Well, I really do hope you had a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart. I hope all the kids got the joy of opening a present. I hope all the parents and grandparents got the joy of giving that present. And I hope you got to do your family traditions or maybe make up a new one. One of my favorite traditions to do at Christmas is to go caroling. I don't know if anybody else does this. But I love doing this. I love showing up at people's houses unannounced, and singing songs to them, and reading scripture to them, and watching them cry. This is one of my favorite things to do, okay, and maybe go on to somebody who's had a hard year and let him know that God loves them. And he sent his son for them. And since I'm not very good in the singing department, I usually head up the scripture reading department in the caroling. And what do we read? What's the one of the most famous passages in all of the Bible to be read publicly is Luke 2; it is the telling of the birth of Jesus Christ and the angels when we're caroling, and we get to that part where there's the multitude of the heavenly hosts. And they're all saying, Glory to God. And everybody just shouts it out, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth. And then you would think that's the end of the story. And we go into Luke 2, we go from like maybe the most famous Bible passage to read to one of the least famous Bible passages to read. Like, what did Jesus do the day after Christmas? What was he doing eight days after Christmas? What was he doing forty days after Christmas? Like, the Scripture actually tells us. And I invite you to open the Bible and turn with me to Luke to, not the part that we know, but maybe a part that we've overlooked. Luke 2:21, is where we're going to pick it up. And we're going to learn some important things that happened to Baby Jesus that that Joseph and Mary did with him, where other people came and said things about him. So maybe you've read this passage, maybe not. But I want to invite everybody to open up to Luke 2:21. And I want to invite you all to stand for the public reading of Scripture. We're going to go from Luke 2:21, all the way to verse 40. And I'm talking to you, if you're out on the front lawn, if you're watching at home today with us, if you're watching online, will you stand up for the reading of Scripture? And let's give this our full and undivided attention. This is just as inspired as the first 20 verses of Luke 2; this is the next 20 verses. Please follow along with me as I read.
“And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 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 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.’ 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. 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. 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, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.’ 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 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.’ 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, 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. 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. And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.”
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and have your seat. I don't know if you've ever had a moment in life, where it just felt like this ideal moment, everything was good. And it was that moment where we get the idea of like riding off into the sunset, like, wow, that was awesome, and let the credits roll. That's kind of how we've learned how to think. Right? Although we've come to the end of the story, and they all lived happily ever after. See, well, the Bible tells us that, in reality, we don't ride off into the sunset; actually, the son comes riding in. That's really how the story ends in the Scripture. And maybe you think the birth of Jesus, and humbling himself, and being born, that idyllic nativity scene that we can all see in our minds, oh, that seems like just roll the credits. Jesus is born, the end of the story. No, it turns out, eight days later, he's going to go get circumcised. So, it's not the end of the story. It's the beginning of Jesus doing something that is very important for you. Jesus came to fulfill the law, Jesus came to fulfill all righteousness. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? Okay, so what Jesus does now that he has been born as a baby, okay, now the word has put on flesh. Now that we've experienced the incarnation, the God-man Jesus has a very clear mission. And it's a mission that he does for thirty-three years. And usually, we jump from like the beginning, and we go straight to the last three years. But here we get some of the early days, where you see that Jesus, or even his parents, were very intentional in his life, that he needs to do everything according to the law of the Lord. Did you notice how many times it said that? Were you paying attention? Did you see that here this morning?
I mean, let's just go over here together, right. And in Luke 2:22, it says, “according to the law of Moses.” The time came for purification, we’ve got to make sure we do what God commanded in the Law of Moses. And in verse 23 is a quote from the law of the Lord. Verse 24 is a quote from the law of the Lord. Did anybody know that a pair of turtledoves, two turtledoves, actually comes from Leviticus, not the Twelve Days of Christmas song? Did anybody like, what are these two turtledoves about? That's a quote from the law of Moses, everybody. We’ll dive into that. But you can see the whole point here is … look at verse 27. To do for him according to the custom of the law. And then the summary of our entire passage is in verse 39. What is this whole story about that we're looking at together this morning, when they had performed? And that's our Greek word that we've come to know and love. It's this word telos, it means to the end, to the completion, to the perfection. And when they had come to the end of everything, according to the law of the Lord. Now, Jesus had a lot to do even as an eight-year-old or a forty-eight-day old, excuse me, a forty-day old here. Now he was already fulfilling the law. So, one of the big misconceptions that's popular in Christianity right now is, we don't need the law anymore. The law is over. We don't live that way anymore. And you miss the key thing, like, and this is how Jesus said for everybody here to think. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law. I have not come to abolish it, but to fulfill it. So, when you hear somebody, maybe it's coming out of your mouth, maybe it's coming out the mouths of your brothers or sisters in Christ, and they're like, yeah, we don't need the law anymore. No, the reason that you and I aren't focused on keeping the Law of Moses anymore is because Jesus perfectly fulfilled it. Okay. So, a lot of glory is not being given to Jesus, and a lot of people are confused, because it's not just like the law got abolished. Jesus told us don't think that way. The law God fulfilled, and it got fulfilled by things that happen with baby Jesus when he was eight days old, when he was forty days old. They're doing key things here that Luke wants to record, that there's even like Simeon and Anna showing up to say words about because these key things are so important for you.
Because the question for you is where does your righteousness come from? How do you get right with God? Is your righteousness from yourself? Is your righteousness from what you do? Or do you get by faith the righteousness of Jesus Christ? And if you get the righteousness of Jesus, well this is very important, that he fulfills everything according to the law of the Lord. Turn with me real quick to Matthew chapter 3, and let's hear Jesus say it once. Once Jesus begins his ministry, one of the first things that Jesus does is he gets baptized by John the Baptist, and John is blown away by this. He's like Jesus, yeah, I should be getting baptized by you. John was doing a baptism of repentance, a symbol of being cleansed from your sins. We know baptism is the symbol that you've been placed into Christ's death, that you've died with Christ. And as you come up out of the water, it's like the symbol that you've risen to a new life in Jesus Christ. Like baptism is about being saved in Christ. Jesus doesn't need to get baptized. But look what Jesus says. It's a great verse to write down to go along with our passage. This is Matthew 3:15. “But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all … what does he say there, everybody? “Righteousness”. Jesus had to live the perfectly righteous life. The reason that you think, well, it's not about me keeping the law. That's because Jesus kept it perfectly. And even this idea of like, well, do people need to get baptized to be saved, or is baptism like a work you have to do to go to heaven? Look at the reason that anybody gets to heaven isn't because they get baptized, it's because Jesus got baptized. So, Jesus lived the righteous life, it's very important for all of us to understand this, because only Jesus lived the righteous life. And that's where all of our righteousness comes from is Jesus fulfilled it all.
So, you should write down Matthew 3:15 if you're taking notes, and you should write down Matthew chapter 5. You could turn over there, Matthew 5:17 where Jesus teaches us how to think about the law. Even as new covenant, people who believe in the gospel, he teaches us, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” Okay? So, a lot of times people, they end up not just with a negative attitude about the law of Moses, like who could perfectly keep that? Well, we can't keep it, Jesus kept it. But a lot of people, they end up with a bad attitude about the actual Bible, about the law and the prophets. And Jesus is saying, don't think that way. No, all of those things that you could go and read in the law, all of that I came to fulfill, all of the law and the prophets point to Jesus, who is the fulfillment of everything they're talking about.
And so go back now to Luke chapter 2. Hopefully that helps you realize why what we're reading here is so important, because it's going to give us three things here that Jesus did to fulfill the law. And I want you to see all three of them. One is in Luke 2:21 where he got circumcised. That's the first one that happened eight days in. And we'll see about that, because Mary was basically unclean for seven days after giving birth, because of the flow of blood. And so then on the eighth day, that's when you would circumcise your male child, that's when you would name him and they gave him the name, Jesus. So, one thing was circumcision. And then there's a time for purification. And two things happen at this time of purification. Two quotes here, Luke 2:23 talks about we got to do something because Jesus is the firstborn son, Jesus opened the womb, and there's something in the law about what you do with your firstborn. And then Luke 2:24, we're offering a sacrifice with two turtledoves. What is this two turtledoves thing all about here? Why are we offering that sacrifice? So, we've got circumcision. We've got this thing with the firstborn. And then we've got two turtledoves. And all of these seem really important to Luke, and they might be going right over our heads. And so, if we want to understand them, you’ve got to turn with me back to the law of Moses.
Go to Genesis 17, and let's look at all three of these things that Jesus is fulfilling for your righteousness, because the reason we have a different thought about the law is because Jesus perfectly fulfilled it. And if you go to Genesis chapter 17, God is reaffirming here his covenant with Abraham. God makes an amazing promise in Genesis 12 that Abraham is going to be the father of a great nation, and they're going to have a land, and they're going to bless all the families of the earth. And Abraham believes that promise and it's considered to him righteousness in Genesis 15. And then here we have the covenant here in Genesis 17. And this is when Abraham is ninety-nine years old. You know, he didn't really get called Abraham until he was ninety-nine years old. And here's where God changed his name, and God reaffirms. Look at Genesis 17:7, “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant.” Abraham is the father of the Jews, and God makes a covenant with him here that is everlasting. And the covenant includes verse 8, “And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” So, God has made a covenant, a promise, this is what's going to happen with Abraham and the Jewish nation in the land of Israel. And then look at Genesis 17:9-13, “And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money.” If somebody comes and joins your house from another nation, they need to be circumcised too. So, here's a covenant God has made with father Abraham, for the Jewish nation, for the land of Israel, an everlasting covenant. And there's a sign and this is what you're supposed to do with your sons when they're eight days old. Well, guess who this was fulfilled with, your Lord Jesus Christ, fulfilling all righteousness, keeping the covenant between God and Abraham.
Now go over to Exodus 13, and you'll see this idea of the firstborn son, which will immediately make sense to you if you know the story of the Passover, and how the Passover was, if you didn't want your firstborn son to die, you had to kill the sacrifice of the Lamb, and you spread the blood of the lamb over the doorposts of the house. And if there was the blood of the lamb over the doorposts of your house, the angel of the Lord would pass over your house and not kill your firstborn son. But all the firstborn sons of Egypt who did not do the sacrifice of the Lamb, all their firstborn sons died. And so, after the Passover is instituted in Exodus chapter 12, and the Passover is an amazing prophecy of Jesus who is the lamb, whose blood is shed even his blood on it coming from his head in his hands is kind of like the lintel and the doorposts there of the house, and how not one of his bones are broken, and the hyssop branch, I mean, it's a deep prophecy of Jesus here in Exodus 12. And then look what it says in Exodus 13:1-2. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.’” So, you’ve got to set aside the firstborn for me, and then he gives another statement here about the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Passover celebration. And then look down at Exodus 13:11-15, “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed.” And basically now you're going back into telling the story of salvation of Israel, the deliverance out of slavery in Egypt. So, you take your firstborn son, and you do this redemption; it says, you redeem your firstborn son, you go and you have this moment to redeem them, to offer them to the Lord and say, Thank You, Lord, for our firstborn. And in that redemption, it's a moment to retell the entire story of God's salvation.
And so, we've got this circumcision. We've got the firstborn son. Now go to Leviticus chapter 12. And what is this about these two turtledoves? What is going on here with this sacrifice that they're going up to the temple to offer here on the fortieth day. Well, literally the entire chapter of Leviticus 12 is about what happens in Luke 2:24. So it's a short chapter here, Leviticus 12. Probably not one that you have memorized, I'm going to guess here today. Right? Probably not one you read while you were opening up gifts yesterday. Well, let's read some of our famous Jesus passages. How about Leviticus 12, who wants to read that one? Not a very well-known chapter. Let's look at it. Leviticus 12:1-2, “The Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the people of Israel, saying if a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days.” And if you've ever gone through Leviticus, which we had the privilege of doing together as a church a couple of years ago, you can see that when there's a holy God dwelling with his people being clean and unclean, it becomes a real issue. How can sinful people be in the presence of a holy God? And so there's this whole thing we're working out and if a woman gives birth, she's unclean for seven days as at the time of her menstruation, and when she shall be unclean, and on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised, okay, yeah, we learned. Leviticus chapter 12:1-8 “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days. And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female.’” And you’re like, well, wait a minute, they didn’t offer a lamb and a turtle dove, they did two turtledoves. Well, verse 8 clarifies, “’And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’” So, if a woman gave birth here in the Law of Moses, there's like this reminder, this tangible reality, that that child is born in uncleanness. Right? I mean, this goes all the way back to the fall into sin. This goes all the way back to like David saying, in sin, my mother conceived me, in sin I was a born. Like, this goes all the way back to like, hey there, from the very beginning, there's a need for atonement, even in the giving of life. And so there would be a sacrifice of a lamb and a turtledove, or if you couldn't afford a lamb, and that's Joseph and that's Mary, that tells us something about these two young people traveling from Nazareth, to Bethlehem, and now maybe offering this sacrifice here in the temple on the fortieth day. Well, they don't have a lamb to offer. So, they just got two turtledoves. I don't know if you know, that's where that phrase came from, and that song about two turtledoves. It comes from right here in Leviticus 12. When you have a baby, and you don't have enough money to pay for the lamb, you just do two turtledoves, one for the burn offering, one for the sin offering. So, Joseph was considered a righteous man in Matthew 1, that Mary in Luke 1 she was someone who was a recipient of the grace of God. And when baby Jesus, when he was named there on the eighth day, he had parents who made sure that he was circumcised according to the covenant with Abraham. And then on the fortieth day, they went up to the temple because he was their firstborn. They wanted to redeem him, and they wanted to do these sacrifices with two turtle doves because they wanted to keep the Law of Moses. They wanted to do what was right in God's sight. And they wanted Jesus to fulfill the law of the Lord. And aren't we thankful that Jesus did?
Maybe you've never even studied these things before. How many things have you never thought of before that Jesus perfectly fulfilled for you how many commands are there? And that he kept them all? How many temptations are there? And he resisted them all. And he did it from the first days after Christmas. Jesus was fulfilling the law. And this is not like ancient history, or just some fun facts we're talking about here today. No, let's get this down for point number one here as we think about the righteousness: Jesus fulfills the righteousness you need. That's point number one. Jesus fulfills the righteousness you need. See, Jesus wasn't just like, dropped down, born one day, dies the next day, rises and goes back on the third day, no. We know that he lived for thirty-three years. And despite one story of him being in the temple later on in Luke 2, and these early-day stories that we have, we don't have a lot of stories from this the life of Jesus. In the middle of it especially and you know, what Jesus is doing every single day, all day, never fail, no matter what day it is, righteousness, keeping the commands, because he is establishing the perfect track record that you and I have fallen short of; all of us have fallen short of the glory of God. Can I get an amen from anybody on that? All of us have fallen short, but not this one. That's why we don't want to overlook this. If you go back to Luke chapter 2, we don't want to miss this. What happens right after Christmas, where it's so clear that he's doing all of this as it is written in the law of the Lord, to what is said in the law of the Lord, according to the custom of the law. And Jesus, but with the help of his parents, Joseph and Mary, here, he is fulfilling the law, he is fulfilling your righteousness in these early days after Christmas. And Luke, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Consider this very significant that we would all study it together that we would all know. And this is really a theme in the gospels that often gets overlooked is the perfect life of Jesus Christ. And because there's a lack of clarity about the perfect life of Jesus, there's a lack of clarity about righteousness. And a lot of people, maybe some of you here this morning, maybe some people who are watching this online, definitely people all around us that we interact with on a daily basis, they think that they are going to heaven by being a good person.
Most religions on planet earth, put the onus on you to do what is right, and what's going to happen in the afterlife, or the reincarnation, or whatever they believe it is all based on how you conduct yourself. See, we are so different than that. And we need to see it clear that we think that the only way anybody here is going to heaven is based on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and not based on what we've done. And because we don't talk about it in a clearer way, we don't communicate it to other people in a clear way, and so now there's massive confusion. And now people do things because they think they're supposed to do them, because they're right. That's not the motivation you're ever supposed to have. People do things and they do what's right. And they almost do it like hey, look at me, I'm over here doing what is right, because it's a self-righteousness. People do things and they think, well, I'm going to get rewarded or I'm going to go to heaven. Hey, everybody, look at me, it’s because of my good works. No, no, no, the point has always been, look at Jesus, the perfect righteousness, the spotless lamb, look at him, believe in him and he will give you his righteousness. There is no such thing as self-righteousness. But most of the world believes it. There is no good work that you can do that's going to make God pleased with you. As soon as you have done one sin, as soon as you have broken the law at one point, it's like you have broken it all. That's why he nailed it from the eighth day that he was born on day forty, boom, he knocked two of them out on day forty at the temple. Now he was always establishing and fulfilling righteousness because that's the only righteous person who's ever walked planet earth is Jesus. And we need to talk about that more. And I'm telling you, next time you hear somebody say, oh yeah, the law of Moses, that's old. We don't do that anymore. Yeah, because Jesus did it. It's not just abolished, it's fulfilled. And when you understand where righteousness comes from, see, one thing we need to understand very clearly is righteousness has always been by faith in the perfect sacrifice. Okay? There's this idea that a lot of Christians have. And this is really dangerous. And some of you may think that in the Law of Moses you got righteous based on what you did. But now we get righteous based on believing in what Jesus did. Okay? No one ever got righteous based on what they did, including Abraham, including Moses.
See, where does that idea come from that people can be righteous based on what they do? Where does that idea actually come from? It comes from the Pharisees is where it comes from. It comes from the religious leaders of Judaism, especially at the time of Christ, who were actually false teachers. They were the ones who spread this idea that you could be righteous based on what you did. That's a misinterpretation of the law, always has been the wrong way to think about it. And when I walk around church, and I hear people quoting Pharisees, like oh, the law, the law people back in Moses’ day, they thought you could be righteous based on what you did. That's not what the law of Moses ever says once. No, it makes it very clear that people have always been saved by faith. They've always been declared righteous by God, when they put their faith in the righteous sacrifice. Going back to Abraham, and the idea of him sacrificing his one and only Son going back to the Passover lamb going back to Leviticus and all the sacrifices. Where did they think they were getting atonement? Through the sacrifices, not through their own religious works? Now see, they were looking forward to the perfect lamb, the spotless one, the one who would establish righteousness once and for all. And yes, now we look back and we know the gospel of Jesus, but you have only ever been righteous by faith. That's the only way anyone has ever been righteous is by trusting that God will make us righteous through the perfect sacrifice. And we need a righteous man here. Look at Luke 2:25. This guy Simeon is fascinating. Because now, all of a sudden, a righteous man shows up. It's not just Joseph and Mary doing these things according to the law, but they have a couple of very … it's a very interesting day at the temple for Joseph and Mary. They meet to fascinating characters in Scripture that are often overlooked. Can you imagine if I told you there was somebody at this church who got a word from the Holy Spirit, that they're not going to die until the rapture happens? Could you imagine that? I mean, I would want to become very good friends with that person, wouldn’t you? Simeon has somehow I mean, this guy has an unusual work of the Holy Spirit in his life. Simeon has been told by the Holy Spirit that he will not die until he sees the Messiah. Wow. What a unique promise. I mean, you’ve got to remember at this time, not everybody was filled with the Holy Spirit is, this wasn't yet the time of the new covenant through the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. But this guy Simeon, it makes it very clear; three different times it refers to the Holy Spirit being upon him in Luke 2:25, the Holy Spirit revealing to him he would not see death before he'd seen the Messiah, the Christ, and even the Holy Spirit speaks through him in this passage. So, he clearly has something unique going on. But look at what it says in Luke 2:25, “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was…” what does it say there, everybody? “righteous”. Now the Bible, well, it will acknowledge that it will call people righteous. Okay, now, how does this guy get to be if we just made this big point that there is only one person who has ever been righteous, and his name is not Simeon? It's Jesus. How can in the very next verse, the Scripture go and say that Simeon is righteous? Okay? Because when you have faith in the righteous one, Jesus Christ, you become the righteousness of God.
You can write that down. 2 Corinthians 5:21. That's what we're going to memorize and preach at camp all week is about the righteousness of God, how we can be made right, we can be reconciled with God in Christ because Christ has righteousness. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you now are declared righteous so much that they can say in Holy Scripture Simeon was righteous. And you can tell Simeon was a man who lived with great faith because he was waiting for the Messiah. See, it wasn't based on what Simeon had done in his life, it was based on his expectation, his looking forward to the Messiah. The Anointed One is going to come and save us. And I'm waiting for him. And he had so much faith that the Messiah was coming, that he got this special promise from the Holy Spirit that he wouldn't die until he saw the Messiah. What an amazing thing. And it's fulfilled right here in Luke, to where he just happens to be in the temple on the same day as Joseph and Mary, obeying the fortieth-day commands, and he's there and he came in the Spirit; the Spirit is clearly leading this man into the temple. And when the parents, this is Luke 2:27, “when the parents brought in the child Jesus,” and going back to our first point “to do for him according to the custom of the law,” well, Simeon takes up little baby Jesus, maybe forty days old here. He takes up Jesus in his arms. Can you imagine the joy of this man? All he had were the Hebrew Scriptures. All he had were prophecies, like Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government” is going to be on his shoulders, and he's going to be the one that we've all been waiting for. And then for Simeon, to be led by the Spirit into the temple, to meet Joseph and Mary, and to hold Jesus in his arms... Can you imagine the joy of this man when his faith became sight? And he has a word from the Lord, he has a blessing. He's saying something good about God as he's holding the Son of God in his arms. And he said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word.” This is all I ever wanted was to see the Messiah, just like you promised I would be able to. Now I can die in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation. See, this guy, who does not have the New Testament or the Greek Bible, as we like to think of it, this guy who only lived off the Hebrew Scriptures, for roughly four hundred years since the last of the prophecies, this guy is so looking forward to Jesus. And he knows Jesus is the salvation for all people. See, Simeon is righteous because clearly he has faith in Christ. That's why he's a righteous and devout man. And you can see here that he says this epic word about Jesus in Luke 2:31-32. He says that “you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
Now, I’ve got to think that when Simeon said that line, I mean, that's a bold statement to make, because we know about the division between Jew and Gentile, we know about the racial tension that existed at this time, where even like the Jews would not consider Samaria even their territory, and they would go around Samaria because the Jews look down on the Gentiles. And so, Simeon says something bold here, that this is going to be the “light to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel,” that Jesus is really going to be the savior of all peoples, of all mankind. And I think that Simeon is quoting Isaiah 60. Well, you turn there with me because I think this man knew the prophets. I think he knew the Hebrew Scriptures very well. And I think that just by knowing the Hebrew Scriptures, you could come to faith in Jesus. Even four hundred years after the Hebrew scriptures were written, here's a man waiting for Jesus to come, and he gets to see Jesus before he dies. And what does he say when he's holding Jesus in his arms while he quotes a famous prophecy here, maybe a prophecy that kept him going by faith for years? Isaiah 60:1-3, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”
Se, and Simeon, he gets it. He gets it. There's going to be darkness and a light is going to shine. And arise, for the light has come, and Simeon is like, I'm holding the light of the world. Anyone who ever gets saved will get saved because their eyes are opened and they see Jesus, and they believe in him, and he's going to call so many out of the darkness and into his marvelous light, so many he will free from the dominion of darkness, and bring them into his kingdom of light forevermore, people from all nations, tribes, and tongues, anyone who comes to believe in the one I'm holding in my arms, they will see the light and be saved. That's what Simeon said. I mean, he's saying this epic prophecy, I mean, the epic motif that goes throughout all of human history, especially the Scripture, this epic cosmic struggle between the light and the dark. Well, now here comes the sun rising. See, when you read the Bible, you don't ride off into the sunset, the sun comes right in and that's what Simeon realizes. He realizes, I'm seeing the light arise right here in front of me. This is the one that all of us who were before Christ, all of us were looking to him by faith. And this is the one that all these nations, all these different kings, all these different people, little did Simeon know this was going to go on for two thousand years, people would be gathering on the days after Christmas to worship Jesus Christ from places in the world. Simeon couldn't even imagine cultures and languages he couldn't even conceive. I mean, he knew it was big, and he was blessing God and worshiping God, there's no way he could have known how many would actually be saved by Jesus. By that little baby he was holding in his arms, the light of the world. Hey, but he got to live to see the prophecy fulfilled, right in front of his eyes. And he worshiped because see, this man, Simeon, he was righteous, but it wasn't based on what he's done. It was based on his faith in the One. It was based on his faith in the light. That's how it worked before Christ, same way it works after Christ. If you want righteousness, there's only one way to get it.
And then we get another lady. And I’ve just got to tell you, this is so fascinating., this lady Anna. if you want to turn back to Luke 2 because you would think that well, there's more that Simeon says, I'm sorry, I'm jumping ahead here. Look, he has a word for Joseph and Mary. This is really intense what he says here in Luke 2:33-35. And he, I mean, first of all, when a strange man walks up to you and takes your baby and starts prophesying, and the power of the Holy Spirit... I mean, Joseph and Mary, they are marveling at what is said here, I mean, yes, Joseph and Mary have an idea of who their son is. And they're being careful that he fulfills the law of the Lord. But this is amazing what Simeon sang here, I mean, they're just blown away like they're seeing some of the scope of Gentiles being brought in, and the light shining to the whole world, and Simeon, now he has a word just for them, the parents, particularly for Mary, it says, he blessed them, just like Simeon blessed God, he now blesses them. And he said, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel. And any in fact that Mary, you got to brace yourself, Luke 2:35, “a sword will pierce through your own soul also.” Which I can imagine is exactly how Mary felt when she watched the nails pierce the hands and feet of her beloved firstborn. And it says here that this one, this one who's appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. So, this is really interesting what Simeon is saying, because he's acting like Jesus is the light of the world. And even though right now, the Jews hate the Gentiles in the context here of Luke 2, they're just going to bring peace like he's like it’s not going to matter anymore whether you're Jew or Gentile, we're all going to be one church in Jesus Christ. Can I get an Amen from anybody?
So, there's this dividing wall of hostility that Jesus is going to break down, like those who used to be considered far off, the Gentiles, the foreigners, the people outside of Israel, oh, they're far from God, no, they're going to be brought near by the ones. So, Simeon, he's saying some amazing things like this one is going to bring the Jews and the Gentiles together. But then now he starts saying, but there's going to be many who fall and many who rise. Now he says, the division will no longer be over Jew and Gentile, the division will now be even among those in Israel. It will be on what people do with Jesus. Some will believe in him as the light of the world, and some will reject him. And because their works are evil, and they want to stay in the darkness, and so it's not going to be a division based on Jew and Gentile and nations and things, Jesus is now going to start a whole new division based on who believes in him. They will rise and who stumbles over him, they will fall. And even Israel will be divided over the Messiah, he says, and even the division, the tension, the rejection of Jesus, it's going to pierce your soul like a sword, Mary. Like, this is not going to be easy. Even Jesus's own household, for some of his life will be divided, because his own brothers won't end up believing in him. Oh, there's going to be division, but it's not Jew and Gentile, like people think, no the division is going to be over who believes and who rejects the Lord Jesus. And it's going to get hard, Mary. All of us are going to, all of us who believe in Jesus are going to feel the division, the tension with those who don't believe in Jesus. Some of us might have felt that with gathering with our families for this very holiday. We feel that division because there is a difference between those who believe and receive him as Lord and Savior and those who still live not by faith. And Simeon, he's saying a word to Mary. And wow, that must have been just overwhelming for Mary to hear right there that a sword is going to pierce through her soul.
And then in Luke 2:36 this prophetess Anna, and she shows up, and this lady, it gives us a real description of her here, what an interesting lady for seven years, she was married. And then now for so many years, she's been a widow. And there's some debate there in the Greek about was she a widow for eighty-four years or is she now eighty-four years old. But clearly, she's been a widow for a long time, but she did not remarry. She spends her time in the temple, fasting and praying night and day. So, I mean, this is another lady that by all of our kind of standard, this lady would be a righteous lady. This lady seems like a lady who walks with God, but coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God, and to speak of him to all who are waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. So, we already had earlier in our text this idea of the consolation of Israel. Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel, here's Anna now, and there's apparently many others who are waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. You can see that at the time that Jesus was born, there were people who had been waiting for him by faith. And what a great day they had when Jesus got brought to the temple. And Simeon and Anna there, they both see him, and for some reason, Luke thinks this is so important. He's got to put this down. And you want to know one of the reasons that I think it's so that Luke makes sure we have this account. And he introduces us to Simeon and Anna. I think he's actually doing this as a reference to the law of Moses, because when things were established in the Law of Moses, you couldn't just establish them based on any one witness. What did you need to establish something in the Law of Moses? You needed two or three witnesses. And what were there in that day when Jesus came, according to the law, to fulfill the law? What did God have at the ready to have his witnesses there to see the Messiah, and to spread the word? Hey, if you've been waiting by faith for the one who's going to bring the kingdom, if you've been waiting for the redemption of Israel, if you've been waiting for the king to be born, well, let the good news be spread. The king is here. And Simeon and Anna are two people who would have had a lot of respect as righteous people there in the community around the temple. Now they go and testify. You could write down Deuteronomy 19:15, where it talks about on the evidence of two witnesses, or three witnesses shall any kind of charge be established. That's what you need. Even that's where the idea of when people get married, they being a best man or a maid of honor, because they're the witnesses of the work that God does to join two people together. Well, there were some witnesses on that day in the temple that the righteous one was here, people who'd been waiting for him by faith with Simeon and Anna.
So, let's get this down for number two: Righteous people don't point to self but to faith in Jesus. Righteous people don't point to self, but to faith in Jesus. And these people, they knew based on all of the prophets, that there was a king who was coming, there was a future day of glory for the nation of Israel. And when Simeon and Anna saw Jesus there in the temple, they worshiped, and they spread the word and their faith became sight. Brothers and sisters, can you imagine what it's going to be like for those of us who have lived for Jesus for decades, those of us who have been waiting for Jesus our entire lives, and all we've ever had is the words of the book, all we've ever had is the gathering of believers together? We have never seen Jesus with our eyes, but we know him, and we love him by our faith, because we've heard the word of Christ. And we have believed. Can you imagine the joy you're going to have some day when you see Jesus in Jerusalem? Is there anybody here still waiting for the redemption of Israel? Anybody still here waiting for the Messiah to come? Anybody? Would anybody here like to not die before you see Jesus with your own eyes? See, that's what these two people experienced that day, two witnesses that all the law was being fulfilled, and all that the prophets said was true. And what's coming to happen? And they could testify that their faith had become sight when they saw that the king had been born. And Jesus was there among them. And I promise you, just as the Scripture does, that everybody here who believes in Jesus, you will see him in all of his glory. His light will shine upon you. And that will be a great day after Christmas. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? We don't ride into the sunset, the sun comes right in. That's how the story really ends. And we should all be looking forward to that. We should all be thinking, oh, I wish I could be Simeon. I hope I get to stay alive till Jesus comes back. Wouldn't that be awesome? Oh, man, that lady Anna being in the temple for all those years, eighty-four years, or something like that, in the temple fasting and praying night and day. I guess that was worth it when she saw Jesus, wow. All the people who have faith in the Scripture will all be declared righteous by God in heaven, and they will all see the reward of Jesus Christ. And so, you want to be righteous, there's only one way to do it. And it is by faith.
And so, we are going to take communion together because that's something that Jesus told us to do. And we're going to take those two elements of his body with that little wafer, and his blood with that little cup. And what we want to do right now the worship team is going to come up. And we're going to sing a song based on the prophecy that that Simeon quoted from Isaiah, chapter 60, arise, the light has come. And we're going to give you a chance to spend some time in prayer while we're singing this song, and praise Jesus, that he perfectly fulfilled the law of righteousness. And then, reaffirm your faith in Jesus Christ, and that's the only way that you have been made righteous is by your faith. And this could be a great time for you. If you feel like you have sin in your life, to confess that to the Lord. And to thank him that it's been based on the righteousness in his body and the perfect sacrifice of his blood. That's how you got redeemed. That's how you got right with God, not based on anything that you've done, not based on yourself, but based on the righteousness of Jesus when he got circumcised, when they redeemed him as the firstborn, when they offered two turtledoves forty days after Christmas. That was establishing the righteousness that you have as you sit here today in Christ. So let me pray for all of us. And then you'll take some time to pray, and then I'll come back out and we'll take communion together. But let me pray.
Father, I thank you for this beautiful morning. God, we worship you even just as we came here today, the beautiful clear day, the sun shining, the snow on the mountain tops, God we can see your glory all around us. But now we thank you that we could open up your Word, and we could see your glory in Christ. We could see your righteous one perfectly fulfilling all that you commanded. We could see the glory of your light, bringing salvation to the nations as all the prophets have spoken. Father, give us a glimpse of the joy that Simeon had that day when he held Jesus, or Anna had when she ran around telling everybody who is waiting, telling a few people at that time who had faith. The light has come, and we have seen his glory. God, I pray that you will give all of us who have faith a longing for that day. We will get to see Jesus in his glorious light. So let this time be a real time of reflection in our hearts. Let us give thanks just as Anna did. Let us give thanks that you sent your son, the righteous one, that he came on Christmas, and for all the days after Christmas he perfectly fulfilled the law, he perfectly fulfilled all that the prophets have spoken.