Luke's Gospel, chapter two, and
we read from verse 22. And when the days of her purification,
according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they brought
him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. We're talking here
about Mary and Joseph. As it is written, In the law
of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called
holy to the Lord. And to offer a sacrifice according
to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle
doves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. 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,
then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord,
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to
thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. a light
to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.'
And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken
of him. And Simeon blessed them, and
said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall
and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be
spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through
thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be
revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asser. She was of a
great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her
virginity. And she was a widow of about
fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple,
but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And
she, coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the
Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption
in Jerusalem. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. The circumcision and naming of
the child Jesus at eight days and his presenting at the temple
after the days of Mary's purification, which was 40 days after Christ's
birth, were doubtless big events in the life of Mary and Joseph. Mary and Joseph clearly were
religious people, they were spiritual people, and they took these responsibilities
of the rituals, the strict rituals and practices for religious Jews
very seriously. They adhered to these traditions
and customs. Not least, of course, was the
circumcision of the child, the male child, and his naming. And the name Jesus means saviour. And so he had been called by
the angel of the Lord prior to his birth. for the reason that
is expressed in Matthew 1, verse 21. Thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. So that
Christ's given proper name that was applied to him on this eighth
day at the time of his circumcision was a name that distinguished
him from others. It was significant in itself. It was a name, probably not altogether
an unusual name. The equivalent of that name in
the Old Testament time was Joshua. And so it may have been a reasonably
common name at the time. Hence he was called Jesus of
Nazareth, to distinguish him perhaps from others. But there
was also a broader significance, I think, in the fact that this
name was applied to Jesus at the time of his circumcision,
at this time of eight days of circumcision, hearkened back
to Genesis 17. where circumcision was instituted
as a sign of God's covenant promise to Abraham that God would make
him father of kings and nations. And in all of the Old Testament
pictures, in all of the Old Testament types, this coming of Christ
was what was being looked forward to. And God made this covenant
with Abraham that in turn pointed to the everlasting covenant of
grace and peace. And now, being circumcised, the
Lord Jesus was identifying as a son of Abraham, after the flesh. And as such, he was identifying
himself as being obligated to the laws and practices of the
Jewish people. And this was also seen when he
was presented at the temple according to the law. so that I believe
that we can take a significance from this act of circumcision
as well as the presentation at the temple and see that doctrinally
this shows that the Lord Jesus Christ was made under the law. He was made subject to it. even from his very infancy, and
he was obliged to keep that law. His mother and father, obviously,
or his mother and Joseph, let me put it like that. His mother
and Joseph, obviously recognising their own responsibility as spiritual
men and women, fulfilled these obligations, showing that Christ
was under the law right from his birth. and by his perfect
obedience to it, he would fulfil that law. But even in these earliest
days, that completeness of obligation is being recognised here in the
scriptures. And Luke expressly says that
this presenting Jesus was done according to the law of Moses,
so that both the circumcision and the presentation at the temple
identified the Lord with Abraham's covenant promises and the law
of God as delivered to his servant Moses. In these few verses, Christ's
Jewish pedigree and ancestry after the flesh is confirmed
and his obligation and duty to the law is established. And I
think that it's a blessing to see and to understand from the
very start the Saviour entered into his covenant obligations
for the redemption of his people. His obedience didn't just start
when his ministry started some 30 years later. By this holy
standard, he would be demonstrably shown to be the spotless lamb
offered as a sacrifice and the only fit and able substitute
for his people. He must both fulfil the law and
be seen to satisfy God's righteous standard in every detail, every
aspect and every circumstance. Christ was a debtor to the whole
law. and hereby proved that he had
been put under God's divine ordinances and that he was eligible to be
our representative and therefore our Redeemer. Within a few days
of his birth, the Saviour Within a few days of the Saviour's
birth, this groundwork for the redemption of His people was
already being laid according to the plan and purpose of God,
and the criteria by which Christ's saving work would be made manifest
and measured was being established. Another point that is worth making
here is how by undertaking this role and by fulfilling these
duties, the Lord freed his church from repeating this rite forever. With the coming of Christ, the
religious rite of circumcision and the mosaic obligation of
presentation at the temple and the offering of a sacrifice ceased
forever. We don't do those things now. The shadows were fading away
as the sun of righteousness arose. In becoming a debtor to the whole
law and fulfilling it in himself, Christ freed his church from
the duties and obligations of these Old Testament practices. Later the Apostle Paul would
say in Galatians chapter 5, For I testify again to every man
that is circumcised, that is, for religious reasons, which
is what the Jews were insisting upon, that the Gentile converts
be circumcised to bring them under the law. Paul says, I testify
again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the
whole law. We do not, we cannot gain our
righteousness under the law, but we have righteousness imputed
to us because Christ fulfilled the law and proved himself to
be the worthy substitute and representative for us. Thank
you, Lord. The act of presentation of Christ
at the temple is also noteworthy because of the fulfilment of
prophecy that it gives us and also for the people who met the
infant Jesus there. As far as the fulfilment of prophecy
is concerned, this was Christ's first visit to the temple, obviously,
but Malachi had spoken of it in chapter three, verse one of
his prophecy. He wrote, behold, I will send
my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me. So that was
John the Baptist. And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith
the Lord of hosts. And then suddenly he was there. Mary and Joseph had been obliged
to come to the temple to make payment of attacks five shekels for the
redemption of their firstborn son. This was an obligation upon
couples who had male children. And it referred back to when
the death angel passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. Then the Lord dedicated to himself
all the firstborn who were not slain because they were under
the blood and they were said to belong to the Lord. And that was with the exclusion
of the Levites. and the children thereafter had
to be redeemed by the payment of this tax into the temple treasury. So Christ The great Redeemer
was himself redeemed in the temple under these Old Testament statutes,
that all righteousness might be accomplished. And Luke also
tells us of two people, an old man and an old woman, who were
present in the temple that day. And I guess that the stories
of Simeon and Anna are fairly familiar to us. But I just want
to notice a couple of points with respect to these two people.
There were men and women of true faith in Jerusalem at this time,
eagerly waiting for the coming of the Messiah. These people
were the continuing remnant, the continuing remnant people
of God, whom he was pleased to call to faith and maintain as
a testimony to the messianic promises. They waited for the
consolation of Israel. They waited for the salvation
of Israel. And they waited for redemption
in Jerusalem. These are all phrases that Luke
uses in describing the activities of Simeon and Anna and others,
no doubt. And I don't see why we cannot
take all of these as prophetic and descriptive and proper names
of the Saviour Jesus Christ. These are titles expressed by
the Old Testament prophets who testified of Christ's coming
and whose writings these true believers, these faithful and
spiritual followers of God read, poured over, studied and anticipated. as they waited day by day, year
by year, in the temple for the manifestation of the Messiah,
the Christ Child. Simeon had been told by the Holy
Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the
Lord's Christ. And I think that's a lovely thought
for us to just touch on and dwell upon. This prophetic revelation
was likely part of the increased excitement and anticipation of
the times that indicated to the Lord's faithful people that the
coming of Christ was near, the arrival of Christ was imminent. Simeon's testimony is beautiful.
When he saw the child with Mary and Joseph, we read in verse
28, then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
Lord, Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to
thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou
hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten
the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. It is a lovely
thought indeed that the Lord's people can depart in peace from
this world when we have seen God's salvation by faith in Jesus
Christ. And Anna too, a widow of great
age, testified of the Lord, worshipping, praying, speaking, and generally
professing God's faithfulness and Christ's coming to all who
would hear her. Another thing that we notice
about this time in the temple is that Mary and Joseph were
being left in no doubt that this child was special. What testimony
had been previously given to them was largely personal and
spiritual and visionary. But now it was being made openly,
publicly and noisily in the temple at Jerusalem and in the lives
of God's remnant people. And we're told that Mary kept
all these things and pondered them in her heart. And Joseph
and she marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. And
these are good examples for you and me as well. May the Lord
enable us to keep the things that we see and hear of Christ
and ponder them in our hearts. May we, like Mary and Joseph,
be caused to marvel as the Lord applies his truth to our lives
and our circumstances and deepens our spiritual understanding with
precious things of Jesus Christ. And then just finally, and then
we're done, the words of Simeon also remind us of the certain
success of the Lord in salvation. the salvation of his people,
and the gathering of his church. In verse 34, Simeon said, Behold,
this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel,
and for a sign which shall be spoken against. And it seems
that here he turns to Mary and looks at her and says, Yea, a
sword shall pierce through thy own soul also. that the thoughts
of many hearts may be revealed. And here's what Simeon is saying
here. The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ means that there
is not, nor can there be, any doubt or ambiguity concerning
the way of grace and the way of salvation. Christ brought
a sword. It's a double-edged sword. And
despite what the angel said at the incarnation regarding peace
on earth, we qualified that comment last week. We pointed out that
while there was peace on earth, it was peace enough to the Lord's
people. It wasn't peace enough to Herod. It wasn't peace enough
to the scribes and the Pharisees. It was peace on earth to the
Lord's people. Christ himself said in Matthew
chapter 10 verse 34, think not that I am come to send peace
on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. And we are either for Christ
or against him. We shall either fall before him
or we shall rise with him. And the great question is, what
think ye of Christ? That question must be answered
and it shall be answered by all men and women and the answer
will reveal the true thoughts and state of our hearts. They
called him Jesus because he would save his people from their sins. May the Lord give us grace to
find forgiveness with God through the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus
Christ made and the blood that he shed for the remission of
our sins. Amen.