Luke. We'll be reading from chapter two and we'll start in verse 21 and read through 35. Luke 2, 21 through 35.

On the eighth day, and that's the eighth day since Christ was born, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus. The name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. When the time of their purification, according to the law of Moses, had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord. Christ was no exception, and we'll discuss that in a bit. And to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what was said in the law of the Lord, a pair of doves or two young pigeons.

Now, there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory to your people Israel.

The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, this child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel. and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, and a sword will pierce your own soul too.

So, the last time we met was two weeks ago, and we were in the chapter right before this, the birth of Christ, and this happens eight days later. The sovereignty of God's grace, the sovereignty of God, is something that can be deeply unsettling, especially to those in the world. And also it can be deeply comforting to those in Christ. There is something deeply unsettling because it is not neutral. The sovereignty of God contains no neutrality. God is right and God is good. And so are his ways. Anything outside of those ways are not right and are not good. So it can be unsettling when you're not used to hearing that truth. Unsettling because it reminds us that we are not in control. Comforting because it reminds us that God is.

Luke 2 is often read in a similar way, well earlier in Luke 2 from two weeks ago and today, both of them are often read in a sentimental way. Soft light, gentle music. Warm feelings. But Luke is doing something far more serious here. He is showing us that God is keeping his promises made long ago. and he's doing it precisely, he's doing it publicly, and he's doing it without asking for permission. God does not ask for permission. The passage is not about Mary's faithfulness, it is not about Joseph's obedience, and it's not about Simeon's patience. This passage is about God accomplishing salvation exactly as he planned. through his Son, by his Spirit, for all of his people.

And Simeon tells us something remarkable, and we're gonna focus on this even more, but the line, my eyes have seen your salvation. He's not saying I've seen your plan. He doesn't say I've seen potential salvation. He doesn't say possible salvation. Salvation in this child right in front of me. I have seen God's salvation. Accomplished, fully embodied in an infant.

Luke opens up this scene, and it's interesting because he opens it up in a way that almost feels mundane, but it all is very appropriate and very important. Talks about the circumcision on the eighth day. Talks about the law of Moses and being purified according to it. Talks about the presentation of the firstborn. The sacrifice of two doves or pigeons.

Often, if I read scripture, I glaze over those things just because they seem like details. They seem like details that are just filling the story. That is not the case. Luke is not wasting ink. Every detail screams one truth. Jesus Christ entered this world under the law of his father. In Galatians it says, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law.

Jesus, even though he could have, did not float above the law when he was here. He did not bypass it. He submitted himself to it. He needed to. someone needed to fulfill that law. Because no one else could.

The circumcision of Jesus is not a quaint religious rite, it's a declaration. The sinless son of God, the word at the beginning of time that we read about in John, the sinless son of God, the creator of everything. identified himself with sinners from the very beginning.

These rituals, the circumcision, the purification, the sacrifice, they were symbols of needed salvation, things that we needed to do in the Old Testament as a symbol of we are not worthy. We need salvation from our God. We need purification. We need a sacrifice. These are symbols of needed purification. Christ did not need purification. Mary and Joseph and all of his people did and still do. He didn't need consecration, we do. Yet he steps into our place even under the rituals of the Old Testament, of the old law, before he could even speak.

And notice the sacrifice offered. It says two doves or pigeons. That is a sacrifice of the poor. It actually tells us, back in Leviticus, it says the standard offering after a male child was born is a lamb. As well, the lamb is the burnt offering and a pigeon or turtle dove for the sin offering. You're supposed to have both. But then it gives a provision of mercy. It says if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two pigeons, one for the burnt offering and one for the sin offering.

That clause, if she cannot afford a lamb, is important. What Luke is telling us by including these details of the two doves, Luke could have just simply said, they offered a sacrifice according to the law. But that's not what he told us. He told us they offered two doves because they could not afford a lamb. He was specific and that tells us something historically undeniable, that Mary and Joseph were poor. They could not afford a lamb.

That matters because Luke is careful, deliberate, and theological when he wants us to see that the Messiah was not born into privilege. The Redeemer does not come from wealth. He comes from poverty. Real poverty. Not romantic poverty. They had nothing. Joseph was a laborer. Mary was very young and obscure and controversial. She was pregnant out of wedlock. The world doesn't look at that the way that we do now. After we've seen what the truth is, but back then they just saw, hmm, something's not right there.

The offering was the minimum allowed, but it was accepted by God. And the irony, this should actually, this stopped me in my tracks as I was reading it. Think about what's happening at this temple. Mary brings a sin offering of two birds, two birds, while holding the sinless Son of God in her arms. The irony of offering birds while the Lamb of God is in her arms is incredible. And it's intentional.

Hebrew tells us it is impossible for the blood of goats and bulls to take away the sins, yet here in the arms of his sinful mother, is the one who will take away the sins of his people. Before Jesus ever teaches, heals, or preaches, before a miracle, before the cross, God placed him inside the entire sacrificial system that pointed to him. Every sacrifice that was ever made in the Old Testament and there were countless pointed to this child. And now here we see another one happening from his sinful parents because it's according to the law, which they will follow.

But how ironic that they're offering two birds that their spilt blood are pointing to the spilt blood that will eventually come from the child in her arms. The Redeemer of the world entered in humility. No royal animals, no impressive offering. Why? Because salvation does not originate in human worth or power or preparation. It originates in God's gracious decision to save sinners through his Son. It is his decision and his work.

And then, in verse 25, we meet Simeon. And Luke tells us four crucial things about him. He says, he was a righteous and devout man. Says he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him, and God had revealed something to him. Simeon didn't figure out any of this on his own. He didn't deduce through political messages or intelligence who the Messiah was. He didn't feel it emotionally. It had been revealed to him by the Spirit. That is sovereign grace.

Left to ourselves, we don't even recognize Christ. Neither would Simeon. We would not wait for him. And neither would have Simeon. We certainly wouldn't desire him. And neither would have Simeon were it not for the Spirit of God. In Romans 3 it says, no one seeks for God. Yet Simeon waits. Why is that? Because God put him there. Because God promised him life until he saw Christ.

Notice in verse 27 it says, moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. Simeon didn't plan this meeting, God did. And the exact moment Mary and Joseph walk into the temple, parents with their baby, looking no different than anyone else, God moves this servant by the Spirit to intersect. This is not coincidence. This is the beauty of the providence of our Lord.

At that point, Simeon, takes that child in his arms. And what does he say? He says, my eyes have seen your salvation. Not the means of salvation, I see how this works now. Not the offer of salvation, I see the offer, hopefully people will accept it. That is not what he said. not a chance at salvation. Here's your opportunity. Salvation had arrived. The child does not point to salvation. The child is salvation. Salvation is not a hope in the future of this child. Salvation is here and it will not be denied.

My eyes have seen your salvation. Christ cannot and would not fail. Simeon, through the Spirit of God, was shown that. So when he saw Christ, he said, my eyes have seen your perfect, finalized, finished salvation. He is here. And notice something critical. It says, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations. Once again, the sovereignty of God, prepared, not improvised, not reacted, not a plan B, prepared by God and not just for Israel. It says, a light for revelation to the Gentiles. Now this was something very new back then. The Jews did not mix with the Gentiles. I mean, Paul's whole job eventually later on in the New Testament was to tell the Gentiles, this is for you too. This is long before Paul.

Already, Simeon says, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel. This is sovereign grace exploding before the cross, before the Pentecost, before the church, before Paul. was sent to spread the gospel to the Gentiles. Simeon says, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and a glory for your people Israel. God declaring salvation is for all nations. And it is all according to his will. No nation earns it, no ethnicity controls it, no culture defines it. Nothing about man. Listen to this, nothing about man separates us from each other. I am not on a different level than you and you are not on a different level than me, not according to God. We are sinners. Gentile, Jew, it doesn't matter. Nothing makes us stand above the rest.

So it comes down to this simple statement. God reveals Christ where and when and to whomever he wills. And Simeon, this random guy sitting in a temple is the one spouting this beautiful truth to the eight day old Christ Jesus. The sovereignty of God. He coordinates all things. And it's so beautiful. What a great message this is for us. And that's why it's in this book. So we can read it and see this truth. That Christ has done everything needed to save every one of his people and there is zero reason that can't be for you. Just go to him. Are you a sinner? Then without Christ, you're gonna go to hell. There's your truth. Go to Christ. Now. He will never turn you away. And he will never let you go. And there's nothing about that that is up to you. There's nothing about that that relies on you following through, on your end of the bargain. You have no end of the bargain. If you did, this wouldn't work.

And then Simeon turns to Mary and the tone changes. It says, this child will not merely comfort. This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel. Just like earlier when I said the sovereignty of God isn't neutral, neither is Christ. And that's this world right now. They love a neutral Christ. I'm here to give you a giant hug no matter who you are or no matter what you do. That's the world's Jesus. Christ is not neutral. Christ is the Lord of the world. Christ rules in his throne right now and someday will come back with a sword from his mouth. Does that sound neutral? He does not affirm everyone. He does not validate every heart. He doesn't validate any of our hearts. In our hearts there is nothing good. What he does is reveal hearts. He makes believers see themselves for who they really are. Because grace humbles before it heals. Grace diagnoses before it can apply the remedy. The cross will expose pride. For those that have pride, the cross makes them bristle. We all have pride, but God takes that away from us enough so that we can actually see him for who he is after seeing us for who we are. But if he doesn't give you that ability to see Christ, to understand the truth, he doesn't give your blind eyes sight and soften your hard heart, the idea of someone needing to die for you is more than you can take. Because you're not that bad. Let alone the word needing to die for you. And then Simeon says something that It was hard for me to take at first. It said, a sword will pierce your own soul too. And he said that to Mary.

And it's not because grace is costly. Grace has a cost. It is not our cost. We don't pay that debt. But he doesn't hand out grace for free. Christ had to pay the ultimate price. Not because God hesitated, but because this salvation will require suffering. It will require a blood sacrifice. Not two pigeons. That's what it was pointing to, is the blood of the perfect Savior. the suffering of our perfect Savior to the fullest extent that God's wrath can be felt. His Father withheld nothing. Every judgment deserved for every sin of every believer was fully and completely executed on the perfect and omnipotent Son of God.

and it will pierce Mary's own soul too. As a human, Mary had to sit and watch her son be crucified. And yet this suffering was not a failure, it was a victory. No one saw it that way unless you were shown by the Spirit. No one in natural eyes could have seen what was unfolding that day and said, he's winning. But that was the truth. It was a victory in scripture. It talks about the sword piercing the heart. The sword is often symbolizing judgment, divine action, and decisive separation. Simeon telling Mary, the salvation God is bringing will not bypass suffering. The salvation God is bringing requires suffering. Mary will stand at the foot of that cross and she'll watch Roman iron do what God's divine justice had already decreed. The sword that pierced Mary's soul is the sword that secures our redemption.

The salvation God is bringing will not bypass suffering. The suffering that God is bringing will secure salvation. And then he also said earlier, Simeon says, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. I read that a million times. and just thought it was kind of cool. You know, I didn't really think about the depth of that. But Simeon is a picture of every single one of God's people. He had been told, you will not die until you see your Savior. And that's true for each and every one of God's people. Because salvation does not depend on you. He had seen Christ. And when you see Christ, not just sentimentally, but truly through the spirit of God, you are shown that you have nothing to offer. You have nothing God is interested in. God has accomplished redemption. Accomplished, finished, completed redemption through his son.

and salvation belongs to Christ. The work and accomplishment are his alone because only he can do it. This is the only way salvation can work. No one else outside of Christ can make this come to be. Sovereign grace means this. Salvation is not fragile. If it depended on us in any way, it would be fragile. If there's a more fragile word than fragile, that would be more appropriate. It is not dependent on our strength. It cannot be undone by our weakness. It is not dependent at all Only something that's not finished can be dependent on something. Right? If something is completed, it is no longer dependent on any outside effects. It's done. You can't go back in time. There is nothing to add to it. There is nothing to change. There is no duty on your part, none. Salvation rests only in Christ. And Simeon saw that. My eyes have seen your salvation.

And if Christ has been revealed to you, it is a gift of grace. And if you're not sure, go to him anyway. Don't hesitate. Then you can say with Simeon, my eyes have seen your salvation. And just like Simeon, you can rest. Rest while you're here. We're told to rest in what Christ has done. But someday, you can truly rest. There's only so much resting we can actually accomplish here. We're not very good at it. But just like Simeon, it is safe for you to pass on if you have seen God's salvation.

Our Father, we thank you for your perfectly orchestrated grace, and how in such a simple story you show us the majesty of our Savior, the perfection of your plan, the finality of it, and the rest that we can find in it. We love Christ. We don't feel worthy to even say that, but oh, we do. We are so grateful for all you have done, all you have orchestrated to bring us into your home. We thank you, Jesus, once again, for everything that you are. And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

Take out your course books once again, and we'll turn to number 26,