Luke
2:25-40 *
In the name of the One who was born for you
and me, dear friends:
Merry Christmas! If you greeted some
people with those words this morning, you might get a few strange looks. After all, it’s December 29th, not December
25th. The presents have been
opened. The cookies have been eaten, at
least most of them. Christmas has come
and gone for another year.
A quick scan of area stores might lead us to the same conclusion. I bet that you would be hard pressed to find
a Santa Claus at the mall today. All the
Christmas stuff has been marked down and moved out to make room for the heart-shaped
candy and Valentines.
But for those of us who have gathered here this morning, Christmas is
not over and done with. Christmas Day
does not mark the end of the season, but the beginning of our celebration of the
Savior’s birth. For twelve whole days,
God gives us the opportunity to thank and praise him for the gift of his
Son.
When we think about that miraculous birth, when we try to comprehend how
God took on our human flesh, when we remember why Jesus left the heights of
heaven for the depths of this sinful earth, we cannot help but exclaim…
What A Child
This Is!
I. This
child is the long-expected Christ.
II. This child brings
peace to the world.
Jesus’ parents were God-fearing Jews. Because they wanted to obey the Law of Moses
and fulfill the rite of purification, they brought baby Jesus to the temple in
Not much is known about this mysterious figure. He has no official title. He holds no special temple office. He is simply called “a man.” His age is even a mystery to us. This is what we do know about Simeon. Luke tells us that he was “righteous and devout,” and that he was “waiting for the consolation of
Simeon was a God-fearing man. He
was righteous in the eyes of God, not because of what he had done for God but
because of what God had done for him. And
he was devout. In other words, the faith
in his heart spilled over into his life.
Simeon was a good man, but he was waiting for something better. He was waiting for “the consolation of
This Comfort-Giver had been promised to Adam and Eve way back in the
Garden of Eden after the fall into sin.
Abraham received the same promise of a Savior through whom all the
nations on earth would be blessed. God
promised King David that his offspring would establish an eternal kingdom.
Simeon probably wasn’t a person of power or prestige, but the Lord had given
him some priceless information. The Holy
Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would not die before he saw the Messiah
with his own eyes. Try to imagine how Simeon felt, carrying around that promise
day after day, waking up each morning wondering, “Is this the day? Is this the day it will happen? Is this the day I will meet my Savior?”
Simeon was anxiously awaiting the birth of the Christ-child, but he wasn’t
the only one. Others were waiting for God’s
promise to be fulfilled. Among them was
an old prophetess by the name of Anna.
Like Simeon, Anna was familiar with Old Testament prophecies about the
Savior. For years she had been watching
and waiting for the Messiah. Not an
earthly king who would usher in a new golden age for
To prepare for the Lord’s coming, Anna dedicated herself to the
Lord. Not just for an hour on Sunday (or
Saturday) mornings. Not just when it fit
into her busy schedule. Anna spent “day and night” in the temple
worshipping God with fasting and prayer.
Anna went without food to show her devotion to the Lord. In addition to fasting, she prayed. The Greek word for “prayer” refers to a
specific type of prayer. Literally, it
means “asking.” Anna never stopped
asking God to make his promises come true.
Her undying devotion to the Lord was matched by her unwavering trust in
the Lord.
Patience is a virtue. Most
people are familiar with that axiom, but do you know the rest of it? Patience is a virtue…that is almost extinct. Actually I just made that part up, but it’s
true. Patience is something that is easy
to talk about, but not so easy to do. In
our express delivery, fast food, instant access world we don’t like to wait at
all, much less wait patiently for what we want.
And I’m as bad, if not worse, than anyone.
Everything started out fine when I went out to make some visits last
week. The problems began when I decided
to run into the post office to mail a package.
An hour later I was back on the road to visit a shut-in in
After the visit (which I was late for), I called from my cell phone to
say that I would be home in fifteen minutes. As I inched along in stop-and-go traffic on
Highway 100, those fifteen minutes stretched into forty five. My grip on the steering wheel tightened. My muscles tensed up. And my patience ran out.
I don’t think I’m the only one who experiences this kind of
frustration. As sinful selfish human
beings, we want things our way and we want them right now. And we become easily frustrated over the most
trivial and insignificant things.
Perhaps we can learn a valuable lesson from Simeon and Anna. With hope and eager expectation, Simeon
waited for the Messiah to be born. Even
though Anna had been waiting for many years, her confidence never wavered. And as we will soon see, the patience of
these believers was rewarded.
The good news for us is that we don’t have to wait. We don’t have to wait because God has made
good on his promise: to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to David, to Simeon and Anna,
to you and me. The long-expected Christ has
come and what a child this is! He brings
peace to the world
When Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple, Simeon was moved by
the Spirit to meet them in the temple courts. Somehow the Holy Spirit let him know that this
little baby was THE ONE. Simeon’s joy
and expectation reached a climax when he took the child into his arms and
exclaimed:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have
promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which
you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the
Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (29-32).
Simeon understood the believer’s relationship with God. God is the master. We are humble servants. God is in control of all things, and we thank
him for his goodness. Because God fulfilled his promise, Simeon could now “depart in peace.” He was at peace with God because he was
holding “salvation” personified in his arms.
Simeon was on the receiving end of a very special promise, but he
recognized that this blessing was not for him alone. He called Jesus a light for the
Gentiles. Simeon’s song is music to our
ears because it opens God’s salvation to all people. Jesus came to save Jews like Simeon. Jesus came to save Gentiles like us.
When Anna approached Jesus in the temple, she responded with great joy.
She kept on praising God because her prayers had been answered. The Savior had been born. This little baby brought peace into the
world.
It was this peace that angels proclaimed to the shepherds on Christmas
Eve: “Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke
In a world where people claim to serve God by making themselves into
human bombs, we have peace. In a year
when corporate corruption and political scandals made our futures seem less and
less certain, we have peace. Even though
we have to admit that we don’t know what will happen in our lives from one day
to the next, we still have peace. We
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have peace with God because Jesus made peace for us. Jesus died to take away our sin. Jesus rose from the dead to seal the
deal. Jesus now rules in our hearts by
faith and he will reign with us in heaven.
When Simeon held Jesus in his arms and prophesied about the amazing
things he would do, Mary and Joseph “marveled
at what was said about him.” They must
have wondered to themselves, “What kind
of power lies in this infant? What kind
of child is this who will save the whole world?”
That little baby, scarcely a month old, was true God and true man. He was born in fulfillment of Old Testament
prophecy as the long-expected Christ.
His birth brought true peace into the world.
Because we know that God sent his Son into the world to save us from sin,
we don’t have to ever ask the question, “What kind of child is this?” With thanksgiving for God’s promises
fulfilled, with trust in God’s promises for the future, we praise our newborn
King and declare: “What a child this is!”
Amen.