He Was Named Jesus

 Grandma took 10yo Jenny to see Christmas displays around the city. They stopped at one church to look at a beautiful nativity scene. Grandma said, "Isn't that beautiful! Jenny, look at Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, & all the animals!" Jenny replied, "It's really nice, Grandma. But... Baby Jesus is the same size as last year! Isn't He ever going to grow up?" Today's verses are only 8 days after His birth. So, He hasn't grown as yet. Joseph & Mary are staying in Bethlehem for her 40-day purification. (No sin; she's unclean ritually.) Lev 12 spells it out. Let's look at Luke 2:21-38. 21aIt's time to circumcise Jesus. Joseph has arranged for a local priest. 21aOn the 8th day, He came. When all are gathered, Mt 1:25 says Joseph 21bnamed Him Jesus, 21cthe name the angel told them. "I name Him Jeshua, Yahweh is Our Salvation." Joseph & Mary look at each other. Our baby is salvation! Were they overwhelmed? The Name of Names was given. The stone knife followed. With the blood of His circumcision came the sharp cry of God's Son. And Jesus is identified fully with God's covenant people. His people. 22aFinally, Mary's 40 days of purification are complete. 22bJoseph & Mary take Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Why? Obedience. 23Ex 13:1-2 says to consecrate every 1stborn male to the Lord. To keep Him, Nu 18:15-16 says they can redeem him with 5 shekels. Poor, they don't have 5 shekels. Jesus is the Lord's! How do we know they were poor? 24They offered a pair of birds as a sacrifice. In Lv 12, it's the offering of the poor. Meanwhile, they have a divine appointment. Simeon. 25aHe's righteous & devout. He's doing all that God's people are supposed to be doing. And 25bHe's waiting for Israel's consolation. In Isaiah Hebrew comfort often = be consoled. (E.g., Isa 40:1; 49:13; 51:3; & 57:18.) What consolation is Simeon waiting for? The Messiah. 25cThe Holy Spirit was upon him. Why point this out? In the OT, most people didn't get the Holy Spirit. But if someone did? The Holy Spirit talks to them! (He still does.) So 26The Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that He wouldn't die before he'd seen the Lord's Christ. The Holy Spirit often prompts Chris & I pray for each other, just when it's needed. Just so, the Spirit talks to all God's people. Shouldn't we be listening? Simeon was. 27aMoved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. On the right day. At just the right time. He does what He's supposed to. What a coincidence! (Right!) He's where He's supposed to be when God fulfills His promise. 27bMary & Joseph brought in baby Jesus to do for him what Law's custom required. (Redeeming Him.) They're still obedient. They too are doing all God's people are supposed to do. When he saw baby Jesus, 28aSimeon took Him in his arms. Mary & Joseph were too surprised to stop him! 28aHe began praising God. 29"Sovereign Lord, as you've promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. God promised. God keeps His promises. (Always!) 30My eyes have seen your salvation. To see Jesus is to see salvation. God is preparing Jesus 31in the sight of all people. Simeon knows what Isaiah foretold. Jesus will be 32aa light for revelation to the Gentiles. He'll reverse Israel's shame. She was supposed to be that light. But she failed. Jesus will do what Israel didn't. In doing so, He'll bring 32bglory to Israel." As he speaks, 33Mary & Joseph marvel at what he's saying. Wouldn't every parent? 34aThen Simeon blessed them. He then spoke to Mary alone. "This child is destined to cause the falling & rising of many in Israel. How? Our response to Jesus seals our eternal future. Reject Him? Fall for eternity. Accept Him? Rise for eternity. God will raise Him up in plain sight. He'll grow up in front of everyone. He'll be lifted up on the cross in front of everyone. He's so familiar people think they know where He came from. No one recognizes Him. That's why 34bHe'll be a sign that's spoken against. His own people will reject Him. By rejecting Him, 35athe heart-thoughts of many will be revealed. Their fate, sealed. Still speaking to Mary alone, Simeon adds. 35bA sword will pierce your own soul too." Your is singular. She alone will feel the hurt. Joseph isn't in that picture. He won't live long enough to see it. The sword? Mary will have to see the nation's disbelief. Her own disbelief. Most painful, she'll have to watch Him suffer & die. Shamefully. On a cross. What the Spirit tells Simeon, he shares with Mary. Does she understand now? No more than he does. But she will. Simeon wasn't the only one doing what he was supposed to. 36aThere was also a prophetess, Anna. She was very old, widowed after 7 years of marriage. She 37was now 84. She never left the temple but worshiped night & day, fasting & praying. She too is doing all that God's people are supposed to. We aren't all called to eat & sleep at church. But we are all called to worship God in all we do. She's faithful & obedient. She, too, has the Spirit. And the Spirit guides her to the right place in the temple. At exactly the right time. She too is where she's supposed to be, doing what she's supposed to be doing. And she too gets to see Jesus. 38aComing up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God. After seeing Him, she 38bspoke about the Child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. She & Simeon aren't alone. Others are also waiting for the Messiah. So, Anna tells them. Exactly what God's people are supposed to do! See the pattern? Mary, Joseph, Simeon, & Anna all keep doing everything God's people are supposed to keep doing. All the Lord gives them to do. And God gives each one a part in His plan for salvation. Simeon & Anna get to see the Christ Child. They see God's salvation. Mary & Joseph find their role as parents to the Messiah. They not only get to see God's salvation. They get to name Him & raise Him. All because they keep on doing everything God's people are supposed to be doing. They're honoring God. And, God honors those who honor Him. Too many of us miss God's promises. Why? We let what we're going through to distract us. We get side-tracked. We listen to our pain & chaos. We take our eyes off Jesus & forget to listen to the Holy Spirit. Father help us learn to let pain bring us to You. Teach us to allow our pain to focus our eyes & ears on You. Don't let it keep us from seeing You & hearing You. Instead, let it train our eyes & ears. Help us lean into You, not our pain. Help us hear you, & then give us the will to obey You. 39When they'd done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. There, they kept on waiting for God to further reveal His plan. As they waited, they keep doing all that God's people are supposed to do. Why was naming Him so important? It almost didn't happen. Mt 1:19-21, when Mary's pregnancy by the Holy Spirit was found out, Joseph thought to divorce her quietly. An angel set him straight. "Joseph, don't fear to take Mary as wife. What's conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She'll give birth to a son. Name Him Jesus, because He'll save his people from their sins." In Lk 1:31, Gabriel had already directed Mary. "You'll give birth to a son. Name Him Jesus." Angels told both Mary & Joseph to name Him Jesus. Why is the name so important? Its meaning, Yahweh is Salvation is important. But Jeshua is Joshua! Same as the leader after Moses. The military leader who delivered Israel from 40 years of wandering. Joshua led her into the Promised Land. Jeshua is more than Yahweh is Our Salvation. "Joshua" also hints at deliverance. Deliverance from sin at a heroic cost. Being led into our Promised Land. Jesus, Jeshua, is a claim & a promise. It's a claim to divinity & a promise of salvation. There's a 2nd reason naming Him was so important. Jesus is in David's line through Mary. But heirs are reckoned through the father's line. Not the mother's. The problem: Joseph isn't Jesus' father. But Joseph names Jesus & thereby adopts Him. Once adopted, He's in David's line through His Father. Eligible to be the Messiah, a legal heir to David's throne. The wait of millennia is over. The Messiah has come! All because He was named Jesus. He Was Named Jesus - Luke 2:21-38 Page 1 of 1