What Was Said About Him?
Preached by Benjamin Vrbicek
October 9, 2016
This morning we are continuing our sermon series through the gospel of Luke. Two weeks ago when I was preaching, I mentioned that when we come to the birth of the Messiah in the first century, the people of God had been waiting for a long time. And their waiting was not the type of waiting that you measure with a stopwatch, but history textbooks. What I meant by that was that their waiting was the type that takes place across generations . . . and across centuries . . . and across empires.This morning, the passage zeros in on two people who were waiting for the Messiah—a man named Simeon and a woman named Anna. When they see Jesus, he’s about a month and a half old, 40 days to be exact. Mary and Joseph have brought him to the temple to present him to the Lord as was required by God in the Law of Moses.
Scripture Reading
I’m going to read our passage. Then I’ll pray, and we’ll study it together. If you have a Bible, please follow along with me as I read Luke 2:22–40 (page 973).22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said inthe Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant departin peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.39 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.
Prayer
This is God’s word; thanks be to God. Would you please pray with me? “Heavenly Father . . .”
Introduction
This, I believe, would have been a confusing, hectic time for Mary and Joseph. Their lives were upended. First, with the announcement of a child who would be conceived supernaturally. Then the surprising birth of John by Mary’s cousin Elizabeth in her old age. Then the trip to Bethlehem because of the census that was decreed by Caesar Augustus. Then the delivery of baby Jesus in, shall we say, less than an ideal setting. Then they were visited by shepherds who told them a message from angels about their baby. Then they stayed in Jerusalem until they presented Jesus in the temple.This was a whirlwind. It was a confusing time. It was hard to make sense of it all. Who was this baby? And what would be his role in redemptive history? In the confusion and chaos, they needed clarity about Jesus. And so it’s into this time, that God sends a man named Simeon, who is filled with the Holy Spirit to give clarity and content as to who this baby Jesus is. For all of the upheaval of these times, God wanted Mary and Joseph to have clarity about Jesus.This is a need we still have. We need clarity about who Jesus is—“we” as a culture and “we” as individuals need clarity about Jesus. Because there are lots of versions of “Jesus” that float around today.In pastor Jason’s office, he has a quote on his wall from one of his heroes. It’s a quote from Francis Schaeffer, who was a deeply committed Christian as well as a gifted author and teacher and evangelist. In the quote, however, Schaeffer says that he is afraid of the name of Jesus. It goes like this,
I have come to the point where, when I hear the word Jesus—which means so much to me because of the person of the historic Jesus and his work—I listen carefully because I have with sorrow become more afraid of the word Jesus than almost any other word in the modern world. The word is used as a contentless banner, and our generation is invited to follow it. But there is no rational, scriptural content by which to test it, and thus the word is being used to teach the very opposite things from those which Jesus taught…. We must fear this contentless banner of the word Jesus not because we do not love Jesus, but because we do love him . . .
- Francis Schaeffer
It’s not that Francis Schaeffer was afraid of the real Jesus. But he was afraid of, what he called, a “contentless” Jesus. That is, a Jesus that is just a word, just a container and people fill it up in whatever way they want. There is “social justice Jesus.” And there is “white, Western Jesus.” And “conservative Jesus.” And “scary Jesus”—he sees you when you’re sleeping; he knows when you’ve been bad. And then there is “Jesus” who, well, we don’t exist for him, but he exist for us. We just add him to our lives sorta like adding sprinkles on top of ice cream—our lives are already pretty good, but just add “Jesus” and things will be better.We certainly don’t want to present, as Schaeffer was afraid of, a “Jesus” with “no rational, scriptural content by which to test it.” This is one of the main reasons we preach through the Bible passage by passage. We do this so that we fill up the meaning of Jesus with content that comes from the Bible.If you remember back to the opening of the gospel of Luke, Luke wrote to a man named Theophilus so he would have “certainty concerning the things [he was] taught” (1:4). God wanted Theophilus to have certainty about Jesus. And in the whirlwind of events, God wanted Mary and Joseph to have certainty about Jesus. And God wants you and me to have certainty about the contents of Jesus as well.Here’s what I want to do with the rest of the sermon. In v. 33 it says, “And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.” What I want to do is briefly highlight three things that are said about Jesus, then offer a reflection how the real Jesus—and real content about him—has been challenging me recently.The three things that are said about Jesus that I want to highlight are 1. Jesus as “bucket list,” 2. Jesus as “light for the peoples,” and 3. Jesus as “revealer of thoughts.”
1. Jesus as “bucket list.”
Maybe that’s a strange statement: Jesus as “bucket list.” I think the phrase has become popular enough that I can use it and most of us know what it means. But I’ll say that a “bucket list” is (at least as best as I can tell) a list of items that a person desires to complete before they “kick the bucket,” that is, it’s a list of things that must be done before one dies.So, bucket lists have things on them like this: look out over Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower or put your toes over the edge of the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Or learn a foreign language. Or watch a Broadway play. Or get married. Run a marathon. Write a novel. Have kids. Buy a house on the beach. Swim with dauphins. Hit a hole in one. Get a tattoo. Things like this.All of these things are fine, of course, as long as they keep their proper proportion. But when bucket list items reach ultimate status, problems happen. When we believe that a bucket list becomes the list of things that will let us “depart in peace,” we have a problem. Look at what Simeon says, however, in vv. 29–30.“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation . . .
Simeon has one thing on his bucket list: see the salvation of God in the person of Jesus! That’s it. When he sees Jesus, he’s done. That’s fascinating. No wonder it says that Mary and Joseph “marveled” at all these things (v. 33). They ran into a guy at the temple, who when he sees their baby, says, “I’m good. Nothing else is better than this. The only thing I had to do in my life was see the salvation of Jesus.” That certainly fills out the real Jesus with real, scriptural content.Is that how you know Jesus? Do you know him as the only one worth living for and when you know him, then you can “depart in peace”?If I were to go back to Francis Schaeffer’s quote at the beginning, I fear that too many view Jesus as a nice hobby. It’s okay to hear nice sermons about him, and it’s okay if he adds value to your life. That’s because he just is kinda there alongside the other stuff in our lives and, well, knowing “Jesus” is just about making the other stuff better, like sprinkles on the top of a banana split.It’s true that Jesus makes everything better. But Simeon says that if you take all the other stuff away, as long has he has seen the salvation in Jesus, he can depart in peace! That’s how we are supposed to know Jesus.During this confusing time, look at what else Simeon tells us about the real Jesus.
2. Jesus as “light for the peoples.”
The next thing is “light for the peoples.” Jesus is not simply for a few people. But he is meant to be the light for the nations. It’s awkward to say people with the “s” on the end of the words “people,” but it’s a Hebrew, Old Testament way of speaking and so it’s retained in our passage in v. 31, at least in this translation. Look at what Simeon says in vv. 30–32,30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
Anna and Simeon in this passage are the last two of the several early witnesses about Jesus’s birth. Lots of people speak about Jesus’s birth, and Anna and Simeon are the last two. And that causes me to stand back and consider the diversity of witnesses across chapters 1 and 2. You have those who are old praising Jesus (Anna, Zachariah, Elizabeth). You have those who are younger praising Jesus (Mary and Joseph). At even John, who is at the very beginning of life in Elizabeth’s womb praises Jesus (you can’t get must younger than that). You have those with religious jobs praising Jesus (Zachariah the priest), and those who have non-religious jobs, even blue-collar working jobs (the shepherds and Joseph the carpenter). You have those who are married. Those who are not. There is a diversity of witnesses praising Jesus.This Messiah is a light for all peoples. If you’re older, spend your life serving and praising Jesus. If you’re younger, praise Jesus. If you’ve got callouses on your hands, praise Jesus. If you work for a church, praise Jesus. He’s light for all peoples.The only thing we don’t have in these two chapters is different ethnicities. Everyone, it would seem, is Jewish. Or are they? Think about this: Luke was writing the gospel of Luke and he was the only non-Jewish author in the New Testament (Col. 4:10–14). Luke the Gentile was praising Jesus. As well, when you trace this theme of a global-Jesus through the two volumes of Luke and then Acts, you see the light going to all nations.In Acts 2, after Jesus has died and rose and ascended back to Heaven, some of the disciples begin to preach. And when the audience is described in 2:9–11, they are described like this:
9 . . . Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians . . .
Last week during the worship service, we had the privilege of commissioning Faith Anderson to the mission field. She leaves next week for Thailand. We celebrated this because Jesus is for all nations. He’s not simply a Western hope. Or a Jewish hope. He is the hope of the nations!In this confusing time, what else does Simeon say about Jesus?
3. Jesus as “revealer of thoughts.”
The last aspect of Jesus that I want to highlight is this: Jesus as “revealer of thoughts.” Look vv. 34–35,
34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
Simeon says that when people come into contact with Jesus—the real Jesus; not the one they make up—then the deep thoughts of their hearts will be revealed.I’m not sure I know all that this means. But I think, based on this passage and the rest of the Bible, it means something like this: You won’t be able to pretend around the real Jesus. If you have a “contentless Jesus,” then you can pretend. If you have an imaginary friend, they never contradict you. They always do what you want. And if you have an imaginary god, it’s the same. But you can’t pretend around the real Jesus. When you come in contact with the real Jesus, what you are really worshiping, will be disclosed, it will be revealed.And Simeon points out that this will be hard for Mary. Why focus on Mary? We don’t know exactly, but perhaps it’s because she lives longer and is able to see more of the polarization that takes place around Jesus—people love him, people hate him. We don’t read of Joseph after the genealogy in Luke 3, so likely he has passed away before Jesus begins his ministry. But we do read, however, of Mary in John 19. We read about Mary witnessing her son being crucified. She was there and it was like a sword piercing her heart.And what about in Acts, the birth of the early church? As the preaching of the good news of Jesus took place in the book of Acts, there was a division about him.Consider even that passage I read earlier from Acts about the audience being from different nations. Look how it ends.
10. . . Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” (2:10–13)
When people came in contact with him, their deep thoughts were revealed. You can’t get close to Jesus and not be exposed for what you really are: a sinner in need of grace.And I think what Simeon meant was this: after Jesus reveals your heart, you’ll have to decide what to do with him. You’ll have to decide that yes, I am a sinner and I do need his grace. For those that decide that, in Simeon’s words, they “rise.” God heals them. He saves them. And for those that chafe against the fact that they are sinners and need the forgiveness of Jesus and reject him, well, they “fall.”Throughout the gospel of Luke and throughout the book of Acts, and even to our own day, we seem some rising in hope when they meet Jesus and some who reject him and fall. The point that Simeon is making is that one way or another, we must feel strongly about Jesus. We are not meant to feel neutral about Jesus. His claims are too radical for that.
Conclusion
So those are the three things I see about Jesus in this passage. Jesus is bucket list: the only thing we need before we depart. Jesus is light for the people: he’s not a small savior; he’s the savior of the whole world! And when you know him, you can’t pretend. He will reveal the deep thoughts of your heart.I mentioned at the start that I wanted to point out these things and then offer a reflection on how all this relates to something I’ve been feeling lately. So, let me do that, and then I’ll close in prayer.I put it out there on social media a few weeks ago that, except for the occasional post, I was going to take a month off from all social media. I wouldn’t bring it up here except that it relates somewhat to this passage.For the most part, the decision was motivated by three things. First, I was just getting so many updates and notifications and posts, it was hard to function. I had this strange, creepy desire to be constantly checking if anything new was happening that I didn’t know about. I felt it the second I woke up, and I felt it while at work and at home. I was having trouble concentrating. It seemed to me that I was reading my Bible with less and less thoughtfulness. It was terrible. That was one reason, the constant notifications.Another reason was the trivializing of all news. As you scroll through social media, there are stupid cat videos and there are shootings. I don’t know if the human soul was meant to take in information that way. I know that I’m not good at getting it that way.So the notifications and the trivializations were part of it, but here is the biggest reason: jealously. I found myself having this strange twinge of jealousy before I could celebrate things that I saw online. It was awful.You say, so what does that have to do with this passage? Well, think about bucket lists and social media jealousy. At its core, it’s belief in an alternate “gospel.” It’s belief that something else will satisfy our deep longings. It’s belief that something—whatever it is—if we have it, it will let us “depart in peace.”That’s not the real gospel. The real gospel teaches that faith in Jesus because of his death and resurrection is the only thing that satisfies.When I’m jealous of people online—whether family stuff, or pastor stuff, or writing stuff, or exercise stuff, or big house stuff, or whatever stuff makes you and I become jealous (because this isn’t just me)—we are not believing the gospel. We are believing that stuff will satisfy. If we have the right stuff, then we can depart in peace.And then there’s this line in our passage: “thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” You know what put me over the edge that made me say I need a break? I heard Jesus say to me, “You have received your reward in full.” He didn’t actually say it, but that’s what I felt. That line comes from a sermon Jesus gave in Matthew 6. Jesus said that some people who were trying so hard for approval from others, when they got it, he told them, “they had received their reward in full.”Some of you know that I like to write things in my free time. And I had written this book review a few weeks ago, and it was a good book, certainly one worth reviewing. We sell it in our bookstore in the café. It’s a good book to help people understand theology, especially beginners. And I wrote a short review of the book.Those were all good reasons to write a review. But at the same time, let me tell you this: it’s also written by two young authors that I would like to be friends with. In fact, I have this writing project that I keep tinkering with, and I think it would fit really well with the same publisher that published their book. Do you see where this is going? If I wrote a review, well, maybe that would grease the wheels a bit.By the end of the night, both authors had hit “like” on Twitter. And when I saw the second author do that right before I went to bed, I could hear Jesus wishper to me, “You have received your reward in full.” Which is to say, don’t live for the applause of men. So, I’m taking a month off. We’ll see what happens later.That’s the thing about Jesus. He loves us enough to keep revealing our hearts. And they are often far blacker than we realize.But to you see the gospel in all of this? The passage is teaching that when we trust him, when we repent, when we come to him for forgiveness, he will make us “rise.” There is hope in the real Jesus. He’s the only thing we need on our bucket list. He’s the hope of the nations.This was meant to encourage Mary and Joseph. They marveled at what was said. And I believe it’s meant to encourage us.
