I just thought we were going
to have our message on from verse 41 down, but I thought it might
be good for us to put some context to all of this. You know, of
course, the story of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the wonder of the miracle of His coming into this world and
the glory of that gospel message that was preached from heaven,
that gospel message that was preached by Zechariah, the gospel
message that Mary preached to Elizabeth, and now it says in
verse 21, and when the eight days were accomplished for the
circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, which
was so named of the angel before he was conceived. You might recall
in Matthew 1.21 that Joseph was told before the birth
of the Lord Jesus Christ You'll call His name Jesus. Thou shalt call, Matthew 1.21. You'll call His name Jesus. Why? There's one reason for calling
Him Jesus. Jesus means salvation. God is
salvation. You'll call His name Jesus, for
He shall save His people from their sins. Just record all those words.
Write them on your hearts, brothers and sisters. That's what it is
for the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus that we proclaim, the Jesus
that Paul was persuaded that he could entrust everything in
his life to. You'll call his name Jesus, for
he shall save. He won't try and save anyone.
He shall save. His people, He came into this
world because He had a people, the people that we'll read about
in Luke's Gospel, the people we read about all through the
Scriptures, a particular people, His people, they were His because
the Father gave them to Him. They were His because He bought
them. In redemption, they were his from the foundation of the
world. They were his because he created
them. They are his because he bought them with his own precious
blood. They are his because he comes
into this world through the preaching of the gospel and he calls them
to himself and he says, you're mine, you're mine. It's the great
blessing of the gospel, isn't it? That God says, you are my
people, and I am your God, and you'll save his people from their
sins. Any Jesus, any Jesus that tries
to do anything is not the Jesus of this book. That's not the
way he was named, of the angel. That's not what he was called
when they were brought to the temple. His name was called Jesus. which was so named of the angel
before he was conceived in the womb. He was Jesus from all eternity,
wasn't he? The Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
22, Luke 2.22, and when the days of her purification, which is
40 days after the birth of the baby, so he was circumcised on
the eighth day and then 40 days later he was brought to the temple
According to the Lord, Moses were accomplished. They brought
him to Jerusalem, Bethlehem's not too far away from Jerusalem,
to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of
the Lord, every male that opens the womb shall be called holy
to the Lord. One of the remarkable things
about the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll see there is so much
about the law of the Lord and the custom of the law in these
verses, the Lord Jesus Christ obeyed the law from before his
birth. The Lord Jesus Christ was obedient
to the law when he was circumcised as a little tiny baby. The Lord
Jesus Christ obeyed the law of the Lord when he opens the worm. He was the only baby who has
ever opened a worm, literally. In conception a worm is opened,
but the Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who ever opened
the worm, and he shall be called holy to the Lord. He's set apart
and separate from sinners. He's holy to the Lord. He's always
holy to the Lord. And then, verse 24, and to offer
a sacrifice according to that which was said in the law of
the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. If you
had any money, a lamb was required. And if you were poor, turtledoves
and pigeons would suffice. These were poor people. We have
been looking in Acts 15 about the broken tabernacle of David.
Both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David. Here they are, the
son and the daughter of a great king, the great king of Israel,
and they come, and the best they can do is bring turtledoves and
young pigeons. They are poor. I love the story
of this man, Simeon. Let's read on in verse 25. And
behold, behold means you look at this carefully and take note
of this man, Simeon, and take note of what is going on here.
Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the
same man was just. Means he was a righteous man.
He was righteous and devout. Every time you read righteousness
in the scriptures, you need to remember that according to the
Bible, there is only one righteousness. There is only ever one righteousness
ever recorded in all of the scriptures. And it's not the righteousness
of a man, it's the righteousness of God, which is why the psalmist
said, I'll speak of your righteousness and your righteousness only,
because I don't have any of my own. Simeon was a just man. Simeon lived by faith. He was
a child of God and he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. He was waiting for the Comforter
to come to Israel and the Holy Ghost was upon him. Are you waiting
for the consolation of Israel? Are you waiting as a child of
God to be consoled? The command of God to his servants
is that you comfort my people. You comfort my people. You tell
them that their warfare is over, that their sins are gone. They've
received double from the Lord's hand for all their sins. You bring sins. You children
of God, you bring your sins and you see them laid upon the Lord
Jesus Christ, and you see your sins taken away, and you see
him roving you with the righteousness, that righteousness which makes
his people holy, which made Simeon a just man, and you receive double. You receive double. And it was
revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, verse 26, that he should
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Every one
of the Lord's children in this world will have that testimony
of Simeon. They won't see death until they've
seen the Lord's Christ. You will see, child of God, you
will meet, you will come to know the Lord's Christ before you
leave this world. And may it be your portion, if
it hasn't been so, may it be your portion today. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
After he'd done according to the custom of the Lord, verse
28, then he took him up in his arms and blessed God. He took him in his arms. To see
him is to take him to yourself. If you're going to see the Lord's
Christ, you're going to have him and you're going to hold
him. He took him up his arms and you're going to praise God. You're going to praise God. You'll
see him, you'll take him, you'll hold him, and you'll turn and
you'll say, blessed be God who has revealed this to me. And
he said, now Lord, let your servant, let us thy servant depart in
peace according to thy word. because for mine eyes have seen
thy salvation." What a glorious picture of salvation
Simeon is. What a glorious picture Simeon
is of meeting the Lord Jesus Christ. You take him, you hold
him, you praise God, you have a peace from God, you can say,
I can depart in peace. I can leave here now. I can walk
the rest of my days here in peace and I can leave here in peace.
because mine eyes have seen thy salvation. We do quote 2 Corinthians
chapter 4 often because it's such a fundamentally important
verse about salvation. It says in verse 5, it says,
for we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and
ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. If you're going
to see the light and the knowledge of the glory of God, you'll see
it in one place. You'll see it in the face of
Jesus Christ. He saw his salvation. He saw
all of the promises of the Old Testament fulfilled in this baby
he was holding, just a baby. You see, God's people, like Simeon,
see through the eyes of faith, not through the eyes of flesh.
The people would say of this baby, can anything good come
out of Nazareth? Can anything good come from up
there in that polluted, corrupted, Gentile part of the world? We're
the pure ones down here in Jerusalem. Can anything good come out of
this poor, poor people who brought this baby here? The eyes of faith,
the eyes of faith hear the promises of God and see the promises of
God fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. mine eyes have seen thy
salvation." Have your eyes seen his salvation? I want to see
his salvation and I want to see it again and I want to see it
again and again and I want to be able to say like Simeon, I
can leave here in peace because I've seen him, I've seen him.
This is the salvation It's God's salvation, isn't it?
This is a salvation that's in a person. This is a salvation
that is entirely wrapped up in who the Lord Jesus Christ is.
But it's a salvation that's prepared. You read down there in verse
31, it's a salvation which thou hast prepared before the face
of all people. Whatever God does in this world,
he's going to do in fulfilment of his promises. Whatever God
does is going to be according to the determinant counsel and
foreknowledge of God. The salvation of God's people,
the peace that Simeon felt, the experience that Simeon experienced
in seeing God's salvation was something that was prepared by
God. Everything that God does is in preparation. People balk
at the notion of predestination. God's people love predestination.
People balk at the notion of election. God's people love the
fact that this is, Simeon is talking about the elect child
of God. This is mine servant, says God
of his son, mine elect whom I uphold. This is all prepared. That's
what happens, isn't it, when you see salvation in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. When it comes to you, you realise
that it was done a long, long time ago. You realise that you
were saved from the foundation of the world. And I love that
notion that we were saved from the foundation of the world,
because it means that my good deeds have got nothing to do
with my salvation, and my bad deeds have got nothing to do
with my salvation. My salvation is entirely wrapped
up in the Lord Jesus Christ. God accepts him. God is pleased with him. And God is equally pleased with
everyone who is in him. It's a prepared salvation. It's
a salvation that's revealed before the face of all people. In one
way or another, every child of Adam knows something of the reality
of God's existence. They know something of God's
existence by creation and they know something of God's character
by the consciences that they have. People don't come into
this world ignorant. And people don't come into this
world innocent. It's a salvation prepared before
the face of all people. And it's a light. It's a light
to lighten the Gentiles. Isn't it remarkable? This is
the first word said of the Lord Jesus Christ in the temple after
his birth. The very first words at the epicentre
of Judaism, at the epicentre of all of their legal self-righteous
activities. The very first words. that in
the first message that's given, in the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ, it's a light to lighten the Gentiles. It's a light to
shine a light on the glory of God to the Gentiles. The Lord
Jesus Christ, this salvation is going to come and it's a salvation
for all the people of the world. All of the elect people of all
the world are going to be gathered in, Jew and Gentile. They are
now singing in heaven in Revelation 5 You love those songs, I hope
you love those songs. They sang a new song, thou art
worthy to take the book and open the seals thereof for thou was
slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation. God's got a people
in this world, a people prepared. a prepared salvation, and it's
the glory of thy people Israel." He came to his own, John says,
and his own received him not. But to those who did receive
him, he gave them the power to be called the sons of God, the
Israel of God, princes with God. It's the glory of thy people
Israel. Thy people Israel is not talking
about nation Israel. Thy people Israel are the children
of God in this world. What a great sermon Joseph and
Mary heard that day with that little baby in their arms. And
Joseph and his mother marvelled. Do you marvel at salvation? Everything
about salvation is marvellous. Every time we look into this
glorious book of promise, this glorious book that looks at the
Lord Jesus Christ, we have something new to marvel at. marveled at
those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them,
and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set. Verse 31, he's a prepared salvation. This child is set, set by the
determinate counsel and full knowledge of God for the fall
and rising again of many in Israel. You come to this saviour and
you'll bow before him. You come to this rock and you'll
be broken on that rock. All of your pride and all of
your self-righteousness and all of your self-worth will be broken
on that rock, or that rock will break you. But if you're broken
on that rock, you'll fall. You'll fall and you'll rise again. It's the rising of many in Israel,
not all of Israel. He's speaking about the elect
children of God in Israel. And for a sign which shall be
spoken against. Even to this day, he's spoken
against. Verse 35, and yea, a sword shall
pierce through thine own soul also. I can't help but think
that that is a reference to the fact that Mary was there at the
cross with John. And what it must have been for her
to see her son hanging on Calvary's tree. What anguish of heart one
can only imagine she felt at that time. A sword pierced her
own heart. No doubt, like us, Mary sang
wonderful songs and she prayed that amazing prayer or she said
that prayer that is repeated so often, isn't it? Mary said,
my soul does magnify the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in
God my Saviour. Mary needed a saviour. Mary,
like the rest of us, had times where she had great reason for
believing and great reason for hope. And like the rest of us,
she had great reason for despair. She, like the rest of God's living
children at the time of the cross, could see nothing in it. They
could see nothing in it that caused them to hope in any way
at all. And yet, and yet, Mary says,
is God my saviour? Mary needed a saviour. And at
the very point at which she was most despairing and what was
happening to her son, her son was doing the one thing needful
for Mary. He was bearing her sins in his
own body on that tree. And God the Father saw the travail
of his soul. And God the Father was satisfied. And God the Son cried out, it
is finished. It is done, it is paid in full. Another way of translating that
word that he cried out on the cross is perfect, perfect. Perfect satisfaction of the justice
of God. Perfect atonement for Mary's
sins and all of God's people's sins. Perfect satisfaction of
the justice of God. The justice of God demands that
your sins be punished. People have this Ridiculous notion
that somehow the Lord Jesus Christ is like Santa Claus and somehow
He can wink at sin. God cannot wink at sin. God must
punish sin and He must punish it infinitely, eternally, and
He must punish it justly. And either He punishes it in
His Son or He punishes it in hell forever. The promise at the end of the
Old Testament in Zechariah was that this, they'll look upon
the one that they have pierced and they'll mourn for him as
one mourns for an only child. They'll mourn for him. There's
mourning in Jerusalem. I will pour, says Zechariah 12.10,
I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication, and they shall
look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Mary experienced that in ways
which we can only talk about, not really realise. A sword shall
pierce your own heart, your own soul, and that the thoughts
of many hearts may be revealed. See, ultimately, the deepest
thoughts of your heart, the deepest thoughts of your existence, the
deepest thoughts of your soul are revealed in your thoughts
about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is your God, whether you like
it or not. He is your creator. He is your
ruler, whether you like it or not. And the thoughts of hearts
are revealed and exposed by the gospel. They expose us. The Gospel exposes us. The revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ exposes us for what we really are. And
we can hide it from other people, and it's probably a good thing
that we do, but please don't try and hide it from God. Please
go to God and say, this is what I am. Lay your life out before
Him and say, this is what I am. This is really what I am, and
I can't make it any better. Verse 36, and there was one Anna,
a prophetess, the daughter of Phenuel, of the tribe of Asher,
and she was of great age, and had lived with her husband seven
years from her virginity, so she was an old woman. Either
she was 84 years old, or she was probably about 106. So she's
an old, old woman. And she was a widow about four
score and four years, 84 years, which departed not from the temple
but served God with fasting and prayers night and day. And she
coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spoke
of him to all them that looked for redemption in Israel. She only spoke to those who were
looking for redemption, said this prophetess. Those who are
looking for redemption are those in need of redemption, those
who have sold themselves by their sin into a deep and dark pit,
into the captivity of Satan, and they can't buy themselves
back. If you have one little tiny bit
of righteousness and one little tiny bit that you think you have
done, that you think you are doing, or you think you might
do in the future, you don't need a redeemer. You need someone
to help you. But if you're a slave and you're
bored, and you're in that pit, and you have nothing with which
to help yourself whatsoever, you need a redeemer. You're a
redeemer. She spoke of him. Redeemers want
to hear, people who need redemption are looking for redemption, love
to hear about a redeemer. God's work of redemption and
the need of redemption in the hearts of his people fit like
a hand in a glove. They really do. And when they
had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they
returned into Galilee to their own city, Nazareth. All that
was done according to the law of the Lord. So one of the glorious
things about the gospel is that God's children can look at the
law of the Lord, and every time you look at it in any detail
whatsoever, you can say, I've done that. God's people don't
try and keep the law. The Lord Jesus Christ kept it,
and when he kept it, I was there with him and in him, and I have
perfectly kept God's law. I kept it from a baby. And I love what it says in verse
40. And the child grew, the child grew. There is an extraordinary reality
about the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you ought to
rejoice in it, brothers and sisters. He was made like unto his brethren
so that he could be a faithful high priest. He's made like them,
he's touched with the feelings of our infirmities. No human
being and no child of God can ever say that God doesn't understand
what I'm going through. The Lord can't sympathize and
empathize with me. All of the trials and troubles
of childhood, the Lord Jesus Christ was touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. He grew, he was a real man, a
real, real, real man. And it's the delight of God's
people that he is. And he waxed strong in spirit,
filled with wisdom, And the grace of God was upon him. The favor of God was upon this
child of his, this special child. He's a man, and he's fully a
man. And he grew as a man, and he
suffered, and he learnt as a man. But then the grace of God was
upon him. From the fullness of his humanity
and the fullness of his deity, John says, and of his fullness
have we all received grace for grace. He's full of grace. He's full of grace. When he gives grace, he loses
none. He's full of love for his people,
which means that he can love each and every one of them infinitely,
wondrously, and his love not be diminished. What a great description of our
saviour in the temple. What a great description of this
baby. And God's children see him through
the eyes of faith and find him a cause of great rejoicing. One
of the wonderful things about the English language, and it's
a pain for those having to learn it, but the English language
and the English language as in other languages, no doubt, but
a word can mean two things. And the title of this message
is Supposing Him, but there are, in this next passage of scripture,
we find those that miss him. And in the scriptures, we find
many people who miss the Lord Jesus Christ. They're in his
presence. He's come to their place. He's
come to their temple. He's preached in their synagogues.
And they missed him altogether. They saw a man and they didn't
see God. They saw a man and didn't see
a Redeemer. But the other word that for miss
is that you miss someone. When you're away, you miss people. I don't like going away from
here, because I miss you. You miss people. And in this
passage of scripture, there are two sorts of missing, aren't
there? We have Joseph and Mary, who presume that the Lord Jesus
Christ is with them, and he's not. And then they're brought
to miss him, and they miss him. And as we read and as we see
sadly through most of scripture and most of history, there are
countless multitudes, billions upon billions, who miss him. Miss him, they have all the religion
in the world, and they miss the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that
today you might find yourself in the first category, that you've
missed him. And like Mary and Joseph, you
find him again. and not in the second category. May the Lord
be gracious to you. So let's read this passage of
scripture, Luke 2.41. Now his parents went to Jerusalem
every year at the Feast of the Passover. Just as a note there,
Mary didn't need to go, so Mary's activities are a free will offering,
which is delightful, isn't it? Mary was a remarkable woman. She has been denigrated by people
who claim to be her friends. If anyone has ever been betrayed
with a kiss, it's Mary. Anyway, now his parents. went
up to Jerusalem, in verse 42, and when he was 12 years old,
they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And
when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus
tarried behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew
not of it. But they, supposing him to have
been in the company, went a day's journey, and they sought him
among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not,
They turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass
that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in
the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them
questions. And all that heard him were astonished
at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were
amazed. And his mother said unto him,
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and
I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is
it that you sought me? Wist not, did you not know that
I must be about my father's business? and they understood not the saying
which he spoke unto them. Joseph and Mary not only obeyed
the law of God when the Lord Jesus was a baby, they obeyed
the law of God for the Lord Jesus when he was a young child and
into his adolescence. And so in these two passages
in Luke, the one that we looked at earlier and this one, we have
the first visit of the Lord Jesus to the temple And we have the
second visit of the Lord Jesus that's recorded for us here.
And therefore we know from the passage before us that he went
up every year. In fact, the men went up three
times a year to the festivals in Jerusalem. So the Lord Jesus Christ had
gone many times, and so when God the Holy Spirit records an
incident, one out of many, they're always hugely significant, and
they're always pointers to the Lord Jesus and his salvation.
They're pointers to his relationship with his people. They're pointers
to his glory. They're pointers to him in the
wonder of his humanity, as we saw earlier, and the glory of
his deity. They're all about him, that we
might have our eyes fixed upon him. When they had fulfilled
the days, Joseph and Mary They returned, they returned back
to Galilee, verse 43, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem. Now we can't assume for one moment
that he was disobedient, in fact what he says down further is
that you should have known that I'll be about my father's business,
the Lord Jesus Christ was perfectly obedient and we saw, we'll see
down at the bottom of this passage. He went down with them in verse
51 and came to Nazareth and was subject to them, but his mother
kept all these sayings in his heart. He was a remarkable young
man in many ways. But this is a work of God that
he might reveal his salvation to his people. He might reveal
something of the depth of his relationship with people. He
might reveal the way he draws his people to himself. We have no reason to doubt whatsoever
that the Lord Jesus Christ was disobedient. We have no reason
to doubt whatsoever that Mary and Joseph weren't saved people.
They were saved people. But there are lessons here for
us. There are lessons here for us. There they were in this great
religious company heading home. Now that they'd travelled in
large companies, it's a three-day journey, a three-day walk to
get from Jerusalem back up to Nazareth at the top of the Sea
of Galilee. And there they were, Mary and
Joseph, in this great company, having been to this great event,
been to the Passover in Jerusalem. And there would have been so
much talk. You can imagine the joy of it. There was so much
talk of God's faithfulness. There was so much talk of the
way that nation Israel was captive to a foreign power and enslaved
by a foreign power. And God, with a mighty outstretched
arm, came and redeemed them to himself and for himself to reveal
himself to them. And there they were, these Jews
of this day, enslaved to the Romans, just a captive people. And so no doubt, like all the
events of the Passover, we are caused to look back to what happened,
and we are caused to look forward. It's just as when we have the
Lord's Supper, we are looking back to what the Lord Jesus Christ
did, and we're looking forward to what he is doing and what
he will do. And so this was a religious activity,
and there was much joy, much activity, but they missed him. See, they supposed him to be
with them, and he wasn't. He tarried up behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother knew it
not. And there's a great picture here,
brothers and sisters, in Christ, isn't there? There is, there
is in the midst of so much activity, and there can be in the midst
of religious activity, an absence of Christ and an unawareness
of his absence. And generally, we are much more
prone for him to be absent when things are going well. In times
of prosperity, in times of joy, as it was for these people, to
have been there in Jerusalem, to have heard that preaching,
to have lived at that time when there was great expectation about
a Messiah coming, there would have been, and you can imagine
the Holy Spirit blessing that gathering of people. The Lord
Jesus was there with them. They were there to celebrate
the Passover, and he who was the Passover, the real Passover,
was there and they didn't know it. They supposed him to be in
their company. It is an extraordinary picture. of so much religious activity
in this world today, and so much activity in the Jewish world
of the Lord Jesus' day. And when we look back on that
scene and that country and those people that the Lord Jesus Christ
came to, we need to say, this is exactly what is happening
around us today. The Word of God is written and
recorded that we will see clearly that God is faithful to his promises. So the Jews supposed him to be
in their company. They supposed him to be the one
that was blessing them. They said, we're Abraham's children. They said, we're the true Jews.
We're the remnants, aren't we? We are the remnant that God has
saved. We have survived all the catastrophes. When all the other tribes were
cast aside, we who are left are the ones who are kept because
of our faithfulness. We are moral. We are the ones
that have kept the law. We are devout. We tithe. We attend. We teach and we send
and we make our converts. We've created this Jewish religion. We stand, we stand solidly for
God in the midst of this pagan, Roman world. And the religious
people in Jerusalem were like that Pharisee that went up to
the temple, and he says, I thank you, God. He says, I thank you,
God, that I'm not like other people. I thank you that I'm
not like that dreadful John Newell. I do this, don't I? I fast, and
I pray. And I give, and I can look at
my own life, and I can look at the lives of others around me,
and I can assume that God is favouring me. To miss him. So they took for
granted that Christ was with him. The great danger of people being
involved in religious activities, even good religious activities,
is that we can get caught up, we can get caught up in the things
of Christ and miss Him. It is extraordinary, isn't it?
They knew Not. They knew not that he was absent
from them. You might recall, I love, the
story of Martha. You know the story of Martha
and Mary? I don't know if there are many Marys here, but I'm
a Martha. What would you do if the Lord
Jesus Christ turned up to your house with his company of people?
What would you do? I know what you'd be doing. You'd
do exactly what I did. You'd run around and scurry around
and you'd get everything as clean as you possibly could, wouldn't
you? You'd make sure that all the doors were closed and the
messy rooms and you'd have everything neat and tidy and you'd be fussing
around over the kitchen and making sure everything was right and
the cups were right, everything was pretty. You know the story, don't you? And when you're busy, when you're
busy in religion, The very first thing you want to do is look
at others. And it's a sad thing, isn't it?
That's what happened to Martha, isn't it? In chapter 10, verse
38, the story is, now it came to pass as they went, he entered
into a certain village and a certain woman named Martha received him
into her house. And she had a sister called Mary,
which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha
was cumbered about much serving. And she came to him. and said,
Lord, don't you care? Don't you care? What a terrible
thing to say to the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't you care that my
sister has left me to serve alone? Here I am, I'm carrying all this
load all by myself. How many times have you said
that? I'm carrying all this load all by myself. Look what I'm
doing, and look at those others. If they'd only lift a finger,
it'd be wonderful. Martha's, we're all Martha's,
aren't we? One way or another. And you want God to do something.
She said, God, you get her to help me. I love Jesus' answer. I love the way he rebukes and
loves all at the same time, our God. Martha, Martha, he said. He loved her. He loved her. Martha,
Martha. Thou art careful. You are caring
about a lot of things and you're troubled about many things. And
then he says, but one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the
good part. Mary has chosen the good part,
sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and drinking in
his words. One thing's needful. She's chosen
the good part, and then I love what he promises, which shall
not be taken away from her. All of the other things that
are done in the flesh in this world are going to be taken away
from us. That shall not be taken away from us. There won't be.
I suppose the essence of this message is don't miss Christ.
Don't miss Christ in the busyness of this world. Don't miss Christ
in religion. Don't get so caught up. Don't presume that he's with
you. They presumed, they assumed he
was in their company. And they went a day's journey.
They went a day's journey. They went all day. They went all day, and he wasn't
there. They went a whole day in a religious
company, and they hadn't seen his face, and they hadn't heard
his voice, and they didn't know he wasn't there. See, life is
in the sun. Life is having the Son. Life is in the Lord Jesus Christ. See, the Jews of Jesus' day missed
him. They would have embarrassed all
of us here by their knowledge of the scriptures. They would
have embarrassed all of us here if you'd asked them to tell you
about the sovereignty of God, the messiahship of the Christ
of God. They had all the religion in
the world and they missed him. They are probably the most shocking
verses in all of the scriptures, aren't they? Some of the most
stark verses in all the scriptures. In Matthew 7, at the end of the
Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus speaks of people who come
to him on that day. He says many, many. Many will come to him on that
day. Many. And they'll acknowledge
him, Matthew 7.22. They'll say, Lord, Lord. They'll
acknowledge that he's Lord. And then they'll say, then they'll
bring their list. This is on the day of judgment.
This is on the day when they leave here. Have we not prophesied
in thy name? We've been preachers and prophets
in your name. And in your name have we cast
out devils. And in thy name done many wonderful
works. There's a quality of these people's
works, isn't there? There are many. There's a quantity,
many, a quality, wonderful works. And then, I will profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. They did all the works. And they
did all the works in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
they missed him. And they missed him. The world
missed him. The Jews missed him. He came. He came into the temple, and
he was the temple, and they missed him. He came to those people
with all the credentials that Messiah was promised to have,
and he said to them at the beginning of his ministry, and he was 30
years old, he said, here I am, I am God, I am the Messiah of
God. And you have three years. and
you can examine me. You can examine everything about
me from top to tail. Not only can you examine me,
but you can examine me through the lens of one who lives with
me for the next three years, a fellow called Judas. You can
examine me. And examine him, they did. And they found him. They found him
to be a righteous man, and the only cause of death they could
find in him was that he claimed to be God, which is what he claimed
at the beginning of his ministry, what he proved that he did every
day that he lived before them. They had lots of religion. They
had lots of presumption. They had lots of supposing that
the Christ is coming. There's a great big synagogue
that is near where Liz's mum lived in Sydney, and it's got
a great big sign in stone, carved into the stone that says, He
is coming soon. He is coming soon. They're talking about the Messiah. If you're still in Luke's Gospel,
if you turn over to chapter 4, the same people that went on
that journey, no doubt, a goodly number of them went all the way
back to Nazareth. And 18 years later, the Lord
Jesus Christ was up in that synagogue in Nazareth. In Luke chapter
4, he got the scroll, didn't he? He took the book, he opened
the book and he found the place where it was written. This was
no accident. He was deliberately doing this.
And he says, the Spirit of the Lord, he's quoting Isaiah 61,
the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. And because he has anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor, he has sent me to heal
the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are
bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed
the book and he gave it again to the minister and sat down.
And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened
on him. And he began to say unto them,
This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bear him
witness. Listen to what it says. And wondered
at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. You would think
this was a group that was going to accept him, wouldn't you?
You'd think the next part of this story is going to be wonderful. Gracious words, and they said,
is this not Joseph's son? So they missed him. They missed
that he's the Christ. They could see that he was a
carpenter's son, but they couldn't see he was the Christ. And then
he said to them, you will surely say unto me this proverb, physician,
heal thyself whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also
here in thy country. And he said, verily I say unto
you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you
the truth. Many widows were in Israel in
the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years
and six months. when a great famine was throughout
the land. But unto none of them was Elias
sent, save Sarepta, the city of Sidon, unto a woman that was
a widow." Gentile country. And many lepers were in Israel
at the time of Elias, the prophet. And none of them was cleansed,
saying, Naaman the Syrian, Gentiles. And all they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, said they were happy to have
the Old Testament quoted before them. But they weren't happy
to have the God of the Old Testament. The God of the Old Testament
is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament's about him.
They were filled with wrath. He's declaring to these people
another section of Old Testament scriptures and he's saying, God
chooses whom he will. God heals whom he will. God saves
whom he will. God is God. And they rose up
and thrust him out of the city and led him unto the brow of
the hill whereon their city was built that they might cast him
down headlong. And this is a shocking statement.
Listen to it in verse 30, brothers and sisters. But he, passing
through the midst of them. I could think of nothing worse
that can happen on this earth, that the Lord Jesus Christ comes
and reveals himself and then passes through the midst of you. and left them, left them. Don't miss him. Don't miss him. The scribes and the Pharisees
missed the Lord Jesus Christ. They could call him a teacher,
but they couldn't see that the scriptures spoke of him. They
couldn't see the fulfilment of the scriptures before their very
eyes. Even though the scriptures declared him and declared his
character, declared the things he used to do, he was the only
one who performed that messianic miracle of opening the eyes of
the blind. Because that's what happens when
the gospel comes. When he comes to his people he
opens their blind eyes and he unstops their deaf ears and he
gives them a new heart. He gives them a heart that believes.
He gives them a heart that sees. He gives them a heart that sees
the object of faith, that their faith rests in Him. These men that we've been reading
about in Acts 15, that stood opposed to the clear and abundantly
clear and evident testimony of the scripture and the evident
testimony of the work of God, and it has continued on for 2,000
years. So they knew the Scriptures of God, but they didn't know
the God of Scriptures. The Scriptures testify of me.
He's there everywhere, on every page, in every event. It's all
about Him. It's a hymn book. They didn't
know the Scriptures, he says in Mark 12 to them. You don't
know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God.
They knew the law of Moses. And they thought they were diligent
in obeying the law of Moses. And they had no idea that standing
before them was the one who gave the law of Moses. They had no
idea that the one standing before them not only gave the law of
Moses, but was the only one who ever kept one of Moses' laws
ever. And the Lord Jesus said of Moses,
he wrote of me. He said of Abraham, he saw my
day and he rejoiced. Isaiah saw him in the temple. It was he who filled the temple.
Religious people missed him. The religious people of this
day miss him. They want to talk a lot about
him, and want to own that they belong to him. But like the people
of Nazareth, when he declares himself in his true character,
they find him offensive, and they cast him from them, their
presence. That was the testimony of the
apostles in Jerusalem. It was the testimony of the Apostle
Paul as he spoke to those Judaizers we're talking about. It's the
testimony of all of God's servants throughout all time. People will
have a Jesus, but they will not have a Jesus who sits on the
throne of this universe. They will not have a Jesus who
is a Jesus who came with a particular purpose for a particular people. They will not have a Jesus who
cannot fail. They will not have that man to
reign over us. The religious people missed him. And religious people today miss
him. And like Mary and Joseph, they
could miss him and they could not know about him. But real
sinners miss him in the other way, don't they? Real sinners
must have him. Real sinners need him. They need him. It's not the whole
that are in need of a physician. The real sinners need him. He
goes on in these stories in Luke. They're just beautiful stories
and they're all pictures of people who need him. They miss him in
the other way, don't they? They need him. In chapter 5,
if you just turn over the page, there was a leper. A leper. And I love what it says in verse
12, there was a man and he was full of leprosy. And he was obligated
to go and call out to people all around him, didn't he? If
any time he moved outside of his colony, unclean, unclean,
don't come near me. And seeing Jesus, verse 12, he
fell on his face and besought him saying, Lord, listen to these
words, Lord, if thou wilt, You can make me clean. If you will
it, all you have to do is will it, and you can make me clean.
All you have to will it, do is will it, and you can save me. And he put forth his hand and
he touched him. And I know I've told you this
before, brothers and sisters, but it's a remarkable act of
the Lord Jesus Christ. When he touched that leper, either
two things happened. The leper was made perfectly
whole and perfectly clean and perfectly fit to be in God's
sight, or the Lord Jesus Christ would be defiled. It's a beautiful
picture of what happens, isn't it? When he comes in saving grace,
he touches people. And when he touches them, they
are clean. He put forth his hand, and touched
him, saying, I will that be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy
departed from him." Throughout, if you go on reading in Luke's
Gospel, you'll find again and again pictures of these people
that are in need, like the woman in Luke chapter 7. She needed him. She needed him. The parents of
that dead girl, they needed him. That woman whose son was dead,
she needed him. In Luke chapter 6, these religious
people came to the Lord Jesus Christ about healing on the Sabbath. There they were, with all of
their religion, with all of their devotion, and their religion
allowed them, in their own minds, to cast a judgment upon the Lord
of glory. He who was the Sabbath, he who
was the only one who ever kept the Sabbath, He who is the Sabbath
rest of God's people came to his own, and these people rejected
him, didn't they? They watched him. Let's look
at chapter six, verse... And it came to pass, also on
another Sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught,
and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes
and the Pharisees watched him, whither he would heal on the
Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against him.
But he knew their thoughts. and said to the man which had
the withered hand, rise up, stand forth in the midst. And he rose
and stood forth and Jesus said unto them, I will ask you one
thing, is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do evil,
to save life or to destroy it? And he looked round upon them
and said unto the man, stretch forth thy hand. The one thing that was absolutely
impossible for this man was to stretch forth his hand. And the
Lord did it. It's a picture of His salvation.
His hand was restored whole as the other. And what was the result?
What was the result of he who is the Sabbath? Verse 11, and
they were filled with madness. See, in the preaching of the
gospel, one thing that you don't want in the preaching of the
gospel is for there to be lukewarm response, for people to be comfortable.
People either ought to be mad or glad. That's what they were
when the Lord Jesus was preaching. They were either mad or glad.
These people, had the very Sabbath with them, and they missed him.
To go back to Mary and Joseph, they traveled a whole day, and
they weren't aware of his absence. And they surprised him to be
with them. They surprised him. And now for a little while I'd
like us to look at the other side of missing. What happened? You can imagine what it was like.
You, like me, have lost children. It is the most despairing and
heartbreaking activity that you can probably undertake. When
you've got them in a crowd somewhere and you don't have a clue where
they are, and you know that you're 100% responsible. We can't imagine, we can imagine,
but we can't imagine what it must have meant for Mary and
Joseph. This was a special child. They had known how extraordinary,
special. This was the pearl of great price.
No doubt, he was a remarkably responsible young man. But the
first thing they do is when they have found that they have missed
him, when they have presumed that he was in their company
and he wasn't, they sought him. So when did people, when did
Mary and Joseph realised that they'd missed him? They realised
that they'd missed him when they sought him. If he's absent from you. and
you're aware of it. It's a blessing from God." They
began to seek His presence. They were so busy and so busy
with their activities and so busy in fellowship that they
didn't know that He was missing. And they hadn't seen Him all
day, they hadn't heard His voice all day, and they didn't know
it. But then they were troubled.
They were troubled, verse 45, and they found him not. They
found him not. And they turned back to Jerusalem. Jerusalem's the city of God.
To turn back to Jerusalem is a picture of repentance, isn't
it? They're going to Galilee, and they turn back. So he has
finding him. caused you trouble? Have you
been troubled in finding him? See, only those who have known
him will miss his presence. I pray that he makes himself
known, the Lord might reveal himself to you, so that when
he's missing, you'll find you need to find him again. They
went back to the city of God to find him. And remarkably,
remarkably, and it came to pass, verse 46, that after three days,
they found him in the temple. I know the Jewish way of adding
up days doesn't mean that this is necessarily 72 hours, but
it's remarkable, isn't it? They go searching and searching
and searching, and they can't find him in Jerusalem. And then
they go after three days to the temple. You would think they would start
at the temple. It's like us, isn't it? We'll go in all the
other places to find him when we've missed him, rather than
going to the one place. Why is he in the temple? Why
do you find him in the temple? Because that's the place where
he meets with his people. People go looking for the Lord
Jesus Christ in all sorts of places. And the best thing to
do, like when you've lost anything else, you go back to where you
lost it. If you found him, you found him in the temple. You
found him in the place where he meets with his people. You
find him in the place where he reveals himself to his people.
And he reveals himself to his people in the temple now, the
temple of God. He reveals himself in the church.
He reveals himself through the preaching of the gospel. where
not only reveals himself, but he gathers his people together
and he builds them together in 1 Peter 2. He talks about this
building, isn't it? Peter talks about it. He's a
living stone. If you've tasted that the Lord
is gracious, you're going to desire this sincere milk of the
word. and you come into him as a living
stone. He's disallowed indeed of men,
men missed him, but chosen of God and precious. And you also,
as lively stones are built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. That verse
in Ephesians chapter two, I love quoting, it says, We are built
together. You're built on the foundation
of the apostles and the prophets. The church is built on the foundation
of the apostolic declaration of who the Lord Jesus Christ
and him is, him crucified is. And it's built on that foundation,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom all
the building fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple in
the Lord. He was in the temple because
that temple pictured the meeting place of God with man. It was
the meeting place of God with man at that place where God's
sacrifice was accepted, where he was revealing himself. All
of that temple was about him. Everywhere you looked in the
temple, you were meant through the eyes of faith to see God's
Christ, God's Messiah. He is the bread, the showbread.
He is the manna from heaven. He is the lamp. He is the table
stand. He is the altar. He is the holy
of holies. He is the meeting place between
God and man. It is his blood that allows for
the high priest to go in and come out and bless the people.
Everywhere they looked, it was all about him. But now it's all
about him and his church, in whom the whole building fitly
framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in
whom you also are builded together, listen to it, these are not my
words, builded together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit. This is a spiritual house that
God's building, and it's a spiritual house that God looks over. The
world has its Christ and has its Jesus and has its religion,
but it's not the house that he built, and he doesn't reveal
himself there, and he doesn't bless it. The religion of this
world is all about us, having Jesus add to us and our doings,
doesn't it? to reward my morality, to reward
my learning and my religious devotion, to reward my association
with religion, to reward my religious zeal. of the Jews of his day and the
Jews of this day, he says, they have a zeal for God, but not
according to knowledge. They had no knowledge of the
Christ of God, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness,
they had no idea that God's standard of righteousness is simply this,
perfect. Holy is what he accepts. That's
why there is only ever one's righteousness, which is his.
Being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. There is a bowing. There is a humbling. There is a seeking after God
by his people, and there is a finding of him. They found him. They found him in the very place
where they should have expected him to be. They found him in
the temple, in his father's house, where two or three or more are
gathered by me, he says. I'm there in the midst of them.
They found him in the temple, verse 46, sitting in the midst
of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. It's interesting, isn't it, in
their way of teaching for a young man, you were to stand in the
presence of these doctors who sat. Obviously, the Lord Jesus
Christ had been so extraordinarily impressive to them that he was
sitting with them. When he comes to his temple,
brothers and sisters, he sits. When he sits in his temple in
heaven, he's sitting He's sitting because the work is finished.
He's sitting because of his sovereign rule over all things. And asking
them questions. And all that heard him were astonished. Astonished at his understanding
and his answers. And when they saw him, they were
amazed. They were amazed. They found him in the temple.
They find him in the place where he is preached. They find him
in the place where he gets all the glory. The simple question
about where to go and what is the true church of God is who
gets the glory. In the church of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ gets all the glory, bar none. And he will bring his
people to himself, like he brings Mary and Joseph to himself, humbled
yet again, humbled and delighted. They're astonished. These people
that heard him are astonished. Are his words still astonishing
to you, brothers and sisters? Are they astonishing? Do you
read this book and hear these words of promise? He that believes on me has. as a possession, everlasting
life, and will not come into judgment. The judgment of all
of God's people happened on Calvary Street 2,000 years ago, and God
the Father punished all the sins of all of God's people in the
Lord Jesus Christ, and there are none left. God doesn't remember
the sins of God's people anymore. We might remember them, and other
people might cause us to remember them. God doesn't remember them
anymore. Are you astonished? Are you astonished
at him? Are you astonished that he came
to save sinners? That he came into this world
to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. sinners who've got
nothing, nothing to commend themselves in any way at all. They were
amazed, astonished. Grace is amazing. The only grace
All grace is amazing grace. The only grace that is grace
is amazing grace. This notion these days that there's
a thing called common grace is not a scriptural idea of grace.
God's grace is always effectual. God's grace is always eternal.
God's grace is always sovereign. God's grace is always saving.
God's grace is amazing grace. That God accepts sinners. Not on the basis of anything
in them. Not on the basis of anything
they ever have done, are doing, or will do. He accepts them in
the Beloved. Graced in the Beloved. They were amazed. They were amazed. Like the leper. Lord, if you
will, you can make me clean. Amazed. Then he asked that question. They sought him sorrowing. He says, how is it that you sought
me? What a great question. How is
it that you sought me? There are so many people seeking
something of God in all the wrong places. If you're gonna seek
him, you're gonna seek him where he'll be found. and you're gonna
seek him in a way that gives him all the glory. Because look
what he says at the end of chapter, verse 49. Wist you, didn't you
know that I must be about my father's business? When you find
him, when you find him, you realize that he's about his father's
business. his father's business. He says,
lo, I come to do thy will, O my God. And what's the will of God? What's his father's business?
We have no doubt about what the will of God is in the scriptures.
He says, all that the Father gives me shall
come to me, and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast
out, John 6.37. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me. that all of which He has given
me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the
last day." That's the Father's will, isn't it? That all that
He's given to the Lord Jesus Christ are going to come to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone that sees the Son and believeth on Him
may have everlasting life. and I will raise him up at the
last day." Have everlasting life. It's the possession of God's
people, brothers and sisters, on account of the promise of
God. He goes on further in that chapter
to say, verse 45, it is written of the prophets, and they shall
all be taught of God. Every man therefore that has
heard and has learned of the father, if you've really heard
and you've really learned of the father, you come to me. You come to him, you come to
him, that's called faith. You simply come to him. How is it that you sought me?
We seek him in his temple. We seek him where his word is
proclaimed. We seek him where he sits on
a throne. and we never stopped seeking.
Mary and Joseph were true believers, and they'd lost him for a while,
and they found him again. I'd love for you to go home and
read Song of Solomon, because Song of Solomon's a great story
of the church. It's a great story of Christ
and his bride, and her missing him. She keeps asking him, where
am I going to find, where do I find rest? Oh, tell me, whom my soul loveth,
where do you feed? Well, he feeds amongst his people,
that says over and again, he feeds amongst the lilies. But
then in chapter three, she misses him. By night on my bed I sought
him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him
not. He is a God that causes his people to seek after him. and in seeking after him he blesses
them. I will rise now." She doesn't
sit around doing nothing. I will rise now. I'd love for
you to read, to go on and read chapter 5 because in chapter
5 she has the most amazing promises from her husband. The most extraordinary
invitation to delight in him and then She says, as he comes
to her, she says, I'm too busy. I've done enough and I've prepared
myself and I'm too busy. And then she's asked that question,
what is he to you? She goes searching for him and
she can't find him. And she's wounded in that search.
And then she's asked that question, what is he to you? What is your
beloved more than another beloved, oh, fairest among women? What
is thy beloved to another beloved? And she goes, in missing him,
in chapter five, you'll see that she describes him as gloriously
as she possibly can. When you miss him, speak sweet
words about him. When you miss him, seek him.
And when she does ask, where's he gone? She says, I know where
he is. He's with his people in his temple.
And the most beautiful thing in chapter six is that when she comes back and
she's in his arms and in his presence again, He doesn't say
one single word about her wickedness. Not a single word about her sin. In fact, he says to her that
she's ravished him. Verse five of chapter six, turn
thine eyes away from me for they have overcome me. He's overwhelmed. He's overwhelmed with love for
his people. And then she says, As he says,
my beloved is mine, and I am his. Don't miss him. Don't miss him. Seek him where
he may be found. When you find him, you'll be
astonished at what he says. You'll be amazed yet again. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we do thank you. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
great seeker of his people and the great shepherd of his people.
And he goes over hills and dales and wanders and leaves the 99
behind to come and seek the lost. Heavenly Father, we lose ourselves
in our thoughts of this world and our thoughts about things
of our flesh. We lose sight of the Lord Jesus
Christ so easily. Heavenly Father, seek, seek thy
servant. Seek us, Heavenly Father, because
we wander from you. Oh, our Father, cause us yet
again to know our Lord Jesus Christ in the depth of the wonder
of his very being as God incarnate. Emmanuel, God with us. Help us, Heavenly Father, to
seek Him where He is found, to seek Him and to find Him in that
place where His shed blood is honoured for the glory of the
redemption that was won for your children, Heavenly Father. And
Heavenly Father, we pray that you'd cause us to know Him in
such a way that we would miss his absent from us, and you might
guide us and direct us to renewed joy in his presence yet again.
Heavenly Father, help us as we take these emblems of his life,
that glorious life lived for us and that precious blood shed
for us, that we might be caused to remember him. amazed and astonished
at grace and love in our saviour. We pray in his precious name.
Amen.