The
Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord
February
2, 2020
Text: Luke 2:22-40
Old
Simeon lays eyes on the Child and he knows. He sees His salvation. This is the One who will redeem Israel,
indeed, the world. This is the One who
will save His people from their sins. He
takes the Child from the arms of Mary, His mother, and he prays… to the
Child! “Lord, now you are letting
your servant depart in peace” (Luke 2:29; ESV). I can die now, without fear, with joy, having
beheld the fulfillment of Your Promise.
Messiah has come. I hold His
little body right here in my arms. He is
appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, for a sign that is
opposed. Oh, and Mary, a sword will
pierce your own soul, also. That is,
this Child is destined for the cross.
And that is the great scandal that will separate those who are God’s
from those who are not, believers and unbelievers, the saved and the damned,
the fall of all who reject Him, the raising of all who receive Him, this great
offense that God saves the world by this flesh and blood Baby, this flesh and
blood Man, who gives His flesh and blood into death for the life of the world,
for the forgiveness of sins. That is the
great sign that is spoken against, the sign of the holy cross. That is the sword that pierces Mary’s soul as
she stands by her precious Boy at His execution, and can do nothing to
alleviate His suffering. That is the
sign that reveals the thoughts of many hearts.
What do you think of the Crucified?
Is He an object of scorn? Do you
pass by Him unheeding? Are you
scandalized, offended by Him and His Words?
Or do you cling to Him, to His Words and His blood and His death, for
your very life as your only Savior from sin and condemnation?
History
repeats itself, here and now, today. For
you are old Simeon, and your ears lay upon the Child, and your eyes
behold the bread and the wine, and you know. Your ears have heard and your eyes have seen
your salvation. This is the One who
died, and who is risen from the dead, who lives and reigns, who comes to you
now in His flesh and blood, under the humble forms of Words and water, bread
and wine. But just as assuredly as Simeon
held God in his arms when he held the little Lord Jesus, so you hear His voice
in the Scriptures and the preaching, and you hold Him within you as you eat His
body and drink His blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. And so, having held Him on your tongue, you
pray to Him, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace.” The Nunc Dimittis. I can die now in peace, without fear, with
joy even, having received the fulfillment of Your Promise in the Holy Supper.
Now,
that may seem like a strange thing to pray.
But you know, unless the Lord returns first, you will have to die. Ignoring that fact, or pretending that isn’t
the case, doesn’t change the truth of it.
So you can die without Christ and have no hope or assurance or comfort
heading into the darkness. Or you can
die in Christ, with Christ Himself in your ears and on your tongue, knowing all
your sins are forgiven, and when you close your eyes in death here, you open
them to behold Him in heaven there. And
you have the absolute certainty that, baptized into the risen Christ who died
for you, Christ now having entered into you with His crucified and risen body
and blood and becoming one with you, He will raise you from the dead. Bodily.
See,
that is what Simeon knew as he held the Child in his arms. I can die now because this Child has pulled
the very teeth out of death. He is my
life. He is your life. When He comes to you, as He came to Simeon…
when the Spirit lifts your eyes of faith to Him, as He lifted Simeon’s
aged eyes to the Baby… when He is placed into your ears and mouth as Simeon
received Him into his arms… death can’t harm you anymore. This Child is the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Jesus, even though he
dies, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Jesus will never die
(John 11:25-26).
We
see here the importance of the Lord’s Supper and why it is we often sing
Simeon’s song after eating and drinking our Lord’s true body and blood. This is where we receive Jesus into us and
where our eyes see our salvation.
This is the medicine of immortality.
This is the antidote to death.
Here our sins are forgiven. Here
we are enlivened with the risen body of Christ.
As sainted professor, Kenneth Korby, famously said, “We go to the Lord’s
Supper as though going to our death, that we may go to our death as though
going to the Lord’s Supper.” He didn’t
mean that we have to go to Communion frowning and sullen, but we go in
repentance and hope and faith and joy, knowing that this marks us for
resurrection and eternal life. And so we
can go to our death the same way, not frowning and sullen, but in repentance
and hope and faith and joy, knowing that we will see Jesus just as we
have received Him in the Sacrament. This
is just what we dying sinners need, Jesus Christ for us, under bread and wine,
for forgiveness and life. St. Ambrose
said, “Because I always sin, I always need the medicine.”
And
that is exactly what you need to know, that this Supper is medicine for sinners
and life for the dead. For otherwise you
might say, “That’s great for a holy man like Simeon, whose whole life was dedicated
to waiting for the coming of the Lord… He can hold Jesus in his arms and
declare he can die in peace. But if you
really knew my sins, Pastor, you would know that these Promises are not
for me. I dare not hold Jesus or receive
Him into my very mouth and body in the Supper.
He is too holy, and I am too sinful.
And so I must die alone and in terror.”
Did
you know that I already know that about you, that you are a poor miserable
sinner? That He is holy, and you are
not? And, in fact, I encourage you to
come to me and confess it so that you can hear just what God has to say about
your sin in the Absolution, namely, “I forgive you all your sins in the Name of
the Father, and of the Son+, and of the Holy Spirit. Depart in peace. You are free!
You live! God is for you
and not against you. He loves you
and gave His own dear Son for you, to make you His very own.” That is what you receive tangibly in the
Supper. So that you know without a doubt
the Absolution is true, that the death and resurrection of Christ are for you. Here it is, the very body crucified for you,
the very blood shed for you, now risen from the dead and living, for you to eat
and to drink.
The
great irony of it all is, it is only those who know their unworthiness who are
worthy to receive the Supper, for this meal is for sinners only. Those who believe they are worthy by their
good works or lack of sin or credentials as “Good Christian Folk” must stay
away. Now, of course, you must be
instructed in the faith and specifically regarding the Supper before you come. In other words, no one should receive the
Supper until they’ve been catechized, taught the things of God. Our children don’t commune until they are
able to examine themselves as St. Paul says (1 Cor. 11:28) and have been
instructed. And under no circumstances
should an unbaptized person commune, for Baptism is your birth into the
faith; the Supper is the food that sustains and nourishes your
baptismal life. Baptism comes first. And because St. Paul tells us that those who
eat and drink “without discerning the body” eat and drink judgment on
themselves (1 Cor. 11:29 ff.), only those who share our confession of doctrine,
especially regarding the Supper should commune, which is not to say we don’t
recognize other Christians as Christians, as brothers and sisters in
Christ, but it is to take the Lord’s Supper seriously as the great and powerful
gift that it is. That is why ordinarily
only members of Missouri Synod congregations commune with us. When our Lord comes again, all divisions will
cease. Until then, we strive to be
faithful as we suffer under the cross.
And
finally, unrepentant sinners should not receive the Sacrament. The key word there is “unrepentant.” Sinners should absolutely come. The Supper is for sinners, and sinners
only. But unrepentant sinners are those
who do not recognize and acknowledge their sins, who believe that they are
righteous in and of themselves and that what they are doing is righteous even
if it is counter to God’s commands. Do
you see this irony? Sinners who know
their unworthiness and look to Christ alone for worthiness and righteousness
are precisely those who should come.
Those who believe they are worthy and need no repentance are unworthy
nonetheless and should not come.
Simeon
knew his sins. And that is why he so
eagerly took hold of his Savior. And so
you. You know your sins. You confessed them mere minutes ago. Now, having been absolved, you come eagerly
to the altar to take hold of Jesus Christ.
Today
is Candlemas, the day Christians of old brought their candles to Church to be
blessed, as well as to donate candles for the Church’s use. The point of that tradition is quite
beautiful. Jesus is precisely what old
Simeon says he is: The Light that lightens the Gentiles, and the glory of His
people Israel. Here we are enlightened
as we see our salvation in the flesh and blood of the Savior. Just like Simeon. And like Anna, who couldn’t help but spread
that Light to all who would hear.
On
this day, the Light came into the Temple, in the flesh of a little Baby
Boy. His mother gave the sacrifice of
the poor for her purification, a pair of turtle doves, or two young
pigeons. The sacrifices themselves point
to her Son and His death for our sins.
And this is the presentation of Jesus as the Firstborn. In the Old Testament, every firstborn of man
and beast belonged to the LORD, the animals to be sacrificed, the humans to be
redeemed by sacrifice. Think of
that. Jesus gives the sacrifice, but in
reality, He is the Sacrifice. The
Firstborn, not only of Mary, but of God, who redeems all the firstborn and all
people from sin and death, and brings many brothers and sisters into the
Father’s Kingdom.
Come
to the altar, beloved. Eat and drink and
behold your salvation. Then depart in
peace, sins forgiven, and go spread the Light to all who will listen until your
eyes see that Light for yourself in all His heavenly splendor. Christ the Lord is come for you. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+),
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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