Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
With only three days remaining in 2021, I wonder how you are finishing the story of your life for this year? Have you considered what a library would be like if it catalogued the story of your life? So what would the volume of your life titled ‘The Year of 2021″ contain? What events, what decisions, what significant occurrences? And in these, the last few days of ’21, how will you finish the story YOU are writing about your life for this year? Have you considered this powerful truth: with every choice you make, every word you speak, every action you take… YOU are writing the story of YOUR life!!
This week, as we wind down the final few days of 2021, we are also looking at the events which followed Christmas, as recorded in the Bible. Yesterday I left you walking with Joseph and Mary as they approached the Temple in Jerusalem. They had come for one of the most significant moments in every Jewish boy’s life, especially if he was the firstborn in his family… his consecration to God! This family ceremony was rooted in the Passover event and described in Exodus 13, as we saw yesterday. I doubt we can imagine what it was like for Joseph and Mary as they entered the great Temple mount area. It was a busy place with many people, lots of priests busily going about their work, and of course smoke always rising up from the great bronze altar. The magnificent Temple itself was a remarkable building rising high above all other buildings in Jerusalem. It was impressive to say the least!
I wonder, did Joseph approach Simeon, or did Simeon find them? Dr. Luke introduces us to this aged, godly man who was, I’m sure, well known to many people in Jerusalem and especially the Temple area because he evidently spent a great deal of time on the Temple Mount. But to Joseph and Mary, he would have been a complete stranger, for this may have been the very first time Mary might have been at the great Temple. Luke writes: “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ (Messiah)…” (Luke 2:25)
As you consider this description, I wonder what you envision Simeon looked like? And what were his attributes? What set him apart as distinctive from all the other men in this Temple area that day? Can you imagine him coming into the Temple with a particular alertness, watching carefully to see if the Holy Spirit might draw his attention to one particular man or young boy, whom the Holy Spirit would identify as the one Simeon had waited his whole life to see? The one God would identify to Simeon as the long awaited Messiah!!
On this day, as Joseph and Mary brought infant Jesus to the temple, evidently Simeon had not planned to be at the temple that day. But something changed his plans. Luke writes: “Moved by the Spirit, Simeon went into the Temple courts. When the parents brought the child Jesus to do for Him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God saying: “Sovereign LORD, as You have promised, 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.” (Luke 2:27-31)
Look around this huge Temple area. Many priests are holding up infants and praying over them. Others are helping people bring their sacrifices to the large bronze altar. Some people are quietly praying. This is a busy place… and yet, in this moment, it seems to Joseph and Mary that no one else is here, only the three of them and this remarkable old man who clearly has an anointing of God upon him! What did his words mean? What was he saying about infant Jesus? Simeon was clearly identifying this infant Jesus as the one Gabriel had announced Him to be … the Son of God, the Holy One, the Messiah!
Luke continues explaining the significance of this moment: “The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about Him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His mother: ‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. and a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:33-35) Time would prove every word of this prophecy to be true! Yes, many who were viewed as significant, important leaders in Israel would find themselves unable to match Jesus in His wisdom, His miraculous power, His influence, and they would not accept Jesus or His true identity. Among those would be the High Priest and many members of the ruling Sanhedrin, as well as King Herod, and Pilate and others.
But also, there would be those whose lives would be dramatically changed by Jesus, His teachings, His love, His miracles… among these would be shepherds, blind people, cripples, demon possessed people and so many others. And then of course, there would be those who were simple fishermen or tax collectors or normal folks whose lives would be totally transformed as they followed Jesus and became His disciples, and later went out to share their story of Jesus and see the Jesus movement impact the entire Roman world!
And yes, Mary’s heart would be deeply pierced, so many times as she watched Jerusalem, Nazareth, and many other places turn against her Son, even to the point of calling for His crucifixion, right here in Jerusalem. I’ve often wondered if Joseph, Mary and Simeon sat down for a very long chat as Simeon shared with them what the Holy Spirit had been teaching him over the years about who this Messiah child would be? I wonder if Simeon asked them questions about the conception and birth of this infant? Can you imagine the stories they shared with each other? I wonder if Simeon prayed several times over them?
And suddenly they were interrupted by an old woman who apparently knew Simeon well, and was also drawn to them by the Holy Spirit. Luke tells us she had lived there at the Temple for a very long time as a widow and was quite elderly, at least 84 yrs old! Luke writes: “she was a prophetess named Anna…She never left the temple but worshipped day and night, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-38) What exactly Anna said about infant Jesus, we don’t know, but clearly she knew who He was and what His life would mean in Jerusalem; to Jews all over the Empire; and to Gentiles world wide for centuries to come!
It’s safe for us to assume that when Joseph and Mary walked out of the Temple courts that day, they were astonished, stunned, overwhelmed by what they had seen, heard and experienced. I presume Joseph, along with Mary, carrying infant Jesus, walked back to Bethlehem that afternoon, to the little place where they were staying. While Dr. Luke tells us in Luke 2:39 that they returned to Nazareth, we know that Matthew chapter 2 describes two more remarkable events which occurred with Joseph, Mary and infant Jesus BEFORE their return to Nazareth.
We’ll look at those events tomorrow… for today, let’s walk along with Joseph and Mary back to Bethlehem. Ponder along with them what they have just experienced in the Temple courts in Jerusalem. They had never met either Simeon or Anna before this day, nor would they ever see them again, as far as we know. But the impact of their encounters would forever be indelibly engraved on their memories and powerfully impact them, as they accepted their assignment from God to ‘raise” the Messiah, the Son of God here on earth! The world would never be the same after today!
As we close today, may I ask you to reflect on your life for a moment. Who have been those older people who profoundly have influenced your life story? Did you see them often and develop a significant relationship with them, or was it only on rare occasions that you had brief encounters with them? And finally… how have their lives influenced your life, especially spiritually? Are you having that type of influence on some younger people? Here’s a song to help us ponder all this today, my dear friends. Spend some time please, reflecting on these last days of your 2021 and what God has been doing in your life, this year.
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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