"Are We Not to Judge?" (Luke 6:27-38)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Jesus said: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:36-37).

 

These words of Christ are often quoted. They are rarely ever misquoted. But what we may think of these words are often the opposite of what Jesus is saying here. I’m sure you have heard those words,“Judge not, and you will not be judged” even in Christian conversation. And often unbelieving pagans will use these words of Jesus to us Christians as a way to say, “You are in no position to judge!” So, what is Jesus meaning by those words: “Judge not, and you will not be judged”?

 

Well, first thing to note here is that these words of Christ have been misunderstood for centuries, but for different reasons.

 

In the Middle Ages, the people had a much different wrong understanding of these words of Christ than the popular wrong understanding of today. But both wrong understandings have a common misunderstanding. They are both taking Scripture out of context by cutting and pasting these words of Christ to fit what these false teachers want these words to mean.

 

First, let’s look at the old misunderstanding. In the Middle Ages, these words of Christ, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you” was taken by many in the church to mean that we must do something to earn salvation. In other words, Christ’s atoning death wasn’t enough for you and me to inherit salvation, so we have to do something. 

 

These words of Christ were stern law that the Christian had to do so God would love them and then in turn receive His forgiveness. These words were used to scare Christians into submission so that they would get right with God to receive His divine mercy. Luther fought against this wrong interpretation, since there is nothing we can do to ever merit God’s love. We could never get right with God. It is only God who is able to get right with us, through His Son, Jesus Christ. 

For most Christians today, we rarely think about that interpretation. But if you know any Roman Catholics, they still hold on to that way of thinking.

 

But most likely, you have heard those words of Christ “Judge not, and you will not be judged”meaning something entirely different. In this post-modern era, those words have become to mean that we are forbidden to recognize the sins of others and even our own sins. Those words have become to mean that we are to not judge at all, that we are not to discriminate between right and wrong.

 

So, is Jesus forbidding us from engaging in any kind of judgment? Well, if that is the case, then Jesus words here make no sense whatsoever. If we are not to judge, then what do we make of these Scriptural texts?

 

§  Jesus says in Matthew 18: “If your brother sins against you …” (Matthew 18:15a). How would we know what sin is without judgment?

§  Jesus says in John 7: “Do not judge by appearances…” (John 7:24a). Ok, this fits with the idea of never judging. But wait, Jesus isn’t finished, “But judge with right judgment” (John 7:24b). So, how would we know right judgment?

§  Jesus says in Luke 12: “Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?” (Luke 12:57). So, what is right?

§  Jesus says in Matthew 7: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-16a). How do we know false teachers from true teachers without judgment? How are we to recognize fruits of faith without first judging the fruit?

§  St. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes in Romans 13: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1). But don’t governing authorities judge?

§  And what are we to make of the Bereans in Acts 17? “They received the Word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11b). How are we to know the validity of what the pastor says without studying the Scriptures?

 

So, clearly, the idea of never judging is not the case, since we are to judge. You see, the Bible is full of judgments between good and bad. Just think of Cain, Babel, David’s sexual sin, John the Baptist’s preaching, and Jesus judging the seven churches of Revelation.

 

What are the Ten Commandments? They are but God’s Law of judgment, which shows us our sin and serves as our guide in the way we ought to live and want to live. 

 

Another way to think of judging is this: How can you be a judge of a court and not judge the law? How can you be a referee and not judge if play is fair? How can you be a teacher and not judge their student’s homework? How can you pick out which fruit to buy at the grocery store without placing judgment upon that fruit? How can a pastor not judge between false doctrine and true doctrine? How can you be a parent and not also discipline your child?

 

Clearly, we know the difference between right and wrong. We know that truth is different than fiction. So, what is Jesus saying here? Well, Jesus is not forbidding judgment, but when we judge we must think the way God thinks. Jesus is teaching us to become merciful just as God our Father is merciful.

 

You see, God is the ultimate judge, so we are not to judge according to our flawed way of thinking, according to our flawed understanding of things, but we are to think and judge like God. We are to think like God the Father. But how can we do that?

 

Well, when we make judgments, we must do so in the view of the mercy and grace of God. So, when we make any judgment, it should never be toward harsh condemnation or the rejection of the sinner – we never condemn anyone to hell, but we always lead the sinner toward forgiveness and reconciliation. God doesn’t show us our sin because He hates us. He shows us our sin, because He loves us. He shows us our sin, so that we would turn from it and receive His forgiveness.

 

So, we interpret “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you” in light of what is said before them, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

 

So, we speak what’s right for the sake of your neighbor. True love is always to speak the truth. So, if your child did something wrong, it is your duty to judge his wrongdoing in order to save him.

 

God’s inerrant Word speaks of judgment all the time. But whenever God speaks, He speaks judgment in order to save. He speaks of judgment as a warning. He speaks of judgment out of His love.

 

For Jesus says, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person” (Matthew 15:19-20a). Likewise, St. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit writes, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).

 

God is the judge. And He warns us against those evil things that come from the sinful flesh and the sinful heart.

 

Now, none of us here today are as pure as the wind driven snow. We are all filthy as we are stained with sin. And yet, God calls on all of us to judge ourselves and to judge one another. But, again, we don’t judge using our flawed reason and thinking. We judge only as God judges as He has revealed in His Word.

 

So, what does being merciful like God look like in practice? Well, it looks like this: When you judge, first recognize your sin, fully acknowledge your sin, since your first judgment must be upon yourself, but out of your love for the other, it is your responsibility to help the other by speaking of their sin so to lead them to repentance and forgiveness. Now, speaking of judgment is never easy, since no one ever takes delight in speaking words of judgment. So, we speak as sinners to fellow sinners with always in mind the gospel that “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).

 

At one time, we were all God’s enemies, and we all deserved what was coming to us – eternal death and hell, but He gave us Christ instead, who took upon Himself our judgment as He suffered and died our punishment as He hung on the cross. Because of that judgment, we are now forgiven and reconciled to God. By faith in His Son, God the Father has given us forgiveness out of His divine mercy! So, when we judge, we judge like God our Father, who is merciful, as we confess our sin, speak God’s Word of judgment, and proclaim the forgiveness won for everyone in Christ! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"Who Do You Trust?" (Jeremiah 17:5-8)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man. … Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord” (Jeremiah 17:5a, 7a).

 

The Lord through the Prophet Jeremiah shows us a real problem. And this problem lies in the heart of humanity. This real problem is trust. Who do you trust? And he contrasts trust in two ways: the way of unbelief and the way of faith.

 

So, who do you trust? Who are you really trusting in? Yourself? Your fellow man? Who is really shaping your thinking and your behavior?

 

When you face anxiety about your life, whether it is about finances, health and safety, where do you turn? Where do you go to get through the anxieties in your life?

 

All too often, we turn inward, to ourselves, with the unshakeable confidence that there is nothing I am unable to do, that there is no problem that I cannot solve. Whether it be a personal dilemma or a worldwide dilemma, you may think that you can solve whatever problem all by yourself, or with the help of fellow man.

 

But there are only two ways: either trusting in human abilities or trusting in the Lord. And the difference is stark. The difference results in either a blessing or a curse.

 

The Lord said through Jeremiah, “You are cursed if you do not trust in Me, if you only trust in human strength and wisdom. But you are blessed when you trust in Me and commit your life to Me.”

 

You see, the one who trusts in himself is “like a shrub in the desert” (Jeremiah 17:6a) with no water who dwells “in an uninhabited salt land” (Jeremiah 17:6d). 

 

Certainly, there will be no prospering in a parched land. The shrub will eventually wither and die.

 

In contrast, the one who trusts in the Lord, and commits his life to the Lord, is “like a tree planted by water” that prospers, that bears fruit, and grows because it has deep roots in the life-giving waters. One who trusts in the Lord doesn’t worry and is never afraid if there is a drought, since it can weather anything because it has a never-failing stream of life to support it through good times and bad.

 

Again, who do you trust? Do you trust in yourself? Many who trust in themselves may say, “I’m smart enough; I’m good enough. People love me. I’ve got enough money. I’ve got my network of friends. I will do just fine!” 

 

We so often trust in money, pleasure, power, and relationships. We seek control of our own choices. We seek control of our own lives. But what is forgotten here? What is left out?

 

If these are the things a person trusts in, God says, “Cursed are you, since they will all fail you. These things will not last forever.”

 

So, where is God in your life? Is He your last option among many other options? What does Jesus say about that? He says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33a). God should never be your last resort, your last option. He should always be first!

 

So, the Lord says, “Cursed are you!” Not only will man fail you, but by trusting in man, you have turned from the Lord. Turning from the Lord means that you are despising and neglecting the Lord.

 

In Martin Luther’s explanation of the First Commandment “You shall have no other gods,” he says, “Whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god.” Luther is saying that there is no middle ground between clinging to the Creator and clinging to the creature. So, directing our fear, love, and trust to something or someone other than the Creator defines our original sin.

 

We are all certainly tempted to trust in our wealth, our strength, or our skill to provide for our earthly needs instead of trusting our heavenly Father. So often we are inclined to pray, “My will be done,”instead of trusting that God’s will is aways best.

 

We fall into this trap of trusting man when we neglect prayer and neglect God’s Word and Sacrament. And we wonder why we end up exhausted, discouraged, bitter and cynical as our efforts fail. So, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man” (Jeremiah 17:5a).

 

But the Lord through Jeremiah also tells of a contrast. He says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord” (Jeremiah 17:7a), for only the Lord God is able to prosper and protect you. He is the only One who will give you full life now and forever. So, not only will all others disappoint you and fail you, but your turning to others is really a turning from the Lord.

 

Instead of being a shrub in the desert, those who trust in the Lord are “like a tree planted by water” (Jeremiah 17:8a). Trusting in the Lord is like being planted along an ever-flowing river of water, like a palm tree planted next to the Nile River. So, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t rain. For there is always water available for nourishment. But just go a short distance from the Nile River and what do you find? You find no vegetation, because it is just dry wilderness.

 

So, where would you rather be planted? In the dry wilderness where you may grow for a time, but eventually wither and die? Or would you rather be planted along the ever-flowing river? Where would you rather be planted?

 

In other words, in whom do you trust? Now, you may be thinking, “Of course, I trust in the Lord!” But how often do you really think, “Well, I can figure it out all by myself, but if all else fails, then I’ll fall back on the Lord.”

 

Would you like to be anyone’s second, third, or fourth choice? How do you think that attitude reflects on your trust in the Lord?

 

You see, God rightly curses those who trust in themselves, and He is right in doing so. We deserve what we get by not trusting in the Lord above all things. We all deserve to be parched, to wither and die, because we do not trust in God, who always promises rest and life.

 

If we are all honest with ourselves, we have all failed to trust in the Lord and have failed to seek Him first. But there is One who has done all things well, who trusted in the Lord with all His heart, soul and mind. This is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He trusted His heavenly Father with all His life. And in the temptations he faced in the wilderness, Jesus trusted the Word of the Lord to take care of Him and His life. 

Jesus, who knew no sin, would take upon Himself our sin as He was nailed to a tree in the shape of a cross. There, Jesus suffered as He was parched and thirsty. There, Jesus would die for yours and my sin of not trusting in God fully.

 

So, repent of your sin of not trusting in the Lord and trusting in yourself. And believe the good news that your sins of mistrust and lack of trust, and trust in yourself is forgiven and paid for on the cross by Jesus.

 

Upon that cross, Jesus took all our dirty sins of thought, word, and deed, and replaced them with His blessings. He gave us a great exchange! He poured out His life that we may have life in Him, from His body and blood. Then He rose from the dead for our justification, so that we, who cling to Him, would be raised when He returns in His glory! He rose so that the power of sin would be destroyed forever. So that we can proclaim this good news of forgiveness of sins and live our lives as forgiven sinners in Christ. Since Christ has forgiven us, we in turn forgive one another.

 

It is no accident that Scripture so often compares one who trusts in the Lord to a tree. Jesus was nailed to a tree. And upon that tree, His body and blood became the stream of life. For in hearing His Word and receiving His Sacraments, when the heat of this life comes, your leaves will remain green, and you will not cease to bear fruit.

 

Jesus is the source of life, the source of our growth and the source of our produce. Jesus is the nourishment that keeps our faith alive.

 

So, who do you trust? Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"Building Up the Church" (1 Corinthians 14:12b-20)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church (1 Corinthians 14:12b).

 

For everyone who attended the adult Bible Study on 1 Corinthians, you know that the Corinthian Church was a deeply troubled congregation. They had a lot of problems. And one of those problems was a sense of superiority on the part of some of the flock of this church. Some thought of themselves as better than others. And in particular, today St. Paul is talking about speaking in tongues.

 

Evidently, those who spoke in tongues were convinced that they were better than those who could not speak in tongues. The tongue speakers were convinced that they had an increased value over the non-tongue speakers. This was causing conflict within the church as they were not building up the body of Christ.

 

And even today, there are some Christian churches that teach that if you do not have the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues then you haven’t truly been baptized. But the thing is, St. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote previously that there are many spiritual gifts, and none is greater than the other. He wrote: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). 

 

Paul tells of spiritual gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Paul goes on teaching that just as the body is one and has many members, all the members are one body with Christ.

 

But for some reason, many in the Church in Corinth were hung up on speaking in tongues. In fact, many of the tongue-speakers may have been “showing off” their spiritual gift as many others in the congregation could make no sense of what was being said.

 

As wonderful of a spiritual gift as tongues may be, speaking in tongues does not edify, or build up the church since tongues are not intelligible to others without an interpreter. A tongue speaker prays, sings, blesses and gives thanks to God well enough, but if there is no one to interpret, those utterances are merely “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1). So, if there is no interpretation, then the tongue speaking is worthless. It’s just filling the church with noise. It isn’t edifying the church. It isn’t building up the body of Christ.

 

“Nevertheless,” Paul writes, “in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:19). So, a short time of instruction is much better than a longer time of confusion with tongues.

 

Now, speaking in tongues is clearly not a pressing issue at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. I haven’t heard of any utterances here that need to be interpreted, but we should follow St. Paul’s advice in always striving in building up the body of Christ, the church. So, how do we do that? How do we build up the church?

 

Unfortunately, our attempts in building up the church often leads to confusion and disunity. As some focus on this and some focus on that and before long, we become like Corinth in this situation with so much conflict. So, how do we build up the church? Well, we can’t. You see, Christ alone builds up the church and we receive His instruction. He builds us up. He instructs us. So, where does Christ build up the church? Well, He does it in many ways. But let’s focus on the primary way He builds up the church!

 

The primary way Jesus builds up the church is through worship. In Corinth, worshipers speaking in tongues failed to build up the others present. They thought they had to do something. They wanted to impress each other by their worship. Now, what they forgot and what Paul was leading them toward is that true worship isn’t about impressing each other. 

 

You see, Jesus is more interested in serving you than what you can do for Him. And this is why church services are arranged as they are. The goal of the church service is not to serve God, to thank Him and praise Him. Now, all those things do happen, but that is not the real reason God gathers His people. The goal is for Him to serve us. 

 

Paul’s goal for Corinth and for us is for everyone to understand the Lord’s truth spoken to them. This is why we have our services in the vernacular, so that we are able to understand the words in our worship service.

 

In speaking of the worship service, we call it “Divine Service,” which comes from the German word “Gottesdienst.” That word “Gottesdienst” confesses what is actually going on as the Church gathers together week after week. Week after week, Jesus gathers His people to serve them. He gathers us around His Means of Grace. Our whole service is for instructing and forming us into the Word of God.

 

We begin with Confession and Absolution. We confess our sins to God our Father and with repentant hearts, we receive the forgiveness Jesus won for us upon the cross. Being absolved of our sins of thought, word, and deed against God and our neighbor, we then praise Him as we say the Introit, which is a selected psalm. The word “Introit” comes from Latin meaning “enter,” since this is when the pastor would traditionally enter the chancel.

 

The service then moves from praise to a request for mercy from God in the Kyrie. “Kyrie eleison” comes from the Greek phrase meaning “Lord have mercy.” This prayer for divine mercy is not only a corporate confession, but an individual confession as we stand before God.

 

And when God’s people ask for His mercy, His response should not be doubted as He always answers the cries of His people. In recognition of His mercy, we again offer thanks and praise as we sing the hymn of praise known as the Gloria in Excelsis which means “Glory be to God on high.” Another hymn of praise is “This is the Feast.”

 

From there, we hear God’s Word in the Scripture readings and later proclaimed in the sermon as you are hearing right now. Preaching is central to Christian worship. Sin is revealed through God’s Law (Romans 3:20), and deliverance is revealed in the Gospel (Romans 1:16-17). And not every sermon will follow the first, Law and then Gospel structure, but both are always present and distinguished in sermons. Along with the proclamation of judgment and deliverance, the sermon is to also instruct the hearer, you, in Christian living (Titus 2:1-13). The forgiveness of sins that is delivered in the Gospel equips God’s people for good works for their neighbor. Also, the sermon is the place for catechesis. So, I am called by Christ to teach and equip you in Christian doctrine. So, along with promoting true doctrine, I am also to rebuke false doctrine, especially in a day when false teaching is so prominent in this fallen world.

 

Upon hearing God’s Word preached, the comfortable are afflicted and the afflicted are comforted, and so with King David we ask for clean hearts in the offertory. The thing is, we cannot clean our own hearts. So, again, God serves us by restoring our hearts.

 

But prior to the offertory, we give thanks to God for His gracious provision by confessing our trust in Him by providing an offering to the church. By offering up the money He has given us, we confess that we are giving thanks to the One who has provided the offering to us and trust that He will continue to provide. Those offerings allow the church to pay for expenses, missionary efforts and other worthwhile aspects of the church, including preparing for a new furnace.

 

Following the Offertory, we bring our prayer petitions before God. We pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs. We pray for the congregation and the broader community. We pray for the sick. We pray for all those in authority. We pray that God’s will would be done.

 

And then God continues to serve us through the Service of the Sacrament where we change our focus from the lectern and pulpit to the altar. We now prepare ourselves for the reception of Christ’s true body and blood under bread and wine. We now focus on the altar, where Christ’s gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation are given. In the Service of the Sacrament, we give thanksgiving to God along with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. Heaven and earth are joined at this table.

 

Following the reception of Christ’s true body and blood given to us for our salvation, we join Simeon as we sing the Nunc Dimittis. We can now depart in peace with our sins forgiven by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

 

In this Divine Service, we have peaks and valleys. God instructs us as we receive His grace at each peak, and we come to repentant hearts at each valley. But we always end each Divine Service receiving His grace. So, the real role of the Christian is to be served by Him with His gifts of forgiveness and mercy, which He delivers through His Church in the Divine Service, so that the Christian is free to serve their neighbor. 

 

Here, God serves us His Word of forgiveness, earned when Jesus served us by dying for us. God serves us, giving us new birth in Holy Baptism. God serves us, feeding our faith with His own body and blood under bread and wine. God serves us and He loves us. God serves us, setting us free to love Him, setting us free to serve the ones He has given to us, our neighbor. Here, God serves us by strengthening your faith as He builds up the church. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"Jesus Presents Himself for Us" (Luke 2:22-40) - The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, [Joseph and Mary] brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22).

 

Today’s Gospel reading may have you feeling déjà vu. Or you could have the intuition that something is just not right. And those feelings may be appropriate, especially on Groundhog Day. But instead of hearing “I Got You Babe” on the clock radio over-and-over again, you are hearing about Joseph and Mary bringing their 40-day-old Son Jesus to the temple where they meet Simeon and Anna.

 

Today may feel more like Christmas than the Epiphany season. Afterall, this day sends us back to Jesus’ infancy! And yet, today, forty days after Christmas, Jesus comes to the temple for us!

 

It is forty days after Christmas. And in keeping with God’s Law in Leviticus 12, the Holy Family makes the short trip to Jerusalem for the purification of Mary and the presentation of the child in the temple.

 

And big things happen on this day. A man is waiting for a promise by the Holy Spirit to be fulfilled. And an elderly woman who spent her life “worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37) in the temple is waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. And then there is Joseph and Mary whose lives will soon be changed forever.

 

First, let’s focus on Joseph and Mary. When they walked into the temple that day, they probably didn’t look that special as they brought the offering of the poor. They could only afford “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons” (Luke 2:24). 

 

We know of Joseph and Mary’s financial status because of their offering. You see, Leviticus 12 called for a lamb to be sacrificed at the presentation of a firstborn, along with a pigeon or a turtledove. But if the parents cannot afford a lamb, then it was allowed for “two turtledoves or two pigeons” (Leviticus 12:8). 

This is the financial situation for Joseph and Mary. They are poor. And it is likely that the average person wouldn’t have even noticed the Holy Family at the temple to worship that day.

 

But it was an offering commanded in the Law – for the life of every firstborn Israelite belonged to Yahweh and had to be redeemed, ever since the firstborn of Egypt died in the exodus.

 

Yet, even as Joseph and Mary purchased this offering and entered the temple precincts, they knew that the real offering was not the birds, but their forty-day-old Son. Their Son would be the Offering to end all offerings. In Him, the Law would be fulfilled.

 

But even with Joseph and Mary knowing they are raising the promised Messiah, they would also act like any other parent. So, when you may ask a parent what they wish for in their child, that answer may be something like: happiness, health, remaining steadfast in the Christian faith, or even outliving the parent. Parents express hope that their child will be kept safe from harm. They express hope that their child will not be corrupted by the fallen world.

 

What parents really want is that their child would not break their hearts. Parents want to do what is best for their child. But ultimately, parents don’t want their hearts broken by their child.

 

Then steps in Simeon, for it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Simeon looks across the room and he sees the infant Jesus in His mother’s arms. And so, he comes toward Mary with a familiar look on his face. A look that Mary had seen before. It was the face of Elizabeth when she had looked in awe at Mary’s swelling belly. It was the face of the shepherds when they knelt beside the manger. Now, this look is on the face of Simeon as he hurries toward the Holy Family with his arms outstretched, reaching for Jesus.

 

Simeon holds Jesus, looks into His infant face, and he prays: 

“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” (Luke 2:29-32).

 

Simeon prays not to any other, but to Him, to the Child in His arms.

But then the Holy Family hears Simeon’s prophetic word: “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).

 

Whatever Joseph and Mary may have thought about Jesus before, whatever their hopes and dreams may have been for Jesus, Simeon’s word was a great reminder that their Son was not ordinary, but extraordinary. Their Son is the Messiah, the Son of God, their Savior.

 

Though Joseph and Mary may appear to be nobodies, the Son they carried to the temple will turn the entire world upside down. He will become the most well-known Person on planet Earth. Jesus will not have our version of happiness. He will lose His life for the world’s sake. And His earthly life will not be a long one – only 33 years. The Jewish religious authorities will consider Jesus outside the faith by who He associates with and by His miracles and signs. Jesus will not be safe from harm, since He has come to wage war against our evil foes: sin, death, the devil, and hell.

 

This Child in Mary’s arms will bring about the fall and rising of many in Israel. Jesus will bring about the fall and rising of the whole world. Jesus is “the stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (Romans 9:33). So, those who are offended by Him, those who reject His love, those who want the fallen world to remain in Satan’s usurped grips will fall before Him.

 

But the lowly, the meek, the sufferers, the sinful, the repentant, the hopeless, the lost, the lonely, the world-weary – these people will be raised up by Him. Simeon was one of them. Simeon would not have peace until he saw the Lord’s Christ with his own eyes.

 

And Simeon would be at peace as he held the Lord’s Christ in his arms as he prayed the Nunc Dimittis to His Lord.

 

Anna, too, was one of the world-weary ones. She saw it all. She lost her husband. Her country was occupied by the Romans. She sought refuge in the temple that was known for greedy priests and faithless teachers. But she sought refuge knowing the temple was indeed God’s house as she waited “for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).

 

Yet, despite all her world-weariness, Anna remained faithful and loyal, praying and waiting, until this day, until this Child came to the temple. She noticed Simeon celebrating with Joseph and Mary. And so, “at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).

 

Anna could not stop speaking of God’s great mercy in the Christ Child!

 

That Child held by Mary and spoken of by Simeon and Anna came to change this fallen world. He came to fulfill the Law on our behalf. Every last detail of all that God commanded and demanded for us is completed in Him. For this reason, Jesus is brought to the temple. Mary came to the temple for her purification, according to the Law of Moses. All women after giving birth had to offer a sacrifice. Again for the Holy Family, it was two turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

 

But this sacrifice wasn’t required to pay for some sin in the mother or because childbirth itself created some kind of guilt. No, this sacrifice was required because it reminded everyone that the sin of Adam and Eve was passed down to each generation. There was no escaping original sin. And sin always requires a sacrifice.

 

But there was one exception, one who entered the world by birth without inheriting sin. This very Child, forty days old was without sin, because no human father passed it down to Him as He was “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary.”

 

This was God’s perfect plan! Jesus is presented in the temple as our substitute, the very Lamb of God who has come to purify us! So, in those moments we may feel world-weary, as if everything around us is out of control, we can cling in faith to the promise that God is not only ruling the universe, but He is also right here in lowly means, revealed in Word and Sacrament.

 

That forty-day-old Child would grow up to keep all the Law perfectly for you and me in our place, and He would also provide the payment for our atonement through His crucifixion and death on the cross. That sacrifice, the final sacrifice, gives forgiveness, life and salvation to all who trust in Him as Lord and Savior, so that we can depart in peace. By grace in Christ alone, through repentance and faith in Him, He presents us with pure and clean hearts. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +