Bethlehem Baptist Church
Sunday Morning 12/28/25

      • Genesis 1:1ESV

  • Sing We The Song Of Emmanuel
  • Christus Victor (Amen)
  • I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
  • Behold Our God
  • Introduction:
    Well, this morning, I had not planned on being here. My family was blessed with the flu virus and while I am not supposed to be contagious anymore, I am going to take extra precautions not to be too close to anyone.
    I had a backup plan and brother Marty was going to be here, but he and Mason came down with it and Brother Kenny is also off preaching at another engagement.
    So, my pulpit supply pool ran dry really quickly and I figured that God must have wanted me to be here this morning after all.
    We are going to be wrapping up our Christmas series this morning by looking at the last two characters that Luke records in the birth story of Jesus. As we read, I want you to notice the number of times the Bible says that the Scripture was fulfilled.
    Look with me as we read from Luke’s gospel this morning.
    Luke 2:22–40 ESV
    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 in the 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 depart in 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.
    Pray
    Many people stop with the Christmas story at the birth of Jesus, but we have to follow the flow of the narrative.
    There are a couple of people that are mentioned in Luke’s account of Jesus’s birth that appear after that night that we must not forget.
    God could have stopped the story with the shepherds and the angels, but He didn’t. So these two individuals that we are going to look at this morning must be important to understanding who Jesus is.

    1. Jesus Fulfilled the Requirements of the Law (vv.22-24)

    Why did God give these requirements in the Law in the first place?
    What were they?
    The firstborn male who opens the womb shall be devoted to the Lord
    Exodus 13:2 ESV
    2 “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.”
    Exodus 13:12 ESV
    12 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.
    Why? Because every family would be reminded of the promise of a Savior to come.
    The redemption offered for the firstborn son
    Hannah - She did not redeem Samuel but gave Him to the Lord
    Every family would be reminded that we need redemption as well.
    By the way, while we are speaking of these two characters that we are about to be introduced to as being after Jesus’s birth, this would also be a good time to remind you that the wise men recorded in Matthew’s gospel have also not arrived yet. We know this because Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph offered the sacrifice that was required for the poor to redeem their firstborn sons. If the wise men had already come, Mary and Joseph would have more to offer.
    Application:
    Aren’t you glad you don’t have to keep all of these requirements of the law for sacrifices anymore?
    What’s even better is that we have the promise that God has kept the Law for us so that we can be saved.

    2. Jesus is the Comfort of His People (vv. 25-35)

    Simeon was devoted to the Lord - don’t overlook that trait
    He was righteous and devout
    He was waiting for the promise (comfort) made in Isaiah
    Isaiah 25:9 ESV
    9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
    Another way of putting this is that he was living by faith in the promises of God waiting for them to be fulfilled.
    Christmas is a time of waiting. Some folks wait for presents to come or for family to visit.
    God’s people wait for His presence. For those at the time of Jesus’s birth, they were waiting for a Messiah to rescue them from the oppression that they were under.
    For those of us now, we wait for His second advent when He will restore all things and make them new again.
    We hurt. We ache. We grow weary. We loose our way. But, we must never stop hoping and waiting for the comfort - the consolation of Israel.
    Do you live by faith waiting for Jesus?
    God had promised Simeon that he would not die before he got to see the salvation of His people and that day that he was brought by the Holy Spirit into the temple - that same day that they were fulfilling the requirements of the Law for Jesus - their paths crossed with Simeon and he saw the fulfillment of God’s promise.
    This led him to prophecy in v.29-32
    Luke 2:29–32 ESV
    29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in 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.”
    Notice that in Simeon’s prophecy he points out that Jesus is the light of revelation for both His own people - Isreal - and the Gentiles.
    One of the responsibilities of a priest is to communicate revelation from God to His people. Jesus is the perfect revelation for us of who God is and the way to be saved.
    Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV
    1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
    Simeon also prophesied how people would respond to Jesus.
    Some will worship Him
    Some will reject Him
    Mary’s own soul would be pierced as she watched the spear pierce His side at the crucifixion
    All of this would happen so that everything would be exposed - the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.
    You see, not only does Jesus reveal God to us, He also reveals what’s in your own heart.
    Application:
    What is in your heart today? Do you have doubt and unbelief in who Jesus claimed to be?
    Do you need Jesus to serve in that priestly role by speaking to God on your behalf or speaking to you on behalf of God?

    3. Jesus is the Redemption of Israel (vv.36-40)

    Anna is another strange character in this story
    She had been a widow for most of her life and she was also very devout. She fasted and prayed regularly.
    Both her and Simeon give testimony to who Jesus is.
    Why is it significant for there to be two people that give witness to who Jesus is? Remember that it took two witnesses to verify a matter in court. God is giving us two witnesses to tell us who Jesus is.
    One of the duties of a priest besides fulfilling the rituals of the law and revealing God’s word to the people as well as speaking to God on behalf of the people was to also provide the sacrifice that would be used to redeem his people from their sins.
    Jesus would not get that sacrifice from somewhere else. He would provide it himself by being the sacrifice.
    To show you this, I want to take you back to the Book of Genesis
    Genesis 22:1–14 ESV
    1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
    Well, on that same mountain, years later, there stood a temple, and in that temple there was a couple taking the Lamb God had provided to be circumcised.
    He would grow in strength and wisdom and become a man and would later go to a cross on that very same mountain as the Lamb sacrificed for our redemption
    Conclusion
    You see, we can’t stop the Christmas story at the manger. We can’t stop with the angels and the shepherds. We must go on to the temple.
    We must see the presentation of the priest who would also be the lamb that would provide the sacrifice for your sins and mine.
    Have you accepted Christ as your Messiah and King?
    Have you turned from your sin in repentance and believed by faith in the one who is a glory to his people and a revelation to the Gentiles?
    If not, come to Him today and you can be saved.
  • Just As I Am (Broken)
Bethlehem Baptist Church
info@bbced.org
478-272-7827
https://www.bbced.org
8 members • 9 followers