day the Redeemer was himself redeemed.” Not in the sense that Jesus was sinful and had to be redeemed but that His mother and father paid a redemption fee for Jesus because He was their firstborn son. The underlying idea behind this redemption ritual was that on the night of deliverance from Egypt all the firstborn of the Egyptians were killed. On this night God spared all the first born of the Hebrew people as they placed blood over their doorposts and the angel of the Lord spared their lives. However from this point on God accepted the firstborn of the tribe of Levi for service at the temple and the other tribes paid 5 shekels as an offering for their firstborn sons.
Jesus too was born under the sentence of death, because He was born under the law. We know of course that Jesus did not have any guilt or sin but he took it upon himself to bear the sin of the world. Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for many and today we are forever grateful that He has done this.
2. The second thing in connection with this redemption fee is that Mary and Joseph also brought the purification sacrifice. According to Old Testament Law the couple were to bring a year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin-offering. If they could not afford the lamb they could take two turtledoves and two pigeons one for a burnt-offering and the other for a sin-offering.
My point in explaining all of this to us today is to help us see how Jospeh and Mary’s obedience to the Law shines brightly in this narrative of the birth of Christ. Today we have seen the obedience of godly parents. All of this shows us, that their right living confirms and validates the testimony that Jesus is the Son of God.
(Pray and Lead into Communion)