GRAB THEIR ATTENTION
All of recorded history in the Western world is measured in relation to the life of Jesus Christ. Everything that came before Christ is dated as B.C. meaning “before Christ.” Everything after his birth is dated A.D. No, it doesn’t mean after death. Rather A.D. means Anno Domini which is Latin for “Year of the Lord.” In the last few decades, as the West has secularized it’s become commonplace to use the terms BCE and CE which mean Before the Common Era and Common Era, but note that the dividing line between the two is still the birth of Jesus Christ. And, as a quick aside, I’d encourage you to reject the new BCE/CE convention.
We’re used to hearing of Jesus as one who heals, restores and redeems. But I want you to see that down to the way we calendar, Jesus is a divisive person. If we only see him as a unifier, a comforter, a connector, and we don’t see that he also divides, then we have not seen all of who he is. That’s what Luke tells us in our passage today.
RAISE THE NEED, SIGNPOSTS, STATE THE DESTINATION
We’ll be studying Luke 2:22-40. It’s the story of the baby Jesus being presented at the Temple by his parents. He’s greeted by a man named Simeon and a woman named Anna. And while they tell of the comfort and redemption that Jesus will bring, they also highlight the division. Jesus doesn’t come simply to comfort. He comes with a sword to divide.
If you’re taking notes, the sermon today has two points:
- Jesus is the Comfort of God
- Jesus Brings Division
As we study this passage I pray you would see Jesus himself as the comfort your soul needs rather, for he is more than a means to an end. And I pray you would see that even as he comforts, he also brings division. The healing that he brings also requires offense.
THE TEXT:
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.
JESUS IS THE COMFORT OF GOD
The passage begins in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph have arrived with the baby Jesus t present him to the Lord at the Temple. They do this in obedience to the ceremonial laws of Moses. Exodus 13 commanded that every firstborn male was to be dedicated to the Lord. It was a sign that God was patient and forgiving, allowing another generation of children to be born when in reality every generation deserves death because we are sinners. So, this is Mary and Joseph being good Jews, fulfilling the Law of the Lord.
The gift they bring (two turtle doves) was an allowance God made for those who could not afford to offer a lamb. In other words, Jesus wasn’t born to wealthy parents. They had meager resources.
And while they are coming into the Temple, they are greeted by a man named Simeon. We are not told how old Simeon is, but it sounds like he’s an older man. We’re told he was righteous and devout. Not self-righteous. Not perfect. But a man who loved and obeyed God.
We’re also introduced to a woman named Anna. Luke tells us she was 91 years old. After her husband died, she devoted the next 84 years of her life. The entire narrative revolves around these two encounters at the Temple and I want you to notice that the theme of God’s salvation and redemption comes up three times:
- 25 – Simeon was waiting on the “consolation of Israel.” It’s a quote from Isaiah 40:1. For 39 chapters, Isaiah prophesied judgment on sinful Israel, but as chapter 40 opens, Isaiah prophesies of a coming servant of the Lord who will suffer for the sins of his people.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
- 29-30 – The theme of salvation comes up again. Simeon holds the baby Jesus and prophesies:
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,
- 38 – When Anna comes into the story, Luke says she:
began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Three times the themes of comfort, salvation, and redemption come up. And notice what the passage says: it says this little baby is the consolation of God. The text does not say Jesus gives consolation. It does not say that shows the way of salvation. No, he is the consolation. He is God’s salvation. He is the redemption of his people.
A common misunderstanding is that Jesus is merely another teacher pointing the way to God, or that the essence of Christianity is following the teachings of Jesus in order to get to God.
I don’t know how to make this clearer: the primary teaching of Christianity is not that you must follow his teaching in order to be saved. Rather, you must believe in and rest in who he is and what he has done.
He is not another prophet pointing the way to God. Rather, he is the Son of God to whom all the prophets point.
What does it mean that Jesus is the salvation of God. Very simply: you and I owed God a debt of obedience which we have not given him. And because we have, in essence, robbed God of his due, we are condemned. And Jesus does not come in order to teach us how to do better and pay God back. Instead, Jesus comes to live the life we should have lived. He gave to God what we did not. And in his death, Jesus received the punishment that our disobedience justly deserved. God sent his Son to literally become our salvation.
Our first response to Jesus is belief. This is what Simeon did. Simeon did not meet Jesus as a grown man preaching to the crowds in Galilee. He did not hear the sermon on the mount. Simeon never had a private conversation with the Lord. All Simeon had was a promise that he would meet the Messiah.
So here comes Mary and Joseph holding the baby. And somehow, the Holy Spirit indicates to Simeon that of all the babies he had met on the Temple steps, this is the one. The baby does not give him a list of rules to follow. The baby does not give a sermon. The baby cannot even speak.
But Simeon looks down and believes. This is the consolation of Israel. This is the salvation of God which he has prepared in the sight of all peoples. This baby is the light of revelation to Gentiles—to those far from God. This baby is God’s redemption.
Friend listen to me: So many people “try” Christianity. And what they mean by that is they read the Law of God in the Bible. They read the commands, and they try to obey. Inevitably they fail and they say, “Christianity didn’t work for me.” And if that’s what you think Christianity is, then Christianity will never work for you. Because you don’t become a Christian by trying. You become a Christian by trusting. That’s all Simeon did. He saw Jesus and he believed.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the consolation of God? Do you believe that he is the light of God’s revelation? Do you believe that the life he lived, he lived for you? Do you believe that the death he died, he died for you?
Friends, the gospel is not law. The gospel is a promise. God has promised his only Son to you. He has promised salvation to you. He has promised forgiveness to you. He had promised welcome, and consolation, and comfort to you—and all of that is found in his Son Jesus Christ.
If you are not a Christian, but you’ve been trying to obey… stop. Stop trying to earn God’s favor through your obedience. You can’t. You cannot give him the perfect record he desires on your own. The only way you can offer God perfection is if you first receive it from his perfect Son.
This passage shows us that Jesus is the comfort of God given to us. But this is a comfort that comes through division. Jesus isn’t just comfort; he’s a comfort that must first divide and offend.
JESUS BRINGS DIVISION
Most of the time when this passage is preached, all of the focus is on the comfort of the passage. It’s about baby Jesus. It’s typically preached at Christmas time. And the emphasis gets placed on the baby, and Simeon’s joy at seeing the Christ child.
Much attention is placed on Simeon’s words of comfort in verses 29-32, and they leave out Simeon’s words in v. 34:
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.”
What’s he saying? This child, who is the consolation of God, will also bring division. He’ll be a divisive person. He didn’t just come to bring comfort, he came to be rejected. He came to be opposed. He came to be shut out. He came to divide. And if you don’t understand that he came to divide, then you don’t really understand all that he is and all that he came to do. The gospel is, at the same time, a message that consoles and divides.
And Simeon tells us Jesus will divide in two ways: first he’ll divide people, and second, he’ll divide hearts. Let’s take those one at a time.
Jesus comes to divide people.
Notice what Simeon says: “this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel.” This is the prophecy that the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, would be divisive. He comes to cause conflicts between people. How?
And the answer is found in what we often call the exclusivity of the gospel. When Jesus grows into a man, he preaches that he and he alone is the way to God. He says in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
He claims to be the Son of God in the flesh. He says:
- I am the bread of life. Whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
- I am the door into God’s sheepfold.
He even says, “I am that I am.” He applies the reverential name of God that was given to Moses… a name so holy that devout Jews will not even write it down, he applies it to himself.
And it’s this message that constantly divides people. This is the exclusivity of the gospel. Jesus isn’t a god, he is very God of very God. He isn’t just a way to God, he is the only way. That message didn’t unify Israel when Jesus first preached it. That message was a sword that cut between fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, brothers and sisters.
And it’s a message that’s just as divisive today. There is salvation in no other name but the name of Jesus. And yet, even as Jesus says, “I am the only way,” he also invites all to come. That’s why, when you read the gospel narratives, he’s constantly patient with sinners. He’s always eating with the poor. He does not come only for the up and in, he comes for the down and out. He comes for the weak, the frail, the marginalized. He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor.
So, he says I’m the only way, and many fall away from him. He welcomes sinners and many rise to him. He divides people from people. His gospel is divisive. If you come to him you must admit that he is your only hope. If you come to him you must submit everything to him. And yet, anyone can come.
You see? He causes everybody to either rise to him or fall away from him, but there’s no in-between. You must decide. Who do you say Jesus is? You can either run to him, or run from him, but you can’t stay indifferent. He hasn’t left you that option.
Jesus comes to divide hearts.
In verse 34, Simeon stops looking down at the baby and turns his eyes on Mary and prophesies that Mary herself will not be left untouched. He says, “You aren’t exempt. A sword will pass into your heart.”
And most commentators highlight that this is a prophecy of Mary’s suffering at the foot of the cross. We don’t know what happened to Jesus’ adoptive father, Joseph. Tradition tells us that he died when Jesus was younger. Next week we’ll see Joseph when Jesus is 12 years old and that will be the last record of Joseph in the New Testament.
But Mary lived on. She watched Jesus grow, and Simeon says that she’s going to suffer pain because of Jesus. And Simeon says that at the crucifixion a sword is going to pass through Mary’s heart…why? So that many hearts will be revealed. What does that mean?
Bible commentator Darrell Bock says this: Luke is showing us that identifying with Jesus has painful personal consequences. Jesus Christ is God’s litmus test for every heart. In Christ, God is making peace with us, but that peace only comes if he first opens us up and performs surgery. How does a surgeon bring peace to your body when it has a tumor? He brings peace through a scalpel.
In C.S. Lewis’ book Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a little boy named Eustace Scrub has been turned into a hideous dragon. And he realizes that no matter how many times he tries to shed his skin, not matter how many layers of scales he pulls off, he’s still a dragon.
And the only way for him to be changed back into a boy is if Aslan the lion tears off the dragon skin. Aslan comes to him and says,
You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.
The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt.
What’s Lewis saying? You can’t fix yourself. You can’t heal yourself. And, if you come to Jesus Christ for healing, you can be healed, but you must first be wounded. If Jesus Christ is going to heal your heart, he has to bring a sword.
His sword which reveals your sin, which exposes your pride, has to pierce you to the heart. This is why the beatitudes say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst.”
Unless you lose all pride in your spiritual achievements, there will be no place for you. Unless you are shaken to your foundation, you can’t be built up. Unless you are humbled into the dirt, you can’t rise into the heavenlies.
Why does Jesus pierce your heart? Why does he open you up and expose your guilt? He does it so that you will fall on him. He does it so that you’ll trust in nothing and no one but him.
Jesus Christ is the rock of offense. And every person who encounters him stumbles. And when you stumble, he either falls on you, or you fall on him.
The best obedience of my hand
Dares not appear before thy throne
But faith can answer thy demands
By pleading what my Lord has done.