First Sunday after Christmas

First Sunday after Christmas (B)

December 31, 2023

Text: Luke 2:22-40

            When our Lord speaks to us His Gospel, the question is not, first of all, what moral we may learn from it, or what the characters teach us, by positive or negative example, about living the Christian life.  There will, indeed, be such wisdom in any given Scripture passage, but that is not the first question.  The first question, the most important question, is, what is the Lord here doing for us?  What is He doing for our deliverance from sin, death, and the devil?  What is He doing for our salvation and life? 

            This morning, He delivers 200 proof Gospel to us in the account of Mary’s purification and Jesus’ presentation in the Temple.  He piles up for us, grace upon grace, Christmas gift upon Christmas gift.  And the first thing we so easily miss in this text is perhaps the main thing: The Lord has come into His Temple.  It is the fulfillment of Malachi 3:1: “And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple” (ESV).  And this is no minor matter.  In Ezekiel 10, the Glory of the God of Israel departs the Temple, riding on His cherubic chariot.  And there is no indication that He ever returns.  Instead, the Temple and the Holy City are left to the Babylonian invaders, consigned for destruction.  And even when, years later, the exiles return and rebuild, the Glory does not return.  This may be, in part, why, when they saw the foundation of the new Temple in Ezra 3, the old men, who remembered the previous Temple, wept with a loud voice (vv. 12-13).  Do you see what had happened?  God had withdrawn His saving presence from His people Israel.  It is doubtful the Ark of the Covenant even existed anymore.  It had probably been destroyed.  The Temple, the sacrifices, and in particular, the Torah, these still gave access to God in some way.  But He no longer dwelt with His people.  He no longer tabernacled among them.

            No one would have suspected, no one could have known apart from the revelation of the Holy Spirit, that this little Babe now entering the Temple is the return of the Glory.  The Son of God, the Word made flesh, carried inside the Ark of His mother’s womb, is now enthroned in her arms.  And He, now, is the Temple.  He is God’s saving presence, embedding Himself, tabernacling in the tent of our flesh, effecting reconciliation between God and men, restoring access to the God of Israel.  And from that point on, this access and salvation would flow forth to all nations.  Had the Lord not come into His Temple in this way, we wouldn’t be here this afternoon.  There would be no altar, no font, no Baptism, no Supper.  There would be no heralding of redemption and life from this pulpit, no Light for revelation to the Gentiles, and Glory for His people Israel.  But He did come.  And so we are here. 

            Now, only two people were given to recognize what was happening, what the Lord was doing in their midst: the aged Simeon and Anna.  The Spirit revealed this to them as prophet and prophetess.  But they didn’t keep it to themselves.  Simeon proclaimed it, and Anna confessed it to all who would listen.  That is another gift the Lord here gives us: The preaching and confession of His Church, that we may know the Gospel, and believe it, and so live. 

            What else is He doing for us here?  See how He is actively fulfilling the Law for us.  This is His active obedience, for which we get the credit.  Mary’s purification after childbirth (Lev. 12), and the redemption of the firstborn (Ex. 13).  He is not doing this for His own sake, He, whose holy birth needs no purification, and who will not, in fact, be spared by the sacrifice of another lamb.  He is the fulfillment of the ancient ceremonies, all of which pointed to Him.  He is the sacrificial Lamb.  He has come for our purification and redemption.

            As it happens, His parents offer the sacrifice of the poor: a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.  Here, He is God-with-us, (our Immanuel) in our poverty, whether actual material destitution (which most of us here today have never known, but many have known, and many do know, and perhaps we will someday know… Here, Jesus identifies with them, and is with them in it, and you’d better believe that is extraordinarily important to those who suffer material poverty), or the greater poverty that is the condition of every one of us in and of ourselves, our spiritual destitution, our utter helplessness and hopelessness apart from Christ Jesus.  Jesus knows what it is to be poor.  Perhaps that is a non-starter among affluent people like us, but in truth, it is tremendously good news for us who, in fact, have nothing and are nothing before God, who have no resources to save ourselves.  Jesus provides for us, our righteousness before God, and all our needs of body and soul.  Having Jesus, we have all things. 

            Then, see how He is the consolation of all those who are waiting, hoping, praying for the Lord’s deliverance in the midst of their suffering.  Simeon was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.  Waiting for deliverance from Roman tyranny.  Waiting for deliverance from the tyranny of sin and death.  Waiting for God’s Glory to return to His Temple.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  So, there he was in the Temple, waiting for the Promise to be fulfilled.  And so it happened.  The Baby Jesus taken up into his expectant arms.  He identifies the earthshaking reality: The Glory has returned!  Glory to His people Israel.  And now Simeon could depart, now he could die in peace.  For here in the flesh is the Consolation of all ills.  God opens Simeon’s lips in a song of praise. 

            This is what He does for you.  As you wait for your consolation to be revealed, in the very midst of your sadness and suffering, He sustains you by the Promise.  You will not die before you see the Lord’s Christ.  The Spirit brings you here, and what does He do?  He puts Jesus in your hands, and into your mouth.  The very same Jesus held by Simeon.  The very same body embraced by Simeon’s arms.  And that opens your lips in a song of praise.  Simeon’s song, in fact.  You can depart, you can die now in peace, for your eyes have seen your salvation.

            Then there is poor Anna.  A widow most of her life, she essentially lives at the Temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day.  Waiting.  Waiting.  Some of you know her particular pain, the pain of loss, the pain of grief, the pain of loneliness and sorrow in the wake of death.  Here, now, is her Consolation in Mary’s Boy.  She is filled with thanksgiving to God, and she can’t help it.  She speaks of the little Lord Jesus to one and all, to the rest who were awaiting the redemption of Israel, that they likewise might be consoled.  In fact, here in this Scripture, what happens?  She still speaks to us who are awaiting our final deliverance from sin and death, when the Lord Jesus comes again. 

            Do you see what the Lord is doing for us in this text?  The gifts He here gives to Simeon and Anna and the rest, He is giving to us at this very moment.  But there is also a bitterness in the whole thing.  Simeon has a sobering word, directed now at Mary.  This Child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel (faith in this Boy will be the determining factor for who is lost, and who is upheld), for a Sign that will be opposed (yes, many will reject Him), so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed (all that is hidden will be made known, and those who appear righteous may, in fact be wicked; and those who appear of no account may, in fact, be saints of God).  And a sword will pierce Mary’s own soul.  The cross.  Her Son will die.  And she will see it.  Any parent who has lost a child knows the anguish of Mary’s grief.  But it is precisely in this way that our consolation comes.  In the death of Jesus Christ for the life of the world.

            And in the life of Jesus Christ for the world.  Christ is risen from the dead.  He’ll raise your precious loved ones, too.  He’ll raise you.  Yes, for now, we wait.  But in hope, and in joy.  In the consolation of this gracious Lord. 

            Of course, Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna, even Jesus Himself, are all models for us of the faithful Christian life.  As parents, we should imitate Mary and Joseph in bringing our children to God’s House, teaching them the faith, participating in the Sacraments and ceremonies, Baptism, catechesis, Supper.  And we all should imitate Simeon and Anna in orienting our whole life around the gifts God gives to us in the place of His presence, waiting, hoping, praying, fasting and feasting, confessing, living by the Spirit in the Word and by the Sacrifice.  The Boy, Jesus, is our example as He grows and becomes strong in the Lord, obedient to His parents in all things (as we hear in the verses following our Gospel this morning), hearing and learning God’s Word, embedded in His community in Nazareth.  As I said, there is great wisdom for the Christian life in any given passage of Scripture, and we should take it to heart, and put it into practice. 

            But above all, there is Jesus for us.  It is New Years’ Eve.  The old year is fading.  We are on the cusp of the New.  Take what Jesus here gives you of Himself with you into the New Year and the life God gives you.  His presence, His providence, His consolation, His redemption.  His Promise.  His Spirit.  And yes, His example.  None of us knows the joys and the griefs that await us in the coming year.  We don’t even know if we’ll survive it.  But we do know Jesus.  Cling to Him.  Take Him in your arms and sing a hymn of praise.  Eat Him.  Drink Him.  And never let Him go.  One thing is certain.  He won’t let go of you.  Merry Christmas.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.