← Back to sermon library
to the gospel according to Luke.
Luke chapter two, God willing, we'll return to our studies in
John's gospel in a few weeks. We'll finish up the upper room
discourse, the last several verses in John 16, and then take up
Jesus' high priestly prayer. But this morning, our focus will
be on this man called Simeon that takes up the babe Christ
in his arms and makes a wonderful confession and a prophetic statement. So I wanna read chapter two in
Luke's gospel, verses 25 to 35. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was just 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. So he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought
him, 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,
which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light
to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people
Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled
at those things which were spoken of him. Then Simeon blessed them
and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which
will be spoken against. Yes, a sword will pierce through
your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be
revealed. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our
Father in heaven, thank you for the Lord's day. Thank you for
the house of God, where the people of God can gather together. And
as we come to the Father through the Son and the power of the
Holy Spirit, we pray that you would be enthroned upon the praises
of your people here. would send the Spirit now to
guide us and lead us into all truth, cause us to reflect upon
this glorious scene, cause us to reflect upon the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the very salvation of God Most High. Forgive us
now for all sin and all unrighteousness and all those things that darken
our minds and our hearts and our understanding. We pray that
you would cause us with fresh appreciation to marvel at what
our Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished on our behalf. We thank you for
his life of perfect obedience to the Father's law, that death
is a sacrifice and substitute on the cross, and that resurrection
again the third day in the current session where he now lives to
make intercession for his people. We look forward to his return
again in glory to judge the living and the dead. And we pray that
all here, everyone under the sound of the gospel here and
elsewhere would come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that they would be cleansed in his blood and clothed in his
righteousness and ready to meet him on that great day. And we
ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, as
we come to this particular passage of scripture, last week in John's
gospel, we noted the two comings of our Lord Jesus Christ that
he speaks of. In John chapter 16, he says,
I came forth from the Father. And there he's speaking about
the eternal generation of the Son. There never was a time when
the Son was not. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
divine word. We see that in John 1, verse
1, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the
word was God. And then Jesus goes on to speak
in that passage in John 16 that he came into the world. We call
that the incarnation. So back to John 1, after saying
what John does in verse 1, he says in John 1, 14, the word
became flesh and dwelt among us. And it's a glorious and a
wonderful truth of the Christian religion that God the Son came
into this world, took on our humanity with all the essential
properties and the common infirmities thereof, yet without sin, such
that he could live for us and die for us and be raised again
for us. I think that as we move through
this passage, you'll understand why Simeon, this old man, is
rejoicing and now he has laid his eyes upon the very salvation
of God Almighty. So I want to look first at the
confession of Simeon in verses 25 to 28. And then secondly,
we'll look at the prophecy of Simeon in verses, hang on, that's
25 to 32, the confession, and then the prophecy in verses 33
to 35. So confession and then prophecy. And by confession, I don't mean,
Father, forgive me for I have sinned, but a confession of his
faith in our great God who had fulfilled the promise to send
the Messiah to save his people from their sin. So let's look
first at the confession in verses 25 to 32. There is first revelation
given to Simeon. When we look at this brief section
concerning Simeon himself, we notice in verses 25 to 28, it
indicates something about who he is. Now notice the nature
of his religion. Verse 25 says, and behold, there
was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man
was just and devout. And I think this captures what
is well-spoken in Micah chapter six, verse eight. He has shown
you, oh man, what is good. And what does the Lord require
of you but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly before
your God or with your God? This is something that we see
all throughout the Old Testament. It is an apt description of the
remnant, of the believers, of those who took seriously the
promises of God in the Old Testament and looked forward in faith to
the coming Messiah. And so this old man, and I call
him an old man because he speaks about departing in peace. He's
probably not 20. He's probably not 25. He had
been waiting a long time to see the consolation of Israel. So
he's an old man. And so this old man had a robust
faith in all that God had spoken in the Old Testament scriptures.
Some suggest that this Simeon was a pretty prestigious man.
that perhaps he was the son of Hillel, who was a famous rabbi,
and the father of Gamaliel, rather, that Paul refers to. I like Poole. Matthew Poole says, the revelations
of Christ were to none of the Pharisees, but to Joseph, a carpenter,
to Mary, a despised virgin, though of the house of David, to an
ordinary priest, Zacharias, to shepherds. And why should we
fancy this Simeon a principal doctor? I cannot tell. I think
he's right. There's an obscurity about the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that he assumes our
humanity. Later, the fact that he'll ride
into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. We know, of course,
all of this fulfills Scripture, but he didn't come with the fanfare
that we expect at his second coming when he comes to judge
the living and the dead. Now, note as well, with reference
to his character, he's waiting for the consolation of Israel. And specifically what that means
is that he has a confidence in the promises of God. He has a
confidence in the promises of God. We know that God is not
silent in the Old Testament Scriptures about the coming of Messiah.
In Greek, we call that Christ. God is not silent, and all throughout
the Scriptures, He reveals that planned purpose and intention
to send the Son of His love in order that He might save His
people from their sins. And so that Simeon is waiting
for the consolation of Israel indicates that confidence that
he has in the promises of God. Say, for instance, Genesis 3.15,
that first giving of gospel promise where the seed of the woman is
going to crush the head of the serpent. We see it in types in
Genesis chapter 22, when Abraham is told to take Isaac up to Mount
Moriah, the son, the only son, the son that he loves, and sacrifice
him before the Lord. We know that from that passage,
Abram understands well the significance. He says that the Lord will provide. That ram caught in a thicket
is a type of our blessed savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have
that Levitical priesthood and the sacrifices offered up. We
see that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission
for sin. We've got the announcement throughout
the prophets and throughout the Psalter. In fact, our brother
Mark read from 5-2 in the prophet Micah. And one has well observed
there, in the setting of Micah, that deliverance for Israel,
both past, under David, and future, under David's greater son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, originate from a cradle in Bethlehem. And
so Simeon had this desire. Simeon understood. Simeon expresses
the confidence of his God, or in his God rather, in terms of
the promises of God, which are yea and amen. Simeon is not unique
in this. Turn to the book of Acts in Acts
chapter 28. Acts chapter 28. There are several
other passages that indicate this, but I love the way Paul
puts it when he's basically on trial. He's been arrested. He's
in Rome. He's appearing before the unbelieving
Jews. He's ultimately on house arrest,
or rather arrest in a prison from AD 60 to 62. That's where
Acts ends with 28, 30, and 31. But prior to that, notice what
he says with reference to these Jews that have rejected the Lord
Jesus Christ. Notice in verse 17 of chapter
28, it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders
of the Jews together. So when they had come together,
he said to them, men and brethren, though I have done nothing against
our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered
as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,
who when they had examined me, wanted to let me go. We've seen
that in our studies in the Gospel of John. We saw that in our studies
in the book of Acts. The first primary enemy of the
Christian church wasn't the Roman empire, it was unbelieving Israel.
They had rejected the son of God and therefore rejected the
church that he had founded. Notice in verse 19, but when
the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar,
not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation. For this
reason, therefore, I have called for you to see you and speak
with you. Note, because for the hope of
Israel, I am bound with this chain. And I think there in Acts
28, something that is emphasized throughout the entirety of the
book of Acts by the author Luke under inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, is to show us that the true interpreters of the Old
Testament scriptures are the apostles. not the unbelieving
Jews who missed Jesus. The Old Testament is all about
Jesus. Remember on that road to Damascus,
the Apostle Paul, at that time Saul of Tarsus, he knew the Old
Testament, but he didn't have that interpretative key, namely
the Lord of glory, even Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And so
this hope of Israel or this consolation for Israel sustained Old Covenant
believers. They were looking forward by
faith in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that was fed
by the Old Testament scriptures. So back to Simeon. We notice,
as we continue to look at his character, he's filled with the
Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. This jives with
what we've seen in the upper room. Jesus speaks about the
sending of the Spirit. They've tried to encourage us
to think this way, that the Old Testament believers have the
Spirit. The Old Testament prophets spake
by the Spirit. What Jesus is promising in the
Upper Room Discourse is the Pentecostal pouring out of the Spirit, the
sending of the Spirit on Pentecost, which is a fulfillment of the
Old Testament prophets. But now Simeon has the Spirit.
Simeon's a godly man. Simeon is also going to receive
revelation from the Spirit and notice that particular content.
It says in verse 26, it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
He's going with the eyes, the physical eyes to set them upon
the consolation of Israel. He's gonna set the physical eyes
upon the very salvation of God most high. Now it's at this point
that it's probably okay not to envy, but to be a bit jealous
of Simeon in this instance. He's at a unique period in redemptive
history. He is at a unique pinnacle in
redemptive history. The fullness of the time had
come. God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the
law to redeem those under the law. Simeon is an old covenant
saint. He's characterized by a justness
and a devoutness. He knows the presence and the
power of the Holy Spirit. And that presence and power of
the Holy Spirit is revealed to him that his physical eyes are
gonna set upon the Lord of glory, the promised Messiah. Now note
that his conduct, verses 27 to 28, he enters into the temple
by the prompting of the Spirit. And who, of course, does he meet
there? But Joseph and Mary and the child Jesus. Why are Joseph
and Mary there? Because Jesus, in the fullness
of the time, was sent forth by his Father, born of a woman and
born under the law. Luke records the circumcision
of Jesus, and Luke records the coming of Joseph and Mary to
the temple to pay the redemption price for their firstborn son. And so all of this, right place,
right time, The Spirit prevails upon Simeon, not prevails, that's
probably not the best word, prompted is better, moves Simeon to that
place and we see then the taking up of the child. Notice in verse
28, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, I've said this before, you've
heard it. Mary must have been prompted, or Mary was the most
charitable woman on the face of the earth. If some rando dude
comes up to grab your child out of your arms, lady, I suspect
we'll see mama bear, bear her fangs and paws. This is of God. This is that blessed, blessed
pinnacle in the history of the world. This is the incarnation
of the Son of God. This is the obedience of Mary
and Joseph. This is the prompting of the
Holy Spirit, such that Simeon goes in fulfillment of what had
been revealed to him, that he would not die until he laid eyes
upon the consolation of Israel. He takes the child out of her
hands. Again, there's no resistance
there. Mary doesn't go mother bear and start to claw at him
or to start to bat at him, but he does this. And it made me
think about the use of language that we utilize with reference
to the incarnation of our Lord. I think there have been many
instances where we've tried to encourage you, don't use the
language of addition. It's not as if Christ added human
nature. It kind of suggests that there's
something added to the divine. He certainly didn't subtract.
Some take that faulty reading in Philippians chapter two, and
they suspect that Jesus divested himself of deity when he became
man. I think Wesley got it right there.
Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity. Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel, our God with us. The language that the scriptural
writers employ is that he assumed or he took to himself. He took
to himself our humanity. You see this in Philippians chapter
two, and you see it as well in Hebrews two. He doesn't take
on angels, but he takes on man. Why does he take on man? Well,
all those essential properties and common infirmities thereof,
and yet without sin, so that he could live for us, so that
he could die for us, so that he could be raised again for
us. So consider the one who took on our humanity is now picked
up, took up by a godly man in the temple. It really is a glorious
picture, not physically, not painting, but in terms of the
significance of this particular event. The old man had been waiting,
informed and nurtured by the promises of the faithful God
all throughout the Old Testament. The time has come, the Spirit
has prompted him, he now holds the babe Christ in his arms.
And that brings us to the confession of Simeon. And there's three
points here that we should observe. First, his departure in peace. Secondly, the salvation of God.
And third, the blessing upon the nations. Note the departure,
excuse me, the departure in peace. And this departure has reference
to his death. Verse 29, Lord, now you are letting
your servant depart in peace. This is language that we're familiar
with. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5,
to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Paul says in Philippians 1.23, he says, I'm hard-pressed between
the two. It's much better to be present
with the Lord than to continue on or tarry on with you brethren
in Philippi. So you see, this man who had
been nurtured on the promises, this man who is now holding the
promise, this man says, I can depart in peace. It's kind of
like Jacob when he sees Joseph. I can die now. Perhaps you've
said that in your life. My children are converted. My
grandchildren are converted. I'm a happy man. I can depart
in peace. That's the significance of the
statement. Again, brethren, what we have
in the entirety of our Bibles is the entirety of our Bibles.
And some of us have them bound in beautiful calfskin leather
with great big margins for copious note-taking. Simeon didn't have
that. What did he have? He had the
promises that were preached by the prophets, inscribed by the
prophets, given in the Psalter. He had the Torah. He had the
law. He had all these things. But he didn't have necessarily
all the things that we have. And so for him, it was okay now
that he die. For him, it was okay that he
depart because it's going to be in peace. Then notice he speaks
concerning the salvation of God in verses 30 and 31. For my eyes
have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the
face of all peoples. For my eyes have seen your salvation. It's kind of like in that reading
in Micah chapter five. Verse 5a tells us that Jesus
is peace. Just like Paul does in the book
of Ephesians in chapter two, he says Christ himself is our
peace. Christ embodies it. Christ is
about it. Christ is the sum and substance
of it, such that Paul can write in Romans 5, therefore, having
been justified by faith, we have peace with God. Well, in the
same way that Christ is about peace, in the same way that Christ
is about the embodiment, rather, of peace, so is He the salvation
of God. Remember the naming of Jesus
in Matthew chapter 1? You shall call his name Jesus,
which is the New Covenant equivalent of the word Joshua, which means
salvation is of Yahweh, or Yahweh saves. It's his name. It was given to him for a particular
reason and purpose, because that's his function as the mediator
of the new covenant. So he says, for my eyes have
seen your salvation. Matthew Pool again says, for
my eyes have seen thy salvation, that is thy Christ. According
to the revelation I had from thee. Simeon had a special revelation
of a corporeal side of God. That means physically. He had
a special revelation of a physical sight of Christ. He could not
die happily till he had had that. Then he makes this observation.
And if you're not a believer here this morning, I want you
to hear what he has to say. He says, none of us can die in
peace till we have seen the Lord's salvation with a spiritual eye
and made application of the promises of the gospel in the more general
revelation of his word. So you've got this scene where
Simeon takes the child. Simeon has the babe in his arms.
Simeon blesses God. That means to speak well of God
or magnify God for the reason that he is now able to divide
in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation. So what had been revealed, what
had been waited for, had come to pass. He's now ready to depart
in peace and stand before God. It's a good question for all
of us. Are we ready to depart in peace and stand before God?
Butler's not becoming the prophet this morning, prophesying your
sudden or imminent doom. I don't have that prerogative,
nor do I want that prerogative, to be quite candid with you.
But I do know this. that we're not to boast about
tomorrow, according to James. We're kind of like that vapor
that comes out of the teapot. It's here for a time, and then
it's gone. It's kind of like Moses, that man of God who composed
Psalm 90. By virtue of strength, our years
are 70 or 80, and then what? Where will we fly away to? Are
you prepared to go before the living and the true God and give
an account of deeds done in the body, whether good or ill? It's
not the corporeal or physical sight that you need or that you
can have, but it's rather that sight by faith that is to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to look to Him and live.
Going back to John's gospel, just as the Son of Man was lifted
up in the wilderness, so also must the Son of Man be lifted
up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. Could we die Simeon's death right
now? Could we die Simeon's death tomorrow? Could we die Simeon's death in
15 years? The only way that we can die
with peace is by God's grace through faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what the brother is musing
on. The promises are yea and amen
in Jesus. The fulfillment is yea and amen
in Jesus. The very embodiment with reference
to the physical Jesus he is holding is God's salvation. That's why this is so significant. Now, notice what he goes on to
say in verse 31. So he says in verse 30, for my
eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before
the face of all peoples. That kind of connects with what
we saw there in verse 25, waiting for the consolation of Israel.
In other words, he says that the Father, God Almighty, prepared
for this. My brother Cam's gonna preach
from Galatians 4 tonight, so I don't wanna steal any of his
thunder, but in the fullness of the time, God sent forth his
son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under
the law. There was a plan, there was a purpose, there's a power. This isn't a haphazard random
series of events wherein God just happened to get lucky. And
notice that Simeon muses on that reality that God had prepared
for this, this very occasion when he's holding this child,
when he's musing on the fact that this very child is the salvation
of God. So just a little bit more expansively,
how did he know that? He knew that from Genesis 3.15. He knew that from the types that
we have in scripture. I mentioned that ram caught in
the thicket in Genesis chapter 22. I mentioned the Levitical
priesthood. There's no surprise in John 1.29
when announcing Jesus' purpose and mission, the Incarnate One,
it's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. People
weren't puzzled by that. I mean, the unbelieving Jews
rejected it and resisted it, but the Baptist confessed that
because that's why he had come. He's the Lamb of God that that
Aaronic priesthood or that Levitical priesthood pointed forward to
in terms of sacrifice and in terms of priestly activity. So
Simeon fed himself on the truth as it is in Jesus. He fed himself
on the Psalter. He fed himself on the prophets.
He fed himself on what we call the historical books, better
to call them the former prophets. Fed himself on the truth of God's
holy word, such that when he saw Jesus, he's able to say,
mine eyes have seen your salvation. And as I was thinking through
this, it types. For those of you in our church,
you've heard that word before. Hopefully, for those not in our
church, you've heard that word before as well. Types are something
we see in the Old Testament that prefigure certain aspects of
new covenant blessing. For instance, the tabernacle
and the temple. Those were not ends in and of
themselves, and they're certainly not to be sought out again. But
the tabernacle and the temple preached God's dwelling with
his people through his son, the Lord Jesus. That's why Jesus
uses that language in John 2. Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up. Well, Lord, it took us 46 years
to build the temple. What are you talking about? John
the theologian tells us he was talking about the temple of his
body. You've got that ram in the thicket that points forward
to or prefigures the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world. You've got a David. Certainly David is typological
of our blessed Savior. There's one other type that I
just felt the need to bring about, not suggesting that this was
in Simeon's head, but I think that Judges 13 to 16 give us
something typological about our Lord Jesus Christ in the life
of Samson. You probably all know that Samson's
one of my heroes. But think about the life of Samson. In the brief compass of Judges
13 to 16, you find four times that the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Samson. The Spirit of the Lord came upon
Samson. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson. The Spirit
of the Lord came upon Samson. There's this narrative out there
that he was this big, bumbling oof. He had big muscles, but
he had even bigger lusts. And I don't know why God used
him. I think that narrative is false. Judges 13 records a supernatural
birth with a particular mission. Remember, Mrs. Manoah hadn't
had children yet. I'm not suggesting virgin birth.
Manoah was altogether involved. But the scriptures in the Old
Testament has this motif of the barren woman getting pregnant.
The barren woman getting pregnant. You have it in that particular
passage. You've got Sarah brings forth
Isaac. You've got Rebecca bringing forth Jacob. You've got Rachel
bringing forth Joseph. You've got Hannah bringing forth
Samuel. And you've got Elizabeth bringing forth John the Baptist.
There's a motif. There's layers. You're reading
your Old Testament, you should think, Jesus. You read Genesis
chapter 3, and Jesus specifically is called the seed of the woman.
Not a denigration of Joseph and his instrumentality, but an emphasis
upon virgin birth. An emphasis upon the fact that
the deliverer will be a man born of a woman, and that his delivery
will be decisive. He will crush the head of the
serpent. So we've got this supernatural birth with reference to Samson,
and then the mission is specified. In Judges 13, 5, it says, and
he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
Sounds just like Matthew 1, 21, for he it is who will save his
people from their sins. And then lo and behold, you turn
to chapters 14 and 15, and what do you get with Samson? Victory
over his enemies. And even a lion. What does Peter
caution us in 1 Peter 5? Behold, your adversary, the devil,
goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And
then what about the defeat of Samson in terms of the Gazites?
In chapter 16, it says he goes into the harlot at Gaza. I don't believe he had relations
with her. I believe he was hiding the way
the spies Joshua dispatched in Joshua chapter two were hiding
when they went to Rahab the harlot's house. But Samson does something
significant in chapter 16, verse three. He takes up the city gates. And he takes him over to Mount
Hebron to show that the Judahites ought to join him in battle to
subjugate their enemies. It's language in Genesis 22,
17 and Genesis 24, 60 with reference to Abraham and Isaac. You're
going to possess the gates of your enemies. Huh, what does
Jesus say to Simon Peter in Matthew 16? Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah,
for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father was
in heaven. And I say to you, you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build my church, and what? The gates
of Hades shall not prevail against it. Does Samson have something
to teach us about the incarnation and the salvation of God? Yes.
And then what's the sort of pinnacle moment with reference to the
Samson narrative? It's conquest by death. Again, I'm not saying Simeon
mused on this and had this particular angle. But it was there, it was
available, it was for him, and it is for us as well. Types do
not become types when you and I figure them out. Paul speaks
of Adam being a type in Romans 5.14. That's not when Adam became
a type. Adam became a type as soon as
God made him and planted him in the garden. Judges 13 to 16,
and me telling you so, doesn't mean that Samson is now a type. He was always a type. And what
about that promise in Genesis 3.15? He will crush the head
of the serpent, which we know is the devil. Do you know how
many head shots, kill shots there are in the Old Testament? Is
it insignificant that David takes the head off of Goliath? Is it
insignificant that at the time of the Judges, the enemies of
the Lord often fall because of fatal headshots? My point is
simply this. We look at these people, Old
Covenant believers, and we think, man, how'd they do it? They did
it the same way we do. They trusted in the promises
of God Most High and lived in light of them. That's the encouragement
for all of us. But we have it a bit better in
terms of a New Testament. And so if our faith is lacking
and a Simeon's is abounding, then the obvious response is,
get your face in the scriptures. Get yourself to church. Get under
the teaching of God's holy word and learn it for your encouragement,
for your admonition, for your correction, for your reproof,
and for your character, so that you, like a Simeon, can be just
and devout. just toward man, devout toward
God, a Micah 6, 8 religion, a Deuteronomy 10, 12 religion. The kind of
religion Jesus commends in Matthew 23 when he rebukes the Pharisees,
you tie the mint and the anise and the cumin, but you neglect
the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith.
Sounds like a trend there. Sounds like these are the things
that please our blessed God. You see them embodied in Simeon.
The Spirit is upon him. He's a believer in the things
of the Lord. And it causes him to reflect upon the glory of
the Lord and to take up this babe in his arms and to rejoice,
to bless, to say, my eyes have seen your salvation, which you
have prepared before the face of all peoples. But then notice
he goes on to speak of the blessing of God upon the nations. And
again, how does he know this? Well, the oracle of Noah about
Japheth coming into the tents of Shem. He knows this based
on the promises of God to Abraham. Look north, look south, look
east, look west, all this is going to be yours. He knows this
by virtue of the promise to Abraham to look at the sand on the seashore
and God says your descendants are going to be more numerous.
He knows it by virtue of the fact that the old covenant prophet,
specifically Isaiah, announces the coming of the servant of
the Lord. And in that composition, there are four servant songs
which show us the glory of Jesus in Isaiah 42, Isaiah 49, Isaiah
50, and Isaiah 53. And in Isaiah 42 and 49, at verse
six, we learn concerning the promised Messiah that he's not
only gonna save those in Israel, but he is going to be a light
unto the Gentiles. In fact, turn to Isaiah 49, just
to get a bit of a feel of what the prophet is speaking and what
Simeon has picked up on in terms of his blessing of God. Isaiah
49. We'll pick up at verse five.
And now the Lord says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel is gathered to him
for I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall
be my strength. Indeed, he says, it is too small
a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes
of Jacob. Do you know what he means? That ain't enough. If God's purpose
with reference to this cosmos is to demonstrate His glory and
His power and the salvation of sinners through His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. One little place on the map ain't
enough. It is too small a thing that
you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to
restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you
as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to
the ends of the earth. The Lord Christ in John is demonstrated
as the savior of the world. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son. You've got that testimony of
the Samaritans themselves. We're here not just because of
testimony of Samaritan woman, because now we have seen, we
have heard, we believe, and we know that you are the savior
of the world. That bit in John chapter 12,
where the Pharisees are all concerned about the knowledge of Jesus
going out to the world. And these Greeks come and they
say to the disciples, sirs, we would see Jesus. the prophecy
of Caiaphas in John chapter 11, that he would not only save the
people of Israel, but he would save in other nations. The statement
of the good shepherd in John chapter 10, I have other sheep. He's not a Mormon Jesus. Their
whole take on that is bizarre and odd at best. He's talking
about Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of God. And
that's what Simeon is highlighting here. As he holds the babe Christ,
as he testifies concerning the fact that he is the Lord's salvation,
the fact that he is the one prepared by God for the coming into this
world sinners to save. And he highlights that he's a
light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of
your people Israel. In fact, this text is what Paul
and Silas of Barnabas invoke rather in Pisidian Antioch in
Acts chapter 13. When they're rejected and resisted
by unbelieving Jews, they say that very thing. They take that
text, apply it to the Savior as the servant of Yahweh, and
they see it as applicable to them as well. by virtue of their
union with the servant through grace or by grace through faith,
they're going to be a light to the Gentiles. That's what kicked
off the missionary enterprise. That's what made them go, was
this understanding that Japheth, who's Gentile, according to Genesis
10, one to three, finds inclusion in Shem's tent. That we have
these Psalms. Psalm 117 is all about the Gentile
inclusion in the covenant promises of God. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
same thing. Psalter, same thing. All the
ends of the earth shall hear, and what? They'll fear. Be still
and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth." Then you get to the book of Revelation.
What do you see assembled before that throne of God and the Lamb
who sits upon the throne? Well, there's just a few of these
people here that have trickled out of the land of Israel. No,
it's every tribe. It's every tongue. It's every
people. It's every nation. This made Simeon happy. This
encouraged Simeon. This was the impetus for which
Simeon could say, I'm ready to go. I've seen how you're going
to do it. I've seen with my own eyes how
you're going to orchestrate it. I know from my own reading and
my own hearing of preaching how you prepared it. It's come to
pass and now I'm ready to depart. And in that was involved the
recognition and expectation of a great multitude that no man
can number through the victorious power of this babe that he's
holding in his arms. It really is interesting, isn't
it? That babe in his arms never was without divinity. That babe
in his arms was the Word made flesh. He doesn't get rid of
the divinity. He doesn't put the divinity on
the back burner. But while he's cradled in the arms of that man,
this is indeed the God-man. And Simeon has hope. Simeon has
peace. Simeon knows that God has been
faithful to his promises. Well, let's look then quickly
at the prophecy. Look at his prophecy in verses
33 to 35. First, he blesses Joseph and
Mary. Verse 33, Joseph and his mother.
Some say, well, it's not indicating his parents, but the rest of
the context does. There's nothing wrong with calling
Joseph the parent of Jesus, according to his humanity. In fact, as
Luke will say in Luke 3, he was supposed to be the son of Joseph. Not that he's not, but Luke is
saying, but we know the whole story. Jesus doesn't start in
the womb of the virgin. Jesus, the divine word, never
starts. Contrary to Arius and his modern
representatives and Jehovah's Witnesses, when they say there
was a time when the son was not, no, there's never been a time
when the son was not. He is from everlasting to everlasting. So Luke assumes that we know
of the incarnation of the divine word. But with reference to this
statement, Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which
were spoken of him. Not because they were shocked,
It's not like you walking into Aunt Bessie's house one night
and your kid can say what two plus two equals and Aunt Bessie
says, physicist, physicist. I'd marvel, especially with my
kids. Kidding, just kidding, just a
joke. They're not marveling because
they're shocked. They're not marveling because they've never
heard something like this. Remember, the angel has announced
to them the uniqueness of this son. The angel Gabriel announces
in Luke chapter one that he will sit on the throne of the highest.
He is taking David's throne, his kingdom will have no end.
So Joseph and Mary have been instructed along the way with
reference to the angel announcement. But Moses and Mary, or I'm sorry,
Joseph and Mary had as well, I'm thinking of our brother in
Eldoret, Moses and Mary. Joseph and Mary, they had the
Old Testament as well. They had Genesis 3.15. They had
the ram caught in the thicket in Genesis 22. They had Yahweh
said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies
your footstool in Psalm 110.1. They had the one who's going
forth are from everlasting of Micah 5.2. They had all those
promises. The marveling isn't shock. Oh,
he's going to do this? The marveling is confirmation. recognition of fulfillment, the
realization of what's happening. It's just not our secret now,
Joseph and Mary, but this man Simeon knows, Anna knows, soon
Jerusalem's gonna know, and the faithful are gonna receive him.
The unfaithful are gonna crucify him and unwittingly accomplish
the very purpose and plan of God Almighty. So they understand
that and they're marveling as a result of it. And then Joseph,
or rather Simeon, blesses that. This isn't a priestly benediction
by any stretch. It's prophetic. Blessed are you
for these things that are going to happen. And it's a charitable
blessing. May the Lord continue to bless
you. We've already seen Mary blessed because she was favored
among women. So note with reference to our
text, verse 34, then Simeon blessed them and said to marry his mother. So it goes from this blessing
to now prophecy. It's going to tell them what's
going to happen with reference to this sign. And there's first
a corporate reference. Notice in 34b, Behold, this child
is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and
for a sign which will be spoken against. I think the language
that he's employing is from the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter
8. "'He will be as a sanctuary,
but a stone of stumbling "'and a rock of offense to both the
houses of Israel, "'as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem. "'And many among them shall stumble. "'They shall
fall and be broken, be snared and taken.'" So note again what
Simeon says. Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rising of many in Israel. That simply speaks
to the response to our Lord Jesus in the days of his earthly ministry. The fall is damnation. The rising is salvation. In other words, when Jesus comes,
he comes to bring division. He says this in Matthew's gospel
in chapter 10. He comes to bring separation. We see that in the preaching
of the Baptist in Matthew's gospel in chapter 3. He's going to bring
division. Not everybody's gonna receive
him. John prepares us for that in John one. He came to his own,
his own received him not. It was his own nationally that
cried away with him, away with him, crucify him. So what is
Simeon prophesying? He's prophesying the real effects
of the real gospel connected to the real salvation of God.
It's not going to be the case that everybody just says, wow,
he's here, let's bow down and confess him. No, he's destined
for the fall and rising of many. There will be those who reject.
There will be those who resist. There will be those who invite
and invoke the wrath and fury and judgment of God Almighty.
And there will be those who rise by grace, looking unto the Lord
Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of faith, the one the
bride describes as altogether lovely and chief among 10,000.
So this is the nature of his prophecy. He's speaking in terms
of the effects of the gospel. Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which
will be spoken against. Again, the earthly ministry of
our Lord, life, death, resurrection. What does Paul tell us that unbelieving
Israel thought about the death of Messiah? A crucified Messiah? Are you crazy? Are you nuts? Paul says, the Jews seek signs,
the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ and Him crucified.
He says to the Jews, a stumbling block, a scandal. Remember in
John 6, when Jesus multiplies the bread and the fish and feeds
people, they try to take him by force and make him a king.
Why is that? Because they wanted bread and
fish. They didn't want justification
by faith. They didn't want the essence
of eternal life, which is the knowledge of God most high and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. They wanted their tummies filled.
They wanted political prestige. They wanted to be something again. They wanted something of Solomon's
glory when borders are extended and peace is given and defense
is shored. That's not what they wanted.
A crucified Messiah for unbelieving Israel? That's a scandal. That's
a stumbling block. That's what Simeon is telling
us. That's what's gonna happen. Or Joseph, don't think that the
arrival of the one promised by God in the Old Testament is only
gonna ever be good. There's going to be a lot of
resistance. There's gonna be a lot of opposition. There's
gonna be a lot of hatred and enmity. Again, not silent about
that in the Old Testament, Psalm 2. How do we start off? Why do
the nations rage? Why do the peoples plot of vain
things? Why do the rulers and the kings take counsel together
against Yahweh and against His Christ? Because man's sinful. Man's wretched. Man's wicked. And not just men out there. Men
in here. Women in here. Children in here. Okay, that's too much, Pastor. This is why Jesus came. It's for sinners. This is why
Paul can say in 1 Timothy 1, this is a faithful saying. It's
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into this world,
sinners to save. And then Paul says, of whom I
am chief. If you've ever thought you're too sinful to go to the
Savior, that's the devil's logic. It's because you're so sinful
that you must go to the Savior. It's like being too hungry to
eat, being too thirsty to drink. It makes about as much, I'm too
sinful to go to Jesus. Isn't that the point of Jesus? If we could fix ourselves, I
think Paul summarizes this well in Galatians 2.21. He says, I
don't set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes
to the law, then Christ died in vain. If we could fix ourselves,
if we could mend ourselves, if we could throw a coat of paint
on ourselves and be commendable before God, then whence the cross? Why that? Jesus came for this
very purpose. And then notice, he references
the personal pain involved for Mary specifically in verse 35. Yes, a sword will pierce through
your own soul also. Brethren, we're not papists.
But sometimes Protestants don't always meditate upon the true
humanity of our Lord. Doesn't true humanity necessitate
a true bond with one's mother? I mean, there's exceptions to
be sure. You know, not every woman is
mother of the year. They don't all deserve the cup.
But there is that special bond. And so Simeon here, preaching
the glory of Christ as the light of the nations prepared by God
for this glorious task. And the fact that within his
own earthly ministry, there's gonna be resistance, there's
gonna be oppression, there's gonna be this crying out, away
with him, away with him, crucify him. Mary, you're gonna have
some pain too. Think about that. Simeon, moved by the Spirit,
prompted by the Spirit, has a specific prophetic word for her. This
ain't gonna be fun for you, Mary, necessarily, at least not every
jot and tittle of it. I think Gil gives the sense,
well, he says, as he, Jesus, was a man of sorrows, so was
she, a woman of sorrows, from his cradle to the cross. And
his sorrows, like so many darts or javelins, rebounded from him
to her and pierced her soul through. Can I mention that earlier? We love our spawn, don't we?
We love our children. We want to protect them. We want
to hold them. We don't want anything to hurt
them. Well, the man of sorrows is a
title given to him in the prophet in one of those servant songs,
Isaiah 53. I think Gil's right on. He says, as when Herod sought
his life, Matthew 2.13, when she had lost him for a whole
day, Luke 2.48, and when he was frequently exposed to danger
among the spiteful and malicious Jews, but never more than when
she stood at his cross and saw him in his agonies extended on
the tree, bleeding, gasping, and dying. He's right. Mary, this babe who is the salvation
of God, prepared by God for this very reason, the reason I should
bless God for, it's gonna cause a great deal of pain to you,
Mary. See something truly humanizing about this whole event as we
see it in this passage. And then he ends with the universal
scope, verse 35b, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
If you skip the parenthetical statement, it would end thus,
and for a sign which will be spoken against that the thoughts
of many hearts may be revealed. This is it. Two types of people
in the world, believers and unbelievers. Those who are with Christ are
those who are against him. Matthew 12, 30. He who is not
with me is against me. There's only one legit response
to Jesus' question in Matthew 16 to Simon Peter. Who do men
say that I, the son of man, am? Oh, they say this out there.
And then Jesus looks at them and says, but who do you say
that I am? The correct answer is given by
Simon Peter. You are the Christ, the Son of
the living God. See, that's the revelation of
men's hearts universally. Wherever there are men, they
are either with Christ or they are against Christ. So the question
is all important for each and every one of us now. What do
I think of Christ? Who do I say is Christ? Who do I confess is Christ? Am I gonna resist? Am I gonna
reject? Am I gonna be one of those, along
with the multitudes in the first coming of our Lord Jesus, who
fell, who were crushed, who suffered judgment and punishment, and
even to this day? This is a very important question
for each and every one of us. What does this time of the year
signify? And I lean with Spurgeon over
and against some of the fathers We don't know what day Jesus
was born. I'm not saying this Wednesday,
you know, have a special candle party for Jesus. But it's a good
time of the year when person's minds are on this subject to
preach the incarnation. And to sing, veiled in flesh,
the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity. Or as we did in O Come
All Ye Faithful, basically rehearse the Nicene Creed. God of God,
light of light, true God from true God, begotten not made,
one in substance with the Father. This is the reason. I don't want
to get really cheesy and say for the season. I feel like I
set myself up for that. Wasn't intentional. There's no
notes. Set yourself up for this. But what is it that you think
of this time of the year? I know it's commonplace for people
to think about food and presents and family. There's nothing wrong
with food and presents and family at all. Those are good things.
But to not get a dose of this salvation of God, to not look
at this one, who was with God and was God, who became flesh
and dwelt among us, is to miss it by a million miles. I wanna
leave you with this. Can you, with Simeon, look at
Jesus in faith, and bless God for his salvation that he prepared
and that he has brought to pass and that now is that that gospel
is going forth as a light to the nations of the world. May
the Lord bless each and every one of us and cause us not to
miss what is an obvious time for us to reflect upon the person
of our Lord Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, and the work of our
Lord Jesus Christ, vis-a-vis his life of obedience to the
Father, which we desperately need, his death on the cross,
which we desperately need, and his resurrection again from the
dead. Paul summarizes it well in the book of Romans chapter
four, verse 25. He says that Jesus was delivered
up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification. Don't miss this. Don't close your eyes and don't
fall with the multitudes who have resisted and rejected both
Yahweh and his Christ to their own everlasting shame. Come to him and you will be saved. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven,
thank you for your word and thank you for this wonderful scene
that we have in the temple with Simeon taking up the babe Christ
in his arms. We thank you for that one who
came into this world to save us from our sins. And we pray
wherever the gospel is proclaimed today, you would send it forth
powerfully, send it forth gloriously, conquering and to conquer. And
we pray, that from every tribe and every tongue and every people
and nation, many would be affectionately called to come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we pray that for our own
place this morning, for any and all here that are dead in their
trespasses and sins, we pray that you would awaken them and
cause them to see and to behold the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world. And we pray this in Jesus name.
Amen. Let us stand and sing number
572 in praise to our triune God. 572. O Israel, hope in the Lord, for
with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is abundant redemption,
and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Amen. Well,
please be seated for a brief time of meditation.
