HOPE BIBLE FELLOWSHIP
When Waiting Ends

  • Luke 2:22-38

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    Introduction:

    Are you good at waiting? Right now everyone is waiting for their shipments of Christmas gifts to come in. Do you remember being a child and waiting for Christmas? It felt like that space of time between Halloween and Christmas was three years long. I have so many good memories of the days leading up to Christmas. But the wait was excruciating and exciting. In ancient Israel the people were waiting. They were waiting for consolation, for comfort, for salvation that had been long promised. A promised Savior, a king, Messiah was promised. The prophets had spoken of Him for centuries and still it had not yet happened. Then a virgin is visited by an angel and told she will carry the Son of God. Though she had never been with a man. She would give birth in a small town named Bethlehem and the child would be named Jesus. Shepherds would come in from the fields with news of angels appearing and singing of the glory of God and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased. His followers would have peace with God. This was the breaking of dawn on a darkened time. The waiting was over. Let’s pick up the story in Luke 2:22-38 and see what Mary and Joseph do next with this newborn King.
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    Luke 2:22–38 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.
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    PRAY
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    I. Mary and Joseph were righteous parents.

    1. They named Him Jesus.
    Romans 1:5 - the obedience of faith
    Romans 1:5 ESV
    5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
    I
    2. When Mary heard that she would carry the Son of God, she was troubled at first but she trusted God. She believed God.
    3. Joseph - could have divorced her, but trusted God and did the noble thing
    4. They were where they should be at that time.
    5. They were doing what they should be at that time. They were obeying the Law of God.
    Thabiti Anabwele:
    “They respond not only to supernatural revelation of the angel but also to the written Word of God. Sometimes Christians feel certain God has “told them” something, but then they cannot square that personal “word” with the Bible. In such cases we can be sure God has not told them such a thing. Mary and Joseph have the unusual revelation from the angel but also the “regular” revelation of the Scriptures. They believe and obey God’s Word.”
    - Thabiti Anyabwile, Exalting Jesus in Luke, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2018), Lk 2:21–24.
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    What was the purification time? Laid out in the law of Moses.
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    Leviticus 12:1–4 ESV
    1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “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. 3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 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.
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    Leviticus 12:6–8 ESV
    6 “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, 7 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. 8 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.”
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    Mary and Joseph followed what had been laid out in the Word of God.
    They were a good example to Jesus as he grew.
    How are you as an example of believing and living the Word of God to your children? ( Do they see you following the Word of the Lord? When you sin before them do they see and hear you repenting and relying on the grace of Christ upon the cross?
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    Transition: Someone was waiting for them. He didn’t know it was them specifically until he saw them.
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    II. Simeon was waiting.

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    He obeyed God.

    He was a man of faith who trusted God to fulfill the promise he had made.

    He took God at His Word.

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    The Holy Spirit was upon Him.

    Through the Spirit, God had promised Simeon that he would not die before he got to see the Messiah.
    Controlled by God and empowered to serve the will of the Lord.
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    III. Simeon praises God. (v. 27-35)

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    This is pretty amazing. We have this old man who was going about his day to day business and all of a sudden he gets this urging to go to the temple. He gets there and he sees a baby in a young woman’s arms. He knew that this was the long awaited Savior, the comfort of Israel.
    Imagine this old man who had waited… taking the child Jesus and holding Him, looking into His face and realizing the fulfilled promise of God.
    Simeon blessed God for keeping His promise to him.
    Imagine the kind of peace and satisfaction that Simeon had from witnessing the fulfilled promises of God.
    Simeon is ready to go. His waiting was finally over and he saw the glorious provision of God for salvation in the face of this baby, Jesus the Christ.
    Verse 32 gives some extraordinary information. Simeon says that Jesus is not ONLY salvation for the Jews but also for the Gentiles, the non-Jewish folk. That is wonderful news because it means salvation is possible for those of us who aren’t Jews as well!
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    One scholar called this Simeon’s 1.1.6. moment. It’s equivalent of Paul’s declaration in Romans 1:16
    Romans 1:16 ESV
    16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
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    He also has words that are hinting at sorrow for Mary.
    Jesus would be a light to be sure. And the light of Jesus would expose much. He would have enemies. People would oppose him and pierce Him. It would get right to Mary, His mother’s heart as well.
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    Simeon sees salvation from God laying in his arms but also gets a foreshadow of the cross. This child would grown and would face opposition. People would each need to choose whether they opposed Him or follow Him. They would have to decide if they would submit to Him or push back against Him. We all too have to make that choice. Jesus still exposes sin in our hearts. That provokes opposition. Many times, people don’t like being shown where they fall short but it’s exactly what we need to see. We need to see that we are not enough on our own. Our good deeds and valiant attempts to live a good enough life just don’t ever measure up to God’s perfect standard. The standard is perfection. To be holy as God is holy. But we can’t do it on our own. Our sin nature keeps us falling short of the glory of God. Our sin must be paid for. Our sin must have wrath poured out on it. And this child that Simeon praised God for would grow to live a perfect life. He would never sin because He was 100 percent man but also 100 percent God. He would do the things in life that we can’t do. And then He would offer Himself, His very life, as a sacrifice to God to take the wrath of God on Himself and give us His right standing before God. He would die for our sins on the cross. He died in my place as a substitute for me. And as Simeon gave a glimpse of, His mother would witness these things. And after He died on that cross, He was burried, and three days later, by the power of God, rose from the grave and lives forever more. Our God is alive. This is the one who is light and salvation and the one who exposes sin and what is really in our hearts and offers you a choice to either repent of your sin and believe this good news called the Gospel or walk away still in your sin and experience eternal wrath of God in hell. This is real. It’s real. I beg of you, choose life. Choose Jesus.
    A very cool thing to tell you: If you are asking questions about God and really feeling like maybe you want to believe this good news of Jesus dying in your place, for your sins, and rising again is this: You won’t seek Him on your own. The Holy Spirit, the same that was upon Simeon, draws people to Jesus. The scripture says:
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    Romans 3:10–17 ESV
    10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
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    So no one just wakes up and decides to seek God unless the Holy Spirit draws them. Jesus spoke of this in:
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    John 6:44 ESV
    44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
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    So if you are fighting with belief. Surrender to the Lord today. Know He is working on your heart and drawing you to Himself. Surrender.
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    V. Another divine appointment.

    After the account of Simeon, there is another divine appointment for the new family. Anna is a woman who is described as being “well along in years.” She seems to have married young and her husband had also died young. If she was married around the age of sixteen then at this point in history she would have been over a hundred, just to give you some perspective on this.
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    Anna thanked God.

    When you understand the good news that Jesus is the Savior and God sent us a perfect Savior, you should be grateful and thank Him. I’m trying to, by the grace of God, be a more thankful person. Here we are talking specifically about our thankfulness for salvation. FOR JESUS. Friends, she was old. But even in her old age, she didn’t let bitterness calcify in her. She was open with a grateful heart and was ready when she saw the Lord.

    Anna starts spreading the good news.

    The people had been waiting in darkness. They had come through years and years of the Lord being silent and here, the long promised and long waited for King of Glory had arrived in baby skin. Anna becomes an evangelist. It says she spoke to all those who were waiting on the redemption of Israel. She reminds me of that Oprah gif, you get a car and you get a car. Anna is almost like you get the gospel, and you get the gospel, everyone she sees who was waiting gets the gospel! Her response here is truly incredible.
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    And that brings us to an opportunity to respond with our lives.
    You’ve heard the gospel today. You’ve heard the truth about who Jesus is. Some of you believe it. Jesus’ purpose in coming wasn’t to give you a better life or make your job more bearable… not ultimately. Jesus’s purpose was to reveal God to us and die as a perfect sacrifice for the sin of mankind. So what do you do with that?
    1. Well first, some of you may need to believe the good news and repent of your sin and trust Jesus to save you. Become a Christian, a Christ follower.

    Repent and believe

    2. Some of us just need to let the truth of the good news sink so deeply into our bones that we burst forth daily in praise to the Lord and gratefulness. Have you lost your sense of thankfulness. Seek Him and ask Him to make you more thankful. Do you trust Him to do it? Wait with faith.

    Thankfully Praise

    3. Let the truth of the Word drive you to worship. Don’t solely worship out of emotion. Emotion is good but we must worship in Spirit and truth. Strive to know the Word, the whole counsel of God. Dedicate yourself to it’s study and to speaking the Word.
    Psalm 119:10 ESV
    10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!
    Psalm 119:103 ESV
    103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
    Psalm 119:11 ESV
    11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
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    Don’t be guided by feelings but by the truth of the Word of God.

    Worship

    4. Be joyful. Anna was full of joy. So was Simeon. If God has revealed Himself to you in Jesus.... HAVE JOY!

    Have Joy

    5. Spread the news about Jesus. There are others waiting in darkness. We can show them the light of Jesus. He will expose them for what they are and provide the solution for what they are and what we were before we knew Him. Be an evangelist. Tell everyone about the only one who truly matters.

    Tell everyone.

    Let’s Pray.
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      • Luke 2:22–38HCSB

      • Leviticus 12:1–4HCSB

      • Leviticus 12:6–8HCSB

      • Romans 1:16HCSB

      • Romans 3:10–17HCSB

      • John 6:44HCSB

      • Psalm 119:10HCSB

      • Psalm 119:103HCSB

      • Psalm 119:11HCSB

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