Luke 2:21-35

Transcript

00:00:00:45 – 00:00:32:12
Clint Loveall
Hey, everybody. Thanks for being with us again. As we move through the week, Wednesday, and as we move through the Gospel of Luke into the second chapter, have kind of finished up Christmas story. We could just the last part of that today and then a story that really only Luke gives for us that offers an insight into not only the early part of Jesus life, but some of the reason Luke tells it as well.

00:00:32:13 – 00:00:57:05
Clint Loveall
So just a quick recap. Yesterday we saw the shepherds find the manger. Today we kind of move on to normal life, or at least the things that would have been normal for a family in Mary and Joseph shoes. But as you can imagine, when your son is Jesus, things that would likely be normal turn out not to be.

00:00:57:14 – 00:01:21:41
Clint Loveall
And so there’s an instance of that today. I’ll just read a verse here and then we’ll continue through some other stuff. But we start with verse 21 after eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. So if you know a little history, this is typical.

00:01:22:04 – 00:01:46:39
Clint Loveall
On the eighth day a son is circumcised and named. This would have likely been at a synagogue, possibly the temple in Jerusalem. At least that’s kind of the way the story is told in the next part of the story anyway, which does happen later. So it’s not exactly clear that Luke has Jerusalem in mind. Maybe others are more aware of that.

00:01:47:16 – 00:02:20:51
Clint Loveall
Just a quick reminder, this is probably something you’ve heard before. The name Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means God saves. And so not an uncommon name in Jesus day. There are there are many children named this. They would have typically been called Joshua or Yeshua, probably by their family members. But in the Greek translation of that, it gets translated and sort of recap just as the Greek form of the name Jesus.

00:02:20:51 – 00:02:35:09
Clint Loveall
And that’s how essentially everybody has come to know it. Though interestingly enough, if you called Jesus, Jesus, I mean they would have recognized it, but it’s probably not. What is his family called him?

00:02:35:36 – 00:03:08:07
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, that is a helpful reminder that the things that we often take for granted as the Sunday school lessons often have more to them than what we figure. And that I don’t have a lot to add other than just looking here at first. 21 note that there a kind of tone of moving the story forward, that idea of after eight days, this is setting up what is going to be a story about doing the right thing for the right reasons, and then finding out that there’s more there than what you intended, sort of that allusion that Clint has already made.

00:03:08:29 – 00:03:33:39
Michael Gewecke
I would just point out here the idea that the name was already given by the angel before he was conceived. This emphasizes the idea that this has all been God’s idea, says all God’s acting on behalf of and in the midst of this young family for the state of the whole world, this is very clearly moving the story on so quickly from what we’ve already seen, a very, very short birth story.

00:03:33:54 – 00:03:45:01
Michael Gewecke
And now we quickly are just reminded, hey, remember that this name isn’t new, it’s not made up. These parents aren’t taking charge that God’s still leading this effort even now after the birth itself.

00:03:45:43 – 00:04:13:55
Clint Loveall
Yeah. And, you know, again, some kind of typical things that would have happened. The next thing that would have happened is Mary would have had a time following given birth giving birth where she was considered ceremonially unclean, or at least at the end of that period would have needed to to make this purification rites, these things that were expected of women who had delivered babies.

00:04:14:20 – 00:04:39:21
Clint Loveall
And I think, Michael, maybe you can check for us. I believe that is we’re in the range of 30 days. Does that sound right? I should have looked that up beforehand. Maybe we can find that. But let me read this for you and we’ll come back to some of those details. When the time came for the purification rates, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.

00:04:39:21 – 00:05:02:07
Clint Loveall
As it is written in the law, the law of the Lord, every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord. And they offered a sacrifice, according to what is stated 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. This man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the constellation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.

00:05:02:42 – 00:05:38:52
Clint Loveall
It had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was a custom for the law, Simeon took him in his arms. He praised God and he said, Master, you now dismiss your servant in peace according to your word, for my eyes of senior salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory to your people.

00:05:38:52 – 00:06:12:57
Clint Loveall
Israel. So here we have an interesting scene. We get the impression by their actions, Mary and Joseph are devout. We’ll see this again in an in another. In the story that follows, there’s two stories here and then in the following story, Jesus as a boy, we’ll get another impression of that. But we have every reason to believe that they did what was required as law following Jewish people, that they obeyed those customs.

00:06:13:15 – 00:06:45:18
Clint Loveall
And so they make their way to the temple and they offer a sacrifice for these purification rites. Very interestingly, this sacrifice that Luke points out, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons, there are a variety of options for the sacrifice based on your income. And Mary and Joseph. This this sacrifice that is listed would be at the bottom, essentially a provision for those who didn’t have much.

00:06:45:18 – 00:07:18:09
Clint Loveall
Maybe even who were considered poor now. And it’s possible that at the beginning of their relationship, you know, those kind of things. It’s also possible that Luke wants to highlight, again, anything that reinforces the idea that Jesus resonates with people who are on hard times and who have faced hard times. But unlike Matthew, where we have those extravagant gifts here, we have the the first family, the royal family actually giving a sacrifice.

00:07:18:23 – 00:07:21:59
Clint Loveall
That is a provision for those who don’t have many resources.

00:07:22:13 – 00:07:57:03
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, I think that’s one of the amazing Luke in perspective is that the text gives and are quickly to fill in the point that you made earlier. Clint So it is 30 days of period of cleanliness if the child is a male, right? And it is 66 if the child’s a female. So anyways, but moving on from that, I do think it’s just worth noting here that Luke anticipates and expects a kind of awareness of the Old Testament and its stories.

00:07:57:25 – 00:08:21:41
Michael Gewecke
This idea here that Jesus as being dedicated is very much calling our attention towards the stories of the Old Testament, like Hannah and First Samuel, when the Lord gives a child and then she dedicates that child to the Lord. There are many of those stories that happened in the course of the people of Israel. So here it is fitting, it is appropriate.

00:08:21:41 – 00:08:54:45
Michael Gewecke
It is very much in line with connecting to that ancient story that the family would do this year. Luke is doing more than one thing here. Let’s be clear about that. On one hand, this is a telling of the family doing what they should do as faithful, God fearing Jews. So it’s a telling of what happened. It is also spiritually a sign and symbol connecting Jesus’s story to the long history of God, providing the people of Israel responding with Thanksgiving to that story.

00:08:54:45 – 00:09:28:40
Michael Gewecke
And then add on top of that the other layer that Clint just mentioned. I think such a helpful addition to the story that when they come to offer a sacrifice, it’s not the sacrifice that the rich, powerful or ruling class would have access to, but rather the provision that’s been made for the poor. And so even here, Jesus being born in a manger, if that wasn’t enough, being born with the animals in the city where David, the animal keeper, was calling his hometown in that city, the city of David.

00:09:28:57 – 00:09:41:33
Michael Gewecke
Here now we have another scene where Jesus is again humbled. He is again shown to be with the small and the powerless and the weak. And Luke is clearly not showing us this on accident.

00:09:41:58 – 00:10:05:15
Clint Loveall
Right. And then you contrast that with this next story, which is unique to Luke. Only Luke tells us about this this incident. There’s a man named Simeon. He’s righteous, devout, looking forward to the consolation. In other words, the coming of the Messiah and the Holy Spirit rested on him. And this is very interesting. The Gospel. Luke Check me on this, Michael.

00:10:05:15 – 00:10:30:30
Clint Loveall
But I think in the other gospels we get mention, of course, of the spirit. But already Luke, who is the same author of the Book of Acts, which is just entirely filled with Holy Spirit language, just in these few verses we have about three or four mentions of Holy Spirit rested on him. Holy Spirit revealed to him. Holy Spirit led him to the Temple.

00:10:31:12 – 00:11:02:20
Clint Loveall
There is a there is an activity already that Luke claims for the Holy Spirit that I think stands out among the Gospels. It’s not that it’s unheard of in the other gospels. It is just not nearly this pronounced. And we see it multiple times in this story and this this man. We get the impression that he’s older, that he is, you know, at the point where he would be considered elderly and God has revealed to him that he will not die until he sees the coming of the Messiah.

00:11:02:20 – 00:11:37:35
Clint Loveall
And instantly when he sees the child, he recognizes that that is in fact who he is. He sees something that the revelation language is important here. It is revealed to him, shown to him, and he takes the child and he praises him. This is the fourth of these songs we’ve been telling you about. We saw Mary’s Zacharias a short psalm by the Shepherds, and now we get Simeon’s Song again, praising what God has done and fascinating but not surprising in the Gospel of Luke.

00:11:38:02 – 00:12:12:46
Clint Loveall
Here already at the very front end of the story, a light for Revelation to the Gentiles, a stunning prophecy that Jesus will be a light of sharing, a light of knowledge, a light of revelation to the Gentiles. And and if you if you know much about the gospel story, you do not expect to see this word Gentiles. Yet that is out that is in that’s a very Luke thing to do.

00:12:13:33 – 00:12:37:12
Michael Gewecke
Let’s point out a few of these details, too. I think the contrast that we find here is just stark, because Simeon is called a righteous and devout man. He’s looking forward to the constellation of Israel. This is all language to tell us that he is a practicing, faithful, faith filled Jew. He is a person of Israel. He’s in the temple.

00:12:37:24 – 00:12:59:36
Michael Gewecke
But Luke is making it very clear that this is an exemplar of someone who is of the family and lineage of Judaism, who is awaiting the Messiah and then sees Jesus. That unto itself is striking. If you know the gospel accounts, you know how few people who were anxiously expecting the Messiah actually recognized Jesus when he shows up.

00:12:59:52 – 00:13:24:21
Michael Gewecke
So we should not pass by Simeon without pointing out how substantial of a character this really is, because he not only sees Jesus for who Jesus is, he sees that when he’s a baby, when he’s powerless, when he’s not adorned with miracles, and with a crowd that’s following him, his eyes of faith see things that people will not see when the grown Jesus stands immediately in front of them.

00:13:24:37 – 00:13:50:04
Michael Gewecke
And then the other thing I want to point out towards what Clint shared already is see how that contrasts this faithful Jew waiting for the Messiah. Look at how that contrast with a light for the Gentiles. Here we have in the lips of the person waiting for the national fulfillment, the consolation of Israel, pointing us forward towards the light of revelation for the Gentiles.

00:13:50:04 – 00:14:16:04
Michael Gewecke
That is, as Luke as it could possibly be, that someone on the inner circle sees in Jesus the hope and promise for those outside of that circle. This is a big, big vision of who Jesus is and the fact that this man gets it in this instant. Just the family coming in, the family leaving that he not only sees this baby, but knows what it means and that these words were on his lips.

00:14:16:22 – 00:14:30:46
Michael Gewecke
Yeah. Clint, this is there’s not other stories in the New Testament in a huge number that would compare to a story like this, why it is unique and it’s really an amazing contribution in Luke’s gospel.

00:14:30:50 – 00:15:01:10
Clint Loveall
Yeah, I think in the other gospels. Michael And push back if you don’t agree with this, but it seems to me that in the other Gospels, Jesus openness to the Gentiles is slow played. And it it’s never it’s never completely obvious. You know, Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman, which isn’t exactly a Gentile, but I mean, there are moments there’s the you know, there are moments of interaction like that.

00:15:01:21 – 00:15:22:19
Clint Loveall
But nobody just comes out and says it like this. And again, if keep in mind, if you didn’t hear our early conversations about the Gospel of Luke, it’s very possible, I would argue, even likely, that Luke is himself a Gentile. So he’s very sensitive to these ideas and he highlights those stories that celebrate that. And so we see it here.

00:15:22:40 – 00:15:47:47
Clint Loveall
Then we move to, well, let’s finish this Simeon story verse 33. The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon, bless them and said to his mother, Mary, this child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed and a sword will pierce your own soul too.

00:15:48:48 – 00:16:31:55
Clint Loveall
These are profound words. Again, nothing like this in the other gospels, poetic words, and in some ways sad words. But here we have Simeon. Having seen the child, having given praise now makes a prophecy about the child that this child, Jesus, is destined for the falling and rising of many. And I think that’s important. The idea that even now we see that some are going to be lifted by Jesus while others are going to be humbled and lowered by Jesus, Jesus is going to lift those at the bottom, but that means he’s going to knock those down who are at the top that that Jesus even here in the prophecy of a crib side bedside

00:16:31:55 – 00:17:06:14
Clint Loveall
from a baby right there, is this idea that this is going to be a divisive ministry. This is going to have advocates and detractors, friends and enemies, and that that’s all coming. And then he says these, you know, kind of haunting words and the sword will pierce your own soul to most likely a reference at least understood to be a reference to the grief that Mary will experience that will one day as she one day sees her son.

00:17:06:14 – 00:17:08:56
Clint Loveall
This beautiful child, hanging on the cross.

00:17:09:57 – 00:17:37:24
Michael Gewecke
I wanted to pause on that because the Scripture doesn’t often speak to things like grief. But here a phrase like this needs pointed out, and I think it’s also worth noting look closely who he addresses. Simeon speaks to his mother, Mary. And you know, when you’re studying Luke, you have to recognize it’s one gospel of others. So I try to not overemphasize this.

00:17:37:24 – 00:18:02:22
Michael Gewecke
But in Luke, in this gospel again, Mary was pondering the night that Jesus was born. Mary is given a song. Mary is a person of faith, in contrast to Zacharias, who has to be mute for some time because of his lack of faith. Now, here on the other side, the birth of her first child, her this son, it’s she’s addressed in this prophetic moment.

00:18:02:22 – 00:18:24:43
Michael Gewecke
And her Yeah, there’s a prophecy for her, too. It is a dark prophecy that your own soul will be pierced. And it’s that very prophecy that honors who Mary is and her role. And it makes it very clear that she is a human, she is a person. She’s a young woman seeking to live out her life and to do so faithfully here.

00:18:24:54 – 00:18:51:48
Michael Gewecke
She’s obviously showing us that her and her husband are trying to do that in the form and tradition of their faith. And I just think it’s worth noting that that being pastors, we we brush up against those times in in people’s lives where the soul is pierced and when you see that in scripture labeled as well as it is here, I think that is a source of hope and comfort for folks to know.

00:18:52:04 – 00:19:03:43
Michael Gewecke
You’re not the only one whose souls been pierced when that when you experience that grief and that pain and that separation that’s here foreshadowed know that that lives in the scriptures as well.

00:19:03:54 – 00:19:43:15
Clint Loveall
To some extent. Again, I would say, Michael, that all of the gospels are sort of told with the cross in mind, but most of them don’t link that explicitly to the first opening stories. Luke Luke is always going to kind of in the backdrop show us the shadow of the cross as as where this story is headed. And it’s fascinating that we we already get there here when we really haven’t even started the actual Jesus story yet, at least not of his his work in ministry.

00:19:43:17 – 00:20:18:39
Michael Gewecke
Well, and most certainly the earliest people, the earliest followers of Jesus would have not had this language of Holy Spirit resting on Jesus. I mean, like in the earliest part, Jesus’s ministry. Surely he was teaching about the Holy Spirit in this new kingdom. But the way that Luke encapsulates this entire story makes it clear that Luke is writing this from the other side of resurrection, that he’s seeing things in who Jesus was, that it took time and attention and care to, to see how they all connected.

00:20:18:39 – 00:20:38:52
Michael Gewecke
It took many witnesses. We’ve already talked about that to put together this account for us. And so in the midst of that, Luke is doing many things. He’s telling us what happened. But that language you use in the background of what happened is also some of the things happening that no one would have seen prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

00:20:38:52 – 00:20:58:58
Michael Gewecke
And here Luke is showing us that they they are happening simultaneously and that that’s one of the amazing parts of being a gospel. It’s not just a history book, it’s a telling of God’s work in the world. And it’s clearly, even in words like this, we have to. Mary It clearly has in view more than just what’s happening to this baby right now.

00:20:58:58 – 00:21:00:48
Michael Gewecke
But what will happen in your words?

00:21:00:48 – 00:21:21:09
Clint Loveall
Yeah, in the aftermath of the resurrection, Christians were in many ways doing a new thing. And some of that new thing was that they were creating language to try and give meaning to things that there weren’t words for, that there weren’t concepts for. And the church has continued to do that. And so Luke is the beneficiary of that growing vocabulary.

00:21:21:28 – 00:21:47:51
Clint Loveall
And I think, as we’ve stated, seems to use it very well. I hope you can join us tomorrow. There is a bookend to this story that I it again is unique to Luke and then a follow up story that is also unique to Luke, and they tell some very interesting things. So I hope you can join us. Thanks for being here today.