Simeon's Patience Rewarded

Pastor Andy Davis preaches a verse-by-verse expository sermon on Luke 2:21-35. The main subject of the sermon is the clear confirmation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT -

Introduction: An Impatient People

Looking this morning at Luke 2:21-35 at Simeon. And I'm thinking, as I do, about the role of a night watchman, the person who's assigned to watch out through the night, whether at the edge of a camp where an army is sleeping and getting its rest or perhaps on city walls. For the city is sleeping inside, protected by the walls, but there's a watchman walking on the walls or perhaps on the bridge of a ship looking for danger, maybe icebergs, or looking for land, and I think of all of those scenarios, there can scarcely have been a more exciting night of watching in history perhaps, than what took place on the night of October 11th and October 12th in the fateful year 1492.

As Columbus was sailing westward and looking for a Western route to India, and he had already put himself, because the crew was getting mutinous, under a three-day time limit to find land, and if they didn't find it within three days, they were gonna turn back, failures. And it was the night of the third day, the next day would be the third day, but already there are indicators that they were approaching land, the flights of the birds, the kind of birds there were, vegetation floating in the water, the color of the water, the feel and the smell of the wind, and I think all of those expert sailors knew that they were approaching land, so there was a sense of anticipation and already they knew that the King and Queen of Spain offered 10,000 gold pieces and garments of silk to the first person who spots land. I dare say that only the cabin boys were asleep that night. They were all at the railing holding on and staring into the darkness, staring and looking, that somehow they might be able to have the honor and the glory, and also the material benefits, of being the first one to see land. About 2:00 AM on October 12, this man, Rodrigo de Triana, a look out on Pinta's forecastle, saw what looked like white sandy cliffs, and then he saw another array of cliffs and then a line connecting the two, and he calls out in his language, "Tierra, tierra!" Land, land! Now, there have been some false indicators up to that point, but this was the real thing, they were sailing on the eastern side, they saw the eastern side of an island that the natives called Guanahani, but which Christopher Columbus renamed San Salvador for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And I really think that that's what Simeon was doing. I think that Simeon was like a watchman. He had a special revelation from God through the Holy Spirit, that he would not die before he saw the Christ. And so his job was just to watch day after day after day for Christ, waiting on the Lord, waiting for the Christ, waiting for the Messiah. And you know, as I've meditated about this, I begin to see something interesting, that this aspect of Simeon's life really characterizes and unifies the people of God for all of redemptive history. From the time of Adam and Eve to the time of Christ, they were all waiting for Christ to come, waiting for the serpent slayer, the seed of the woman to come to be born and to come and destroy sin, waiting for Christ, like Simeon.

And from the time of Christ until now and to the end of the world, we're waiting for Christ, for the second coming of Christ, for the establishment of his kingdom on earth and the eternal state. We're waiting for Christ, aren't we? Just like Simeon, and just like the believers in the past. It unifies all believing people in all ages waiting for Christ, waiting patiently. Simeon, I think, is an example of patience and waiting. One commentator put it this way, "The thought underlying Simon’s praise is of a slave who's been instructed by his master to keep watch through the long dark night on a high place, to wait for the rising of a special star, and then to announce it. After wearisome hours of waiting, he sees at last the star rising in all its brightness, he announces it and then is discharged from the duty of watching any longer. Simeon had been instructed to await the rising of the sun of righteousness, the star of the house of Jacob, and now, at last, the child is in his arms, he has beheld the redemption of God incarnate in Christ Jesus, and so he knows God now lets him depart in peace and discharges him from the task of further watching." But you know, I think that's great, commentator's right, but I don't think Simeon stopped watching. And even if he soon died after that, it says, concerning the gospel and all of its details unfolding, even angels long to look into these things. Oh, there's more to come. Simeon just saw Jesus as a baby, there were still great events in Christ's life yet to come, and so my guess is that Simeon kept on watching even after the Lord let him depart in peace.

"We're waiting for Christ, aren't we? Just like Simeon, and just like the believers in the past. It unifies all believing people in all ages waiting for Christ, waiting patiently."

I. The Presentation at the Temple (2:21-24)

Now, the context of Simeon's encounter with Christ is in the days right after Jesus was born of the fulfillment of the Law of Moses concerning him, the presentation of the temple. Look at Verses 21 and following, it says, "On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. When the time of their purification, according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every first-born male is to be consecrated to the Lord’), 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.’” Now, the main idea, what I get out of this more than anything, this section, is that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was born under the law, he was a law-abiding Jew. And there were Mosaic laws concerning what was to be done with him after his birth, Jesus Christ was born under the law, it says in Galatians 4:4-5, "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law that we might receive the full rights of sons." Now, understand that Jesus came under the law voluntarily. He didn't need to do that. He was a Son over God's house, he didn't need to be under the law like a slave or like a servant, but he came under the law in this way, to redeem those under the law and lift them up to the full rights of sons.

Now, I tell you that this is absolutely essential to our salvation. It must be, for Jesus, by living under the law as a human being, he wove a beautiful garment of righteousness, perfect righteousness, the deeds of righteousness. He took on every single temptation that was in conjunction with the law of God and knocked them aside as Samson knocked aside another Philistine charging at him. Jesus wove for us a perfect robe of righteousness. And if we don't have that robe on, we will not survive judgment day. You cannot obey the law perfectly, and so if it finds you guilty at one point, you'll be condemned for it, but Jesus, he obeyed the law of God perfectly. And he wove for us that beautiful robe of righteousness, and we stand in that by faith.

"You cannot obey the law perfectly, and so if it finds you guilty at one point, you'll be condemned for it, but Jesus, he obeyed the law of God perfectly."

So Jesus was born under the law, and the first step for him was circumcision, he had to be circumcised according to the custom given by God to Abraham, and actually preceded the patriarchs and was given to Abraham and preceded the Law of Moses. And God commanded in Genesis 17, that all of Abraham's descendants be circumcised on the eighth day. And if they were not circumcised, they would be cut off from the people. This was absolutely required. And so Jesus had to be circumcised on the eighth day. And it was Jewish custom to give a name to the child at that point. As we see in Luke 1, the name given to John the Baptist was given at the time of circumcision, so also it was in the case of Jesus. Now, we know that Joseph and Mary did not have to wrangle over what the name would be; they had no freedom in that matter. I don't think they had potential name books like we do, boy and girl and all that, but they knew that the baby's name would be Jesus, the name given by the angel Gabriel. Now, the name Jesus means, “Yahweh saves” or “salvation is from the Lord.” And so it says in Matthew 1:21, "The angel speaking to Joseph, ‘You will give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’" So Jesus’ name means he's Savior, and so they named him, and then Jesus was circumcised.

And also, along with that came the time of the consecration and the offering of a sacrifice, and this is all again, according to the Law of Moses, it's interesting that in this brief account that we're reading, the law is mentioned directly four times. It's a significant issue that Luke is bringing up; Jesus was a law-abiding Jew. He fulfilled the Law of Moses. And so it says in Verse 22, "In the time of their purification, according to the Law of Moses, had been completed." Notice that it says their purification, so that includes the baby Jesus. And in the Law of Moses, if there's been a flow of blood, like there is at birth, etcetera, there needs to be a time of purification. And in Jesus and Mary's case, it was 33 days after the circumcision. So at age 41 days from day 41 on, then Mary is clean, ceremonially clean, and is able then to go to the temple. That's the way it worked. This is all laid out in Leviticus 12.

And so Jesus was brought by Joseph and Mary to present him to the Lord that he would be consecrated to the Lord. This practice dates back to the time of the Exodus, when the 10th plague, the most dreadful plague of all, was enacted on the Egyptians and would have been enacted also on the Israelites as well. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," but the punishment for sin being death would have been enacted on the first born of everyone living in Egypt, including the Jews, except that God had made a way for a substitute, the Passover lamb, to take the place of the Jewish first born. And so the lamb was offered, its blood was shed for the first born, and so the angel of death passed over and the first born was not killed, but then in the Law of Moses, from that point on, God claimed the first born, "All the first born are mine, the first born of every womb is to be consecrated to the Lord as sacred and special to him." It says in Exodus 13:1-2, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Consecrate to me every first born male, the first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal.’” In order for this consecration to take place, there had to be an animal sacrificed for this child so that the child would not have to die, and so they went up to offer the sacrifice, something for the purification of Mary and something also for the sacrifice of the first born Jesus so that Jesus would be consecrated. Now, in all of this, I think we see, beautifully, the poverty and the faith of Joseph and Mary. First of all, their faith, they're obeying the Law of Moses. Jesus, a helpless little babe, could not have circumcised himself he needed godly parents. And so therefore, it was essential that Joseph and Mary be law abiding, be pious, be godly and want to circumcise their son according to the command of God. And so they brought him, we see their faith, but we also, reading between the lines, we can see their poverty, because the offering in Leviticus 12 said, "If they can't afford a lamb, they can offer a second turtle dove or pigeon in place of the lamb,” and so that's what they offered, two turtle doves or two pigeons for their offering. They had nothing. They were poor, but they were rich in faith.

And so this is the context, the law abiding, Jewish couple, Joseph and Mary, bringing their newborn son to dedicate him, the offering to be made for Mary and for their purification, and also in the place of Jesus, the first born. And by the way, isn't it a remarkable thing? Do you know that all animal sacrifice, all of it, points ahead to the cross of Jesus Christ? He is the Lamb of God. He is the substitute, so all animal sacrifice points ahead of Christ. Isn't an ironic that this little turtle dove- the second one, takes the place of the substitute of the world. It is the final kind of substitute for Jesus in this way, a remarkable thing, only God could have seen to that.

II. The Patience of Simeon (2:25-26)

So that's the context now let's look at Simeon, the patience of Simeon. Look at verses 25-27, it says, "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. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts.” Now, this is Simeon, and Simeon is unique, he's special in that God had told him in a special way, had given him a specific prophecy that he would not die before he would see the Messiah. Now, this is remarkable. Well, this is really incredible. They had been waiting since the time of Adam and Eve for the serpent slayer to come and crush the serpent’s head, and now Simeon is told, "You will not die before you see him." They've been waiting for 2000 years for God to provide the lamb, what God said to Abraham, for God to provide the lamb, for the burnt offering, for the sacrifice. And now the Lamb of God is here. Simeon is told, "You'll not die before you see him." They've been waiting 1000 years for the Son of David to come and take David's throne and reign on it forever. For a thousand years they're waiting and Simeon, he is told, "It's gonna happen in your lifetime."

And so it is. He has this special insight, special prophecy by the Holy Spirit. The ministrations of the Holy Spirit did not begin at Pentecost; you know that, don't you? The Holy Spirit was active from the second verse of the Bible, the Spirit hovering over the deep, and so the Spirit is active all the way through the Old Covenant, and this is an old Testament saint, an Old Covenant saint, who is told in a special way, "You're not gonna die before the Christ is born." But now there's kind of a second moving, the Holy Spirit says, "Today's the day, not just, you will not die before you see the Lord's Christ, you're not gonna go to bed tonight before you see the Lord's Christ. Today's the day, get up and move out." What an exciting moment that must have been as he got up.

Now, who was this man, Simeon? Well, he was righteous, he was godly; he was a law-abiding Jew. That doesn't mean he's perfect, it just meant that he loved the Lord and wanted to follow his law. He was devout, he had a heart of piety toward the Lord, he was sober-minded and serious in the things of God, but above all, I find him patient in faith. Boy, he's willing to wait. He's willing to wait on the Lord and to be patient. He never stopped trusting in the promises made to Abraham, despite the fact that there are Roman soldiers tramping all over the Promised Land, and there's a governor, and he's in charge of the local district in the area, and there's an emperor in Rome, Caesar Augustus, whose decree is able to just move huge populations. You know, Simeon never gave up, he continued to believe and to trust in God, and you also notice about him that he is Spirit-led, he's able to move at the leadership of the Spirit. Now, what is he waiting for? Well, the Scripture here says that he's waiting for the consolation of Israel. What does that mean? Well, the Greek word is the same word that we get for the counselor, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, paraclete, we could take it over into the English- he's waiting, waiting for the comfort or the consolation of Israel. This is none other than the Messiah. Remember that Jesus said, “I will send you another counselor, another comforter,” he's the first. And so he's waiting for the consolation of Israel. This can be none other than the Messiah, the Christ, and the very thing that... The vision that Isaiah saw, Isaiah 40:1, in which the Lord said, "Comfort, comfort, my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her sin has been forgiven, that her years of service have been completed, that she has received, from the Lord's hand, double for all her sins.” “Comfort, comfort my people." A double word of comfort, he's waiting for that, he's waiting for the consolation in fulfillment of the vision that Isaiah had; he's waiting for the Christ.

III. The Prophecy Fulfilled (2:27-32)

And so he has his own private prophecy, doesn't he? And he's believing in the more general national prophecies to the people of God through the prophets, he's waiting and the time has come now for the prophecy to be fulfilled. Look at verses 27-32, "When the parents brought in 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, 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 of revelation to the gentiles, and for glory to your people, Israel.’" Oh, what a sweet moment, and I get the sense of a providential timing and intersection. The temple is a busy place, people coming and going. Josephus said there's over a million sacrifices offered at the time of Passover. Now, this wasn't a special or a unique time, but there must have been a lot of traffic, and so there he is somewhat like in a city area, how is he going to meet the little baby, how is he gonna see? But he is led in, and I believe in the Christian life, there are two great ways that God leads his people. He leads them by the written word of God, by the Scripture, and he leads by the indwelling prompting of the Spirit, the Spirit prompts and moves and you respond and go. He also leads by the written word and the two come together, don't they? Joseph and Mary are led by the written word of God, “the Law of Moses says, do such and such, and we must do it.” So up they go and they move, they travel, they go from probably Bethlehem where they work, and they go to Jerusalem to fulfill the Law of Moses, the Scripture led them to be there. Meanwhile, there's Simeon who's prompted by the indwelling Spirit and their paths intersect, the providential timing, the connection of the two, and so it is in your life, the two by the way, never contradict. They must never contradict. You have internal senses that you need to do something, it's not always the Holy Spirit, but in this case, it was. And so the Spirit led Simeon, and the Spirit led Joseph and Mary, and the two came together.

And when he saw the Christ, he knew he was not just looking at a baby, he was looking at the fulfillment of all of God's promises, the fulfillment of the prophecies, the fulfillment of the prophecy spoken to him, he saw with eyes of faith, not with eyes of flesh, he saw the Christ. He says, "My eyes have seen your salvation." When he took this baby and held him in his arms, if you'd been a passerby, not filled with the Spirit, or not knowledgeable, or not believing or anything, you're just walking by, all you would have seen is an old man, probably an old man, holding a baby, that's all. You wouldn't have seen right, you're looking with eyes of flesh. But you see Simeon saw with eyes of faith, he saw. There's a basic principle here: unless God the Father reveals Christ to you, you will not see him. Let me say that again, unless God the Father reveals Christ, you will not see him, you will see him as a moral teacher, you'll see him as a myth or a legend, a historical figure, or a great religious leader, you'll see anything but what you must see, your savior, the Savior of your soul. But if the Father reveals Christ, you will see him properly.

"Unless God the Father reveals Christ to you, you will not see him."

Do you remember what happened when Jesus, in Caesarea Philippi, asked his disciples, "‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they said, ‘Some say, John the Baptist, others, one of the prophets.’ ‘So what about you, who do you say that I am?’” You remember that Simon Peter answered, he said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Do you remember what Jesus said to him? “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” And what I say to you is, if you're a Christian today, God's done that work in your heart, he's revealed Christ, he's not just a baby, he's not just a 30-year-old Jewish carpenter, he's not just a myth or a great moral teacher or a religious leader, he is the Savior of your soul. If you think that today, it was revealed to you by the Father in heaven, and so also it was for Simeon, he wasn't just looking at a baby and he knew it, he was looking with eyes of faith, and then he does an incredible thing. It's incredible for a preacher because of the alliteration. You're gonna love this, but all at once, you see prayer, and praise, and prophecy, all at once. Isn't that incredible? That'll preach, prayer, and praise, and prophecy all together. I saw it this morning, I don't have time to develop it, but there it is, all at once, he's praying to God, and he's praising God, and he's being prophetic concerning Christ, all of it together. What a wonderful moment. “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 of revelation for the gentiles and for glory for your people, Israel.” That's what he prays. He has a deep reverence for the sovereign rule of God, Sovereign Lord, Despotes is the Greek word. It's a really striking and an interesting word. It's the same word in Acts 4:24, when they're praying to God and they're saying, "Sovereign Lord, You made the heaven and the Earth and the sea, and all that is in them," a sense of the grandeur of God's sovereign rule. That's how he begins his praise, “Sovereign Lord.” And then the vindication of his faith, “as you have promised,” “You are a promise keeping God, you are faithful. As you have promised. Yes, Lord, yes, you kept your promise to me personally, my eyes have seen the Savior, and you kept your promise to us nationally, the Messiah has come to Israel, and You kept your…”