Mid-Advent 3
Lk
2:22-32
12/17/25
Are we cheating tonight? It seems
like a reasonable question. The theme for the sermons this year in our mid-week
services is “Advent Songs of Salvation.”
Now Advent is, of course, a time of preparation as we get ready to
celebrate Christmas. Our focus is on how
God acted to bring his promises to fulfillment in Christ.
It seems very natural to look at Old
Testament texts like God’s promises to Abraham and David. The prophecies of
Scripture – in particular, those of Isaiah – are obvious choices. The
information provided by Matthew and Luke about the events that led up to the
birth of Jesus stand out as Scripture for our consideration during this Advent
season.
And so in our Advent Songs of
Salvation we have looked at the Magnificat that Mary spoke when she met
Elizabeth, and the Benedictus that Zechariah declared at the naming of John the
Baptist. Tonight we take up the Nunc Dimittis that was spoken by Simeon. But Simeon
spoke these words when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple in
Jerusalem. Naturally, this is an event that took place after Christmas. So are we cheating by using this for Advent?
The answer is: sort of. These are
events that occurred and words that were spoken after the birth of
Jesus. However, our text describes how
Simeon had been faithfully waiting.
His words point us to God’s promises in the past. While spoken after the birth of Christ, they
focus our attention on how Jesus was the fulfillment of what God had said
before his birth.
Our text begins by telling us that
Mary and Joseph came to Jerusalem and the temple for two reasons. They were obeying God’s Word – his Torah – as
they redeemed Jesus as their first born son. They were also there to offer
sacrifices for the purification of Mary after she had given birth.
We learn that there was a man in
Jerusalem named Simeon. It is often assumed that he was priest, but the text
never actually says this. Likewise, it is often assumed that he was old. The
text never says this either, but that does seem to be the implication of what we
hear.
Simeon was righteous and devout. He
faithfully lived according to God’s Word – his Torah. We are told that he was
waiting for the consolation of Israel. He believed the promises of God’s Old
Testament prophets as he looked for Yahweh to bring salvation to his people. He expected God to act.
In addition to this, there was
something very unique about Simeon. We are told, “and the Holy Spirit was upon
him.” Simeon experienced the work of the Spirit in a very distinct way – in a
way that resembled the prophets of the Old Testament. Luke tells us, “And it
had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death
before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”
The Spirit of God had revealed to
Simeon that he would live to see the Christ come into the world. This was the
descendant of king David who would bring God’s end time salvation. As he said
through Jeremiah, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will
raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and
deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his
days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is
the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”
Prompted by the Spirit, Simeon
entered the temple at the same time that Mary and Joseph were there with Jesus.
The Spirit caused Simeon to recognize Jesus as the One promised by God. He took
the baby in his arms and blessed God as he said, “Lord, now you are letting
your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my
eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of
all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory
to your people Israel.”
Simeon said that now he could depart
in peace according to God’s word. He had been waiting for the consolation of
Israel. Simeon had been promised that he would not die until he had seen the
Lord’s Christ. Now, he held in his arms the One promised by God. God had kept his word. He had fulfilled his promise. And so Simeon
could now die in peace.
He could die in peace because as he
looked upon this child he was seeing God’s salvation. This is what God had promised to to do. He
had said through Isaiah, “The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of
all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of
our God.”
We are told that Simeon was waiting
for the consolation of Israel. He says in our text that Jesus is for the glory
of his people Israel. He is salvation
for them. But through Simeon God reveals that his action for Israel was about
more than just Israel. Simeon says of Christ that this is the salvation God has
“prepared in the presence of all peoples.”
The Christ is in fact “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.”
God’s saving intention has always
been for all peoples. After the Fall, he said that the seed of the woman would
crush the serpent’s head. He promised Abraham, “in you all the families of the
earth shall be blessed.” God worked
through Israel, but his work wasn’t only for Israel. Instead, Israel was to be means by which he
brought salvation to all people.
God had chosen David’s lineage as
the one from whom the Christ would be born. Just as he called the nation of
Israel his son, so he called the Davidic king his son, for the king was Israel
reduced to one. The Christ – the Messiah
– stood in the place of the nation.
But in Isaiah’s prophecy, Israel is
also identified with the Servant of the Lord. And this meant that the Christ
was also the Servant. Isaiah tells us that the work of the Servant was about
more than just Israel. God says through
the prophet, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up
the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make
you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the
end of the earth.” And in the first text in Isaiah that describes the Servant
God says, “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will
take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the
people, a light for the nations.”
Jesus was the Christ who descended
from the house of David. At his baptism
he was anointed, not with olive oil like kings before him, but with the Holy
Spirit. And at his baptism God the Father identified Jesus as the Servant of
the Lord when he said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased.”
God had said about the Servant that
he would be a light to the nations so that God’s salvation would reach to the
ends of the earth. And shortly
thereafter he said of the Servant, “But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought
us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on
him the iniquity of us all.”
Jesus Christ died on the cross as
the Servant of the Lord who received God’s judgment against our sins. And then
on the third day, God raised him from the dead. God conquered death for us
through the resurrection of Jesus.
Because of Easter, Jesus Christ provides the light of forgiveness and
life that pierces the darkness of sin and death.
In our text Simeon says that he
could depart in peace according to God’s word. We are now able to say the same
thing. We have peace with God because of Christ. St Paul told the Romans, “Therefore,
since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through
him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in
which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” We
have peace with God now. And we have a peace that will be true on the Last Day
when God raises the dead and pronounces the final judgment. We have that peace
according to God’s word, for in the Scriptures he continues to give us
forgiveness by his Spirit and strengthen us in faith.
Tonight we see that Simeon was waiting in faith as he looked for
the consolation of Israel. The Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die
until he had seen the Christ. At the temple God revealed the infant Jesus to
Simeon. He declared that now he could depart in peace according to God’s word
because Simeon had seen God’s salvation – a salvation which is light for the
Gentiles. Because of Jesus’ death and
resurrection we too have peace according to God’s word. We have a peace that is
true now and on the Last Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment