The Consolation of Israel - Part 1
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Introduction
Introduction
I was recently reading about the beginnings of evangelicalism. It started way back in the 1700s with the Great Awakening and then soared to prominence in the 1800s with the Second Great Awakening. But one of the major tenants of evangelicalism was the individual experience that comes with faith. Rather than being catechized into the church and developing one’s faith over time, there was a moment of salvation and an individuality to faith. I think in one sense this was a good thing, a shift in the right direction. But, as often is the case, it went too far, leading to an individualized faith in which churches and communities of faith became less and less important. Doctrine and theology came second to personal ideas about the Bible. The historic creeds and confessions were thrown away and the idea of “no creed but the Bible” replaced them. Rather than the eager expectation of Christ’s return for his Bride—the Church at large, there was the eager expectation of Christ’s return for me.
This morning, we get two see two people who got to see Jesus as a little baby. That’s the first and only time they would see him, but it was enough. And while we won’t be able to get to it this morning, I want us to notice who it was in which they both were waiting.
As we look at this morning’s passage, we see two depictions set before us. I want to deal with a third, which is the real crux of the text, but I will have to wait until next week for that one. So if you’re taking notes in the notebook we handed out at the beginning of Luke, just know that we will be in this text for two weeks instead of just one. Write accordingly. What we’ll be looking at this morning are my first two points; the first being the depiction Luke gives us of the parents and then move onto the depiction of the patient.
Depiction of the Parents
Depiction of the Patient
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.
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 is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, 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.
And 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 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, 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.”
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 eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping 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.
Depiction of the Parents
Depiction of the Parents
Quickly I want to make sure that we see how Luke depicts the parents in this passage. First we see that Mary and Joseph are faithful.
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.
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”)
One may think that the parents of the Savior of the World might be tempted to think that they had their meal-ticket! No more worries for those two! They could do whatever they wanted. The Son of God has their backs. But not Joseph and Mary. These two were faithful to God and his law. Back in Genesis 17 and again in Leviticus 12, the people of Abraham were told to circumcise their sons on the eighth day. It had become custom to also name their child on the eighth day as well. So when the eighth day came, Joseph and Mary had Jesus circumcised and then named him as the angel had commanded. In both respects, they had been faithful. Faithful to the Abrahamic covenant and faithful to Gabriel who proclaimed his name.
But even more so, we see that even though Mary had given birth to the Son of the Most High. She had given birth to the one who was holy and pure, she herself was not clean. So forty days after Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary went to the temple to offer the purification sacrifice as required by the Law of God. These two were not trying to skirt the law. They weren’t trying to skate on by because of who they knew. Here were two people, whose homeland was known for its dreadfulness, doing as the Lord commanded.
Church family, much like Mary had nothing to do with God’s favor being placed upon her and so placing the Christ-child in her womb, so we had nothing to do with God’s grace upon us and placing his Holy Spirit within us. We have been unconditionally elected and yet justified by faith alone. But like Mary who now carried the Savior of the world in her arms, so we, once Christ is ours, are still to walk in obedience to God’s Word. As James would say, “Faith without works is dead.” And as Paul would tell Timothy,
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Yet at the same time, without the work of the Holy Spirit, then all our efforts are in vain. We do not put ourselves into God’s gracious gaze by our obedience. But it is because we are in that gaze by grace that we can and ought to obey.
But we also see that Luke depicts them as poor.
and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
The purification ceremony also included a sin offering. One lamb for purification and one turtledove or pigeon for the sin offering. If one could not afford the lamb, they would bring an extra turtledove or pigeon, thus making a purification by one bird and the sin offering by the other. Clearly Luke intimates that the young family could not afford a lamb and brought the two turtle doves instead.
Brother’s and sisters, it’s popular today for ministers and churches and people to say and believe that God does not want his people to go about poor, but we cannot dismiss that the very Son of God was born into a poor family, nor that as an adult Jesus stated he himself had no home, no place to lay his head. Wealth or lack of it has nothing to do with how God perceives you. Struggling financially does not necessarily mean God’s judgment, and prospering financially does not necessarily mean God’s blessing. So whether rich or poor, let us continue to live faithfully to the Word of God by the power of the Spirit of God.
Depiction of the Patient
Depiction of the Patient
We’ve seen the depiction of the parents, but lets also quickly look at the depiction of the patient. Here I mean Simeon and Anna. I call them patient because that’s what they were. Both are said to be waiting.
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 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.
We aren’t told how old Simeon was. Most believe he was an old man when he saw Jesus. I think that’s probably right. There is that sense of long-awaited expectation to receive the Messiah to himself as we read this account. But Simeon is said to be righteous and devout. He is said to have the Holy Spirit upon him. In fact, Luke makes it a point not just to say that he has the Holy Spirit upon him, but in verse 26, we read
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.
So he was given a word from the Holy Spirit. So he has the Holy Spirit upon him and the Holy Spirit spoke to him. But wait! There’s more!
Luke 2:27 (ESV)
And he came in the Spirit into the temple. . .
So he has the Spirit upon him, he is given a revelation by the Holy Spirit, and he is led into the temple in the Holy Spirit! Luke really wanted Theophilus to pick up on who this Simeon was. He wasn’t some crack-pot. This was a righteous and devout man whom the Holy Spirit visited, spoke, and led.
Beloved, I have heard from so many of you the desire to have some type of experience like this very thing. You want the Holy Spirit to speak to you and lead you. But the reality is, if you are a believer, he can and he will. This is the job of the Holy Spirit!
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
In this one verse, we see that the Holy Spirit who is in you (due to your faith in Christ Jesus) will both guide and speak to you all truth. In an effort to distance ourselves from those who claim “new knowledge” that “God revealed to me” some extra-biblical, anti-Scriptural non-sense, we have shifted the pendulum so far over that we have grieved and even quenched the Holy Spirit and deprived him of two of his main duties! To guide us and speak to us God’s Word. Again, not in extra-biblical terms, but in real understanding and real guidance. After all,
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
I certainly don’t have time to expound this text in full, but I do want you to see something significant. We typically use verse 19 to state how we can’t even imagine what God has in store for us. But that is exactly opposite of what Paul wrote! His quoting that verse is about the rulers of the age. Verse 20 tells us that God revealed these things to us by his Spirit! The whole text is about the power of the Spirit to teach, speak, guide us into understanding. If you want to be guided by the Spirit and hear and learn from the Spirit then you need to get out of your own way. Stop denying the power of the Spirit and start praying for it instead. It is the natural person who does not accept the things of the Spirit, not the spiritual person.
That’s Simeon: a righteous, devout man who has the Spirit upon him, guiding him, and speaking to him. But then there is Anna. Anna is an older woman. Depending on what translation you’re reading, depends on how old you might think her to be. The Greek can be taken in two different ways. She is either 84 years old, or over 100 years old. The question is: did Luke mean to say that she was a widow for 84 years or was she a widow until she was 84 years old? The Greek could be taken either way.
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 eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping 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.
The main thing about the passage is in verse 37. She did not depart from the temple. In other words, one could not keep her from going to the temple everyday. It doesn’t mean she camped out at the temple. No one could keep her away. Nothing could keep her from her worship, not even its location. You see we mustn’t forget that the temple was located on Mt. Zion. Hence, verse 38 states she was coming up at the very hour. She was literally going uphill. In the Psalms you will see some titles being given that you’re reading a Psalm of ascent because those were Psalms that would be read as people would go to the temple on holy days. They were ascending to the temple. Nothing could keep her from her worship. Even at an older age, she fasted and prayed night and day.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not calling on our beloved older people to mimic Anna and shame you if you’re not. I think Luke put her in here because she is extraordinary. She was not just going to temple and worshipping with fasting and prayer because it was the thing to do or because she had nothing better to do. She did it because of her expectation. She was waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. In other words, she was expectantly waiting for the Messiah. As was Simeon. So they both went to the temple with great expectations, day in and day out, patiently hoping and waiting to see him. I asked you earlier to notice who it was for which Simeon and Anna were waiting. Did you catch it? The consolation of Israel—the counselor, the mediator, the comforter, the advocate, the paraklete of God’s people. Not just the consolation of Simeon, but of Israel of all God’s people. The redemption of Jerusalem—the one who ransoms those in captivity, the one who releases us from bondage, the one who redeems back a people for his own. Would Simeon and Anna be part of that? Certainly! But their expectation was not just for themselves, but for all the people of God! They waited not only for their own salvation, but for the salvation of all God’s people.
Beloved, waiting his hard. The longer we wait, it seems the more hopeless we become. The more time that elapses, the more discouraged our hearts are. The more we are called to be patient, the more impatience we seem to get. To the point we ask, “what’s the point,” and cease pursuing and lessen our expectant worship.
The problems in the world: war in Ukraine, terrorism, inflation, gas prices, murders, assassinations, what seems like mass insanity can lead us into despair. And it’s so hard to worship in the state of despair. The problems in denominations. The United Methodist Church is splitting. Predictions by some doomsayers of the SBC imploding. And problems within the PCA and RCA. All this in-fighting can cause us to wonder what’s going on. It can cause us to be disillusioned with church and worship. Even within the church itself. Strife among members or misunderstandings or poorly spoken words; who among us have not in some way been hurt by someone else within the church setting? I have been hurt badly and I know I have hurt others badly though inadvertently. And that pain can drive us away from singing and praying and hearing the Word proclaimed.
Brothers and sisters, we come not to worship the world. We come not to worship our denomination. We don’t come to give praise to our fellow Christians. Our hope is not in any of them. Our hope is in the Consolation of Israel. Our hope is in the Redemption of Jerusalem. Our hope is in Jesus! Again, I’m not saying we need to mimic Anna in her fasting and prayers, but certainly in her hopeful, patient expectation. Rather than losing heart, lessening our expectant worship, we need to pray for strengthened worship knowing the temptation to forsake it is real. We need to pray that the Spirit would lead us to strive for the bond of peace that comes only from the Holy Spirit. I think that’s why the writer of Hebrews encouraged his readers when he said
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Conclusion
Conclusion
I wanted to get into the depiction of Jesus this morning, but am unable to do so. We’ll have to save that for next week. But as I conclude this sermon this morning, we’ve seen two depictions: the depiction of Jesus’s parents and the depiction of those who patiently waited for the Messiah.
If you are a believer, understand that Jesus does not give you a free pass to live however you want. Jesus saved us from the wrath of God and has justified us by his death, burial, and resurrection. But that is not a free pass for you or me any more than it was for Mary and Joseph. Jesus’s salvation not only frees us from God’s wrath, but it frees us to obey the Father in faith! “If you love me,” Jesus said, “you will keep my commandments.” Paul wrote that he was an apostle appointed to bring about the obedience of faith.
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
What are the greatest commands that we can, by the power of the Spirit now obey? To love God with all or heart, mind, and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves.
If you are not a believer in the Son of God, you have not put your faith in him, understand that just like Romans 8:7 says, at this moment whether you realize it or not, whether its active or passive, you are hostile to this God we worship. You cannot obey his law and so are destined for eternal judgment. But you can have the hope and expectations of Simeon and Anna if you put your trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He lived and died and rose from the dead to bring many sons and daughters to glory. You can be one of those in glory and I’d love to talk with you more. My number is 636-212-0699. Text me, call me, stop by after service or sometime during the week to see me.