“Simeon’s Song”

Luke 2:21-40

 

“On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

    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 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn 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 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. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 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, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
    The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 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, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
    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, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 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.
    When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.  And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.”
    Most of us are familiar with the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and sometime during this season you will find yourself singing… “Five golden rings…four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.” Well, I heard another song called “Twelve Days After Christmas” where on the first day the singer and her true love had a big fight…The pear tree was chopped down, the seven swans drowned, the five golden rings were fake and turned her fingers green, and the French hens became chicken soup!
    Most everyone is very familiar also with the Christmas story of the angels, the shepherds, the babe in the manger, and the wise men who came bearing gifts, but we are going to take a look at what happened about 40 days after the birth of Christ. This has become known as Simeon’s song of praise.
    The little town of Bethlehem where Mary and Joseph went to register for the tax census, was not very far away from Jerusalem and the Temple. (Only about 5 miles.)
    As we know, the Temple would play a very important part in the life of Jesus and his parents. Before we get too far, let’s do a little history on verses 21-24…The Law of Moses placed four requirements on Mary and Joseph when their baby Jesus was born; The first is in verse 21 – “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named “Jesus.” Now, we already know that this was his name because the angel had told Mary and Joseph “you shall name him Jesus”…”Jeshua” in Hebrew…which means “He is”… He is the one who would save his people from their sins! He is the only Son of God; He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to God except through Jesus; He is the Bread of Life; He is the light of the world; He is the Messiah; the Christ; He is God with us – Emmanuel… And, later in this part of the story we find that Simeon takes this child in his arms and says “He is – the one that God promised!”
    Then in verses 22 and 23 we find two more requirements; “When the time of purification had been completed” …which according to the Law in Leviticus 12:1-8 was 40 days after the birth of a male child… “she took him to the Temple to present him to the Lord.” (As it is written, every first-born male is to be consecrated to the Lord.)
    Then, there was also to be a sacrifice made for her purification. This required two sacrifices; a lamb offered as a burnt offering, and a dove or a pigeon as a sin offering. We get some insight as to the financial state of Joseph and Mary as it infers that their offering was “a pair of doves or two young pigeons” which was allowed if you were too poor to buy or provide a “temple” lamb that was “without blem-ish”…and I’m sure “not cheap!”…When the offering was made, and the fellowship with God restored, Mary and Joseph were now ready to present their first born to the Lord.
    This goes to the deepest roots of Israel’s history, back to the Passover when the “first-born” sons of Israel were saved from the angel of death. Because God had delivered them with such a dramatic display of power, He claimed the first born son in any family as his own. However, God allowed the families to redeem their sons - after presenting them to the Priest – symbolically giving them to the Lord – and praising God for their precious gift – they could pay the required redemptive price of five shekels – and the child was entrusted to the parents. It sounds a lot like our baptism or dedication of babies today…except for the five shekels!
    Just as they come into the courtyard and were approaching the priest, something totally unexpected happens. An old man named Simeon steps out from the crowd and takes Jesus into his arms. We are not told a lot about Simeon, except that he was “righteous and devout” and that he was “waiting for the consolation of Israel” … meaning he was waiting for God’s promised Messiah, God’s salvation for His people and “a light unto the Gentiles”…which the Holy Spirit had told him he would see before he died.
    Can you imagine how Simeon must have felt as he entered the Temple court and saw this couple, with this particular child, and the Holy Spirit whispered “That’s the one Simeon!”…This baby is the promised one!”
    Simeon took the child Jesus in his arms, praise springs forth from his lips, and Luke records his words “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised!”…My friends, God remembers His promise!
    Don’t miss those next glorious words this Christmas – “You now dismiss your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation”…I pray that you can say that today…“I can have  peace no matter when my time comes…because my eyes have seen God’s salvation!”
    As Simeon completes his song, the Spirit gives him the insight to see just a flash of the future; He sees that God has prepared his salvation with all people in mind. “this child will bring glory to your people Israel, but will also be a light of revelation to the Gentiles.”… That was a radical thought in those days… which is probably why it says that Mary and Joseph “marveled at what was said about Jesus.”
    Simeon and Anna are minor characters in the Christmas story, yet they stand as reminders to us – living some 2000 years later – that God remembers His promise!
    Your Christian commitment, your trust in Jesus, your obedience to God’s Word will not gain the world’s applause, but I say it again, with great expectation and anticipation, keep trusting; keep watching; keep waiting; because He will come again…God remembers His promise!

“The Angel’s Song”

Luke 2:8-14

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

    Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

    The whole world was changed when Christ was born; even today the world is a radically different place because of Christmas. The only other event in human history that has had such a profound effect on humanity is Easter. No wonder the angels burst forth in song saying “I bring you good news, of great joy! Today, in the city of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord!...Glory to God in the highest!...and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.”

    The closer we get to Christmas, the more seasonal music we hear. There are secular songs and religious songs, there are traditional songs and contemporary songs, Hymns and Carols; but, the least known yet the very best songs are found in the Book of Luke. So far in this series we have listened to Zechariah’s song; giving praise and glory and honor to God for the gift of his son John – who was to prepare the way of the Lord… A song that rang with the sounds of “God remembers His promises”! 
    Then, we heard Mary’s song…a song of spontaneous praise that echoed the words of Elizabeth “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said will be accomplished”!  And, now we have the Angel’s song of “Glory to God in the highest”! And, we have two more in this series – We will take a closer listen to Simeon’s song, and then Christmas Eve. we will celebrate by asking “What is God’s promise to us?...and, what should “Our song” be?”
    The angel’s song of praise came in a most unusual way to a most unlikely group. You see, shepherds were really a low and despised class of people in Jesus day…nothing like the image we have in our nativity scenes and church plays. No matter how much they loved God, the demands of the flock were too much for them to obey all the ceremonial aspects of the law – such as hand washing and other clean-liness issues…And so, to these who found it perhaps the most difficult to keep the law came the announcement of the one who would save them by grace!
    Perhaps they were “special shepherds” in the sense that they cared for a special flock of sheep…those without spot or blemish that were used in the daily sacrifice at the temple… Maybe that’s why they were given the “good news” of the one who would sacrifice himself as the “Lamb of God.”
    Maybe it was because these low class citizen’s who it has been said, could not even testify in a court of law, were called upon by God to testify to the world of the Savior’s birth! Verse 17 tells us that “when they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told to them about this child.”
    Whatever the reason, God sent His choir of angels to sing a song of Glory to these shepherds. We sing the wonderful Hymn that is taken from this scripture in Luke called “Hark The Herald, Angel’s Sing.” The tune for this classic song was written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840. The words were written by Charles Wesley. In his life time Charles Wesley wrote over 6,500 hymns. This one, --- along with “Jesus, Lover of my Soul” --- are considered to be the finest hymn lyrics Wesley ever wrote.
The 1st Stanza Focuses On THE BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT :
--“Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.
Joyful all Ye Nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies.
With angelic hosts proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem.
Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.”

    The angel gave an announcement that did three things for the shepherds that night: The announcement - Calmed their fear; It created Hope - and It called others to Worship. The best Christmas announcement we could give this year would be nothing less…for the Christmas story still does the same today!

    The angel said in verse 10 "Do not be afraid."  The shepherd’s had good reason to be afraid… They didn’t know if this might be an angel come to pronounce God’s judgment  upon them, or if it was the end of the world! But, it says they were terrified! Is there a need for calming fear in people’s lives today? I would say there is. The truth is that we live in a society where people fear many things; Some fear for personal safety; Some people fear for their provisional security in a world where their financial future is unknown and their basics needs of life might go unmet; Will I be cold or warm?... Will I go hungry or be fed? …Will I be able to make ends meet? Many people fear death and wonder what’s beyond this life?
    The reason we can be God’s messenger’s, helping to calm people’s fears is because of the message we have to share; it’s a message that  Creates HOPE – “I bring you good news of great joy”!  God has remembered His promises, and has sent a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”.  After some 400 years of silence from God, it would be easy to lose hope… After some 2000 years since the ascension of Christ, it would be easy to lose hope that He will ever come again… But, the message of the angels and the message we bring to the world every Christmas is a message of Hope!
    The angels brought a message that would calm their fears and bring hope, and finally, one that would call for worship and praise. Our celebration is a call to worship that we might sing and say as the angels did that first Christmas "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."… Glory to God… who is who He says He is; can do what He says He can do!
    As the angels’ concert ends and the glow of heaven gives way again to whatever dark or gray place in which you may find yourself;  before life has a chance to just go back to its regular routine; And as the question crosses your mind, “What happens now?” Let me suggest that the response of the shepherds is always appropriate – Run to Jesus! (“Let’s go and see that what God said is true!) And, then spread the news with the message that calms fears; brings hope; and calls for worship and praise “Glory to God in the highest and on Earth Peace, and good will toward men!”  - Amen

Songs of Christmas – Series

“Mary’s Song”

Luke 1:26-56
    In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
    Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
    “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
    The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
    “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
    At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
    And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.”
    That’s quite a lengthy reading, but it is a wonderful part of the Christmas story we hear every year…and should never get tired of hearing. The final line of Mary’s Song is “He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers”…What she is saying is “God remembers His promises!” That is our theme as we look at the “Songs of Christmas” as recorded in the Book of Luke.
    Because of Christmas, something wonderful happens to the world. Most of us have known this from childhood when we saw our first string of colored lights or heard the sounds of Carols on a wintry night. When we saw our first nativity, something told us that God is real and life is good, no matter how bad things may seem.
    Until the angel Gabriel’s unexpected visit, Mary’s life was really quite normal and things were looking good. She had recently become engaged to a young carpenter named Joseph, and was probably anticipating the normal joys of married life…But, her life was about to change forever.
    I want you to realize that four times in scripture, Gabriel leaves the heavenly presence of God to come to men and women uniquely chosen and blessed by God…and He always bears a message of hope. He came twice to the prophet Daniel to assure him in the dark days of Israel’s captivity that the Lord had not forgotten His people or His promises. Five-hundred years later he appears to Zechariah and Elizabeth, to tell them that they would have a child in their old age, who would be called John – who would “go before the Lord to prepare the way” and the people for the coming Messiah. Now, six months later, Gabriel is sent to a little town in Palestine to announce to a teenage girl name Mary that she has been chosen by God to bear in her body His holy Son…and she was to call his name Jesus.
    Gabriel’s first words to Mary are “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!” Was it because Mary was perfect? (No) Was she favored because she was the most beautiful girl in town? (No) Was she favored because she attended church and taught Sunday school? (No) God is God and He can show favor to or choose anyone He wants…But, I think God gave his favor or approval to those who had faith and were faithful and righteous. Another example might be Noah, of whom it says was a “righteous man of God and also found favor with God. And there were others like Mary and Noah, who were sure and certain of God’s promise even if they did not see it. The Bible says “it is impossible to please God without faith.” God continues to give his favor to those who have faith and trust in His promises today. We talk a lot about faith in the church, but what is faith?
    Faith Is believing that what God says will happen – will happen! After the angel visited Mary and told her she would bear God’s Son, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who herself was pregnant with John the Baptist. Listen again to Elizabeth’s response during Mary’s visit with her…In verse forty-five Elizabeth said: “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" That’s Faith! Faith is believing that what the Lord has said will be accomplished, or that God will do what he said he would do!
    We have to remember that the angel Gabriel told her something which was totally impossible! One, she would have a baby even though she was a virgin; and two, that she - a human woman – would bear God’s Son, a divine being! Impossible!  Gabriel told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her. Not a lot of details there… but, Gabriel then reminds her and us, “With God nothing is impossible.” In other words the angel was telling her God can and would do the impossible if she had faith. And Mary believed. She said, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.” In other words, “I don’t understand it; but I choose to believe it, because God can do it.
    What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. But faith is more than believing something to be true with my mind. Faith must also impact how I live my life. My life should reflect what I believe. Faith is active. I must do things differently and behave differently because I believe that what God said is true. To believe something is true in your head, and to act as though it is true are two different things, and yet faith incorporates both of these. So, let me ask this question; how are we living our lives in light of God’s promise that Jesus is coming again?
    In Matthew chapter 1 we are given Joseph’s view of all this. At first, divorce seemed the only option, but God opened up another option…it was the option of faith! An option that Joseph accepted. Then Matthew reaches back into the ancient prophecies of Isaiah and adds “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said”…You see, God remembers His promise!
    Let’s go back to Mary’s song; It would seem that Luke had a deep appreciation for hymns or Psalms of praise and adoration, because he saw to it that these were preserved for our enjoyment and blessing. As I read through this song, I am impressed with Mary’s knowledge of the character and the work of God. Mary not only knew her scripture, she also knew her God. Her song rings with pure adoration and praise as she exalts and honors God for who He is and What He has done. Mary’s song links the ancient promises of God with the fact that “He has” – which is used over and over – “He has” fulfilled His promises!
    The faith and the hope of hundreds of generations were being satisfied in a moment of time when a baby’s cry broke the silence of that first Christmas. When the time had fully come, God sent His Son”… When will He come again?...”no one knows the day or the hour, only the Father knows”…In God’s time, according to His eternal plan… God will keep His promise!