Waiting people (Luke 2b)

Waiting people (David Yun)

Luke 2:22-40

Key verse 2:30-31

The next weekend we won’t be here. We will be in Ocean City. We will be looking down the Ocean from our rooms and enjoying God’s creation and his presence in it. The place we are going to stay is modern and neat. There is indoor swimming pool. Sure, you are free to use the outdoor pool as well and even jump into the ocean. The sand beach extends so far that you cannot see the ends. There we will study the word of God. Everything is ready and free. I am excited about it and looking forward to our retreat. Are you? I hope you also look forward to it and wait for it.

Today, we are going to talk about two people who wait for something very important more eagerly than we do for the retreat. They are two different people and probably do not know each other. But they both wait for the same thing and find it at the same time and at the same place. What is that? What kind of people are they? I pray that God may bless you to wait for what they have seen.

²² When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Sometime later, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem. Why? They went there for two reasons: to present Jesus to God and to offer a sacrifice for the purification of Mary.

Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem to present their firstborn son to God. To deliver Israel from the Pharaoh, God smote their firstborn males in Egypt. But he saved the firstborn males of Israel from the death and then commanded Israel to consecrate every firstborn male to him because they belonged to him. (Ex 13:2,12) So, when their children became a month old, the parents consecrated their firstborns to God and redeemed them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver. (Num 18:16)

The parents also went to Jerusalem for the purification of Mary. According to chapter 18 in the book of Numbers, a mother who bore a boy was reckoned as impure for 40 days and thus after 40 days she should offer a sacrifice for purification. The woman to be purified was sprinkled with blood at the east gate of the court of woman, called Nicanor's gate.

This account showed the piety of Jesus’ parents and their faithfulness to God and his laws. And it also showed that Jesus was dedicated to God in keeping with the Law. While the parents were keeping the Law in the temple court, however, they met unexpected people there. Who were they?

²⁵ 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 on him. 

Simeon lived in Jerusalem and seemed to be advanced in age. What was particular about him? 

First, he was righteous and devout. He kept the laws and revered God. More than 400 years until Jesus was born, Israel had been occupied by worldly powers like Babylon, Persia, Greek, and Rome. While being oppressed by them, many of Israel people were compromised particularly with Hellenism, losing their identity as God’s people and getting away from the Law. But Simeon lived before God with fear, keeping the laws.

Secondly, Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. The notion of the consolation (παράκλησις) of Israel came from the OT testament, particularly from Prophet Isaiah. (40:1-2; 49:13; 51:3 and 57:18) Isaiah rebuked Israel for her sin and gave her warning that she would be severely punished by God. As God warned, Israel was destroyed soon and had been ruined. Hundreds of thousand people were killed and more people were scattered all over the world. Israel became a mockery to the Gentiles and a disgrace to God “How come God’s people has come this far?” Simeon’s heart was broken and his eyes were always tearful. But he remembered God’s promise given through Isaiah.

Isaiah 40:1-2 “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. ² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

Isaiah 49:13 – “Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.”

God punished Israel but promised that he would comfort her by restoring her and healing her by paying for her sin. The more Israel suffered, the more desperately Simeon held on to God’s promise and waited for his consolation for Israel.

Interestingly, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit was on Simeon. This indicated that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. We can see later that he was led by the Holy Spirit and spoke by the Holy Spirit. While Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel, the Holy Spirit revealed an amazing thing to him. 

²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 

What a comfort! Simeon would see the Lord’s Messiah who would bring the consolation of Israel. He was excited that he would see the Messiah Israel had longed for and that the restoration of Israel was much closer. Since then, Simeon became more anxious to see the Messiah. Then, one day he was moved by the Spirit and went into the temple courts.

²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

In the temple court, Simeon saw Jesus’ parents who came to present the baby Jesus. Suddenly, Simeon felt his heart throbbing and was attracted to the baby the parents brought in. He approached them and looked at the baby. Immediately, by the Holy Spirit he came to know that the baby was the Lord’s Messiah. Looking at the baby, he could not believe it. He took the baby in his arms and praised God.

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

Simeon saw God’s salvation in the baby Jesus! He saw the consolation of Israel in Jesus. Finally, the time of comfort had come to Israel as God promised. Simeon was moved by God’s faithfulness to his promise and rejoiced in his salvation. He also saw his own consolation in the baby. In a moment his anxiety and anguish melted away and he was greatly relieved. Simeon praised God for letting him see the Messiah and depart as he promised. That was all he had longed for through his life and finally his hope came true.

Interestingly, he said that the baby was God’s salvation for all nations, including not only Israel but also the Gentiles. Jesus came to save all nations. He is your savior and my savior.

³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ 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, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Joseph and Mary must have been amazed because an old man came out of the blue and praised God for their baby. Simeon blessed them and revealed to Mary more about the baby.

The child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel. The falling here ultimately refers to judgment and the rising to salvation. Jesus would be the criterion whereby they would be saved or not. In other words, if they believed him as the Son of God, they would be saved. If not, they would be judged. This came as a surprise to Jews because they thought that the Messiah would save all Jews by default. But that was not the case. Only one who believed in Jesus would receive God’s salvation.

Sadly, however, not all people would believe Jesus. Rather, many Jews would oppose him and eventually kill him. (20:17-18) Because of this, Mary would suffer severe pain as a sword pierced her own soul. This way, the thoughts of many hearts would be revealed whether they truly followed God or not. There was no gray area in-between. They should take their own positions clearly either by accepting Jesus or rejecting him.

While Simeon was still with them, an old woman came to them and said amazing things about the baby.

³⁶ There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 

The old woman was a prophet. Her name was Anna and she was eighty-four years old. After seven years of her marriage, she became a widow. It was a tragedy to her. Her life must have been very difficult. Since she was still young when she lost her husband, she could have married again. But what did she do instead?

³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 

Despite difficulties in her life, Anna put her hope in God rather than seeking her own welfare. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Probably, she was well known to the people in Jerusalem since she fully devoted herself to God in the temple everyday for about 60 years. Now we wonder what made her live such a life. What did she pray for?

³⁸ 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.

One day while she worshiped God and prayed as usual, she also saw the baby Jesus in the court. She came to the parents and recognized the baby Jesus as the Messiah. She gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. The redemption of Jerusalem referred to the redemption of the temple, which was so corrupt, and eventually the salvation of Israel. Like Simeon, Anna also looked forward to the salvation of Israel as well. That desire and hope motivated her to devote herself to God in the temple. Anna’s prayer was not for her misery as a widow but for the misery of Jerusalem caused by her sin. And now God answered Anna’s prayer by showing her the baby Jesus, who would redeem Jerusalem from her sin and thus save Israel.

³⁹ When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

After the purification rites were finished, Joseph and Mary returned to Nazareth. The child Jesus grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was on him. He would come forward to bring God’s salvation in God’s time.

In today’s passage, we have seen two witnesses of Jesus – Simeon and Anna. What kind of people were they? They both were waiting people.

In some sense, we are all waiting people. Wherever you go or whatever you do, you have to wait. You have to wait at the traffic light. You wait for checkout in a line. Job seekers wait for their interview result. Parents wait for their children to grow up and marry. (TL said his parents often reminded him that he should marry.) Bible teachers wait for their Bible students to grow. In a short span of life, we wait for so many things sometimes for a long time and many times in vain. Waiting is a big part of life. But what to wait for is very important because it has to do with our hope and that our hope shapes our life and determines its fruit.

What do you wait for? What do you hope for and what do you look for?

BY and TL were baptized last year and now they both are working around here. They are a great encouragement to us. I did not expect that they would come this far. What has brought them this far? We heard TL’s and By’s life testimonies when they were baptized. I learned that they had sought truth for a long time. When they sought truth, God led them to the Bible study with LL and then they came to know Jesus. They have found truth in Jesus who has brought them to God’s salvation. At the last Thanksgiving, TL sent a thanksgiving email to us:

“Wish you have a great Thanksgiving! … I want to thank you for all your favor, care and kindness all along. I really appreciate that you have helped me know God, Jesus and the way [in which] I will find the truth of life. It brings a brand new meaning to my life and enlightens my mind about the world, people and myself. I believe many years later I will see how significant it is to me when I look back my life!”

It sounds like he was saying, “I have seen God’s salvation” as Simeon confessed. As such, God blesses those who wait for, seek for and hope for his salvation. We all have seen God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. We all have God’s salvation now. So what is important now is to keep this salvation and continue to grow in faith. How can we do that?

Recently LL and RL visited Turkey. They saw the seven churches mentioned in the book of revelation and also catacombs where many Christians hid themselves from persecution. I hope we can have an opportunity to hear their report sooner or later. By the way, the first Christian book I read was about catacombs, which impressed me so much. Catacombs are like colonies of ants going farther and farther down into underground. They lived there and were buried there. They rarely saw sunlight. They suffered hunger, sickness, and anxiety that they could be found and killed anytime by their enemies. But they did not surrender to the world. Instead they kept their faith. I wondered why they were willing to live such a life. Lots of inscriptions were found in catacombs: “May you live in God” “You will live forever!” “In peace” and “In Christ” We can see that they used symbols representing Jesus Christ – lots of inscriptions about Jesus Christ. All this shows that they suffered there and overcame the world because of Jesus Christ. They were confident of their salvation in Jesus Christ. We need such confidence in Jesus Christ.

Therefore, it is very important but only to know God’s salvation but also to keep it. This is actually what we talked about two weeks ago – a life worthy of salvation. The life in Jesus entails patience and faithfulness. But it is worthy because we have already received God’s salvation. We have salvation in Jesus Christ now. Amen!

In that sense, the upcoming retreat is very important. The place is beautiful as I mentioned earlier. You can enjoy the winter ocean, the peaceful bay, and delicious food RL and SY will prepare for us. However, this is a good opportunity to remind us of our salvation in Jesus Christ and set a direction for this year. While preparing for messages and the key verse testimonies, you can better understand God’s word and see the power in his word and his presence with you. I pray that we all may stand firm in our God’s salvation. TL said, “I believe many years later I will see how significant it is to me when I look back my life!” As he said, years later when we look back our lives, we will see how significant and meaningful this moment is. May God bless you and strengthen you in Jesus Christ our Lord so that you may grow in his salvation and bear fruit. I also pray that God may grant us this year many waiting students who seek God’s salvation.

By David Yun