First Sunday after Christmas
Galatians 4.1–7 + Luke 2.33-40
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today’s gospel lesson opens with Mary and Joseph marveling at those things which were spoken of Him. They are in the temple, forty days after Jesus’ birth to present Him to the Lord according to the law of Moses. While they are there, the Holy Spirit leads Simeon, a devout believer whom He had promised would live to see the promised Messiah. Simeon enters the temple, goes to the holy family, scoops up infant Jesus in his arms and sings what you know as the Nunc Dimittis, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).
Mary and Joseph marvel—they’re amazed at this man’s words—because he confirms what the angel Gabriel had told Mary over ten months before, and what the angel told the shepherds on the night when Jesus was born. Mary’s child was the Lord’s salvation. That’s even what His name—Jesus—means. Mary’s child is the Lord’s salvation for all people, non-Jew and Jew alike. He will lighten the gentiles by teaching them the way of salvation. The people of Israel will rejoice that in Him, God fulfills His promises to the patriarchs. The Holy Spirit promised Simeon that he would not die until he sees the Lord’s Christ for Simeon’s sake, as a reward for Simeon’s steadfast devotion and waiting for the Consolation of Israel (Lk 2:25). But the Holy Spirit also made this promise to Simeon so that He might confirm Joseph and Mary’s faith through Simeon’s words. Mary and Joseph were flesh and blood people like us. They didn’t walk around always thinking of their son as the Christ and Son of God. They had vocations to attend to, especially the vocation of raising this little one. The Holy Spirit’s words through Simeon are to confirm their faith so that they go about their duties as Jesus’ parents with steadfastness, devotion, and diligence.
Through Simeon’s words, the Holy Spirit also warns the parents of what is to come. He blesses them and says to Mary, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” It is one thing—a vitally important thing—to know that this child is the Lord’s salvation and that He is for all people, a light to lighten the gentiles and the reason for Israel to glory in God and rejoice. But it is just as important to know that their child will be divisive. He is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel. Many in Israel, many of the Jews, will fall because of the child. This is a spiritual fall, a spiritual stumbling on account of Christ. Many in Israel will fall, not because He pushes them, but because they stumble over Him. The Lord had said through the prophet Isaiah, “He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, Be snared and taken” (Is 8:14-15). Many of the Jews will be offended by Him. Many will be offended that His kingdom will not be a worldly kingdom. Many will be offended at His teaching that their righteousness—their outward fulfillment of the law—is really just self-righteousness if it doesn’t proceed from faith. Offended, they will fall and be broken on this stone of stumbling.
Not all will be offended, however. This child is appointed for the rising of many in Israel as well! There will be many who are not offended by His kingdom and teaching. Many will humble themselves, repent of their sins, and seek God’s mercy for the child’s sake, will rise. They will rise from penitential humility to the joy of the gospel. They will rise from the kingdom of the devil, who oppressed their consciences with guilt, to the freedom of sins forgiven and heaven opened. They will rise from slavery to sin to a new life animated by the Holy Spirit. And on the Last Day, when the Christ returns, they will rise from their graves—with all believers who persevere to the end—with glorified and incorruptible bodies, to live eternally in the everlasting blessedness of God’s presence.
This child will also be a sign which will be spoken against. He will be rejected and condemned. This is the child’s fate, so, of course it will affect His mother. Simeon says, “A sword will pierce through your own soul also.” She will be standing by the cross of Jesus, watching the world pour out its hatred, rejection, and wrath on her son. It is important that Mary know this, so that when she sees her countrymen and kinsmen become offended by her Son and turn away from Him, she isn’t offended and fall away as well. It is important she know this so that when she experiences the sword of persecution and suffering piercing her own heart, she does not give up her faith in what she has been told about her Son, that He is the Lord’s salvation for all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory and rejoicing of the true Israel.
This is, of course, written for our learning, too. Two thousand years later, the Son of Mary still causes many to fall and rise. Two thousand years later, Mary’s child is still a sign which is spoken against. Those who think His kingdom should be of this world stumble and fall when they hear that God’s kingdom is His reign over the hearts of men by His gospel, which is a kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17). Some speak against Christ and His kingdom, mocking it because they think it should be a kingdom of social and economic equality. Others speak against it because they imagine it to be a Christian society in which everyone is ruled by God’s law. People on both sides say, “The church isn’t doing enough to make this world what it should be!” But they are simply offended at the Christ who tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).
Others stumble over Christ and fall because of they are self-righteous. Some are self-righteous in the sense that they think to be good enough for God on their own, without Christ, without faith, that God should approve of them because they’re good people, or at least not like other people. Others are self-righteous in the sense that they imagine they have Christ and the forgiveness of sins even though they continue in their sins and feel no need to repent and live differently. They imagine since God’s grace abounds; sin must abound as well. When confronted with the God’s righteous condemnation of sin, they are offended that Christ calls sinners to repentance and growth in godliness, not to continued sinning. Simeon’s words are necessary for us to know, so that when we see people offended at the Christian faith, when we see people spurn the gospel, when see masses of people confess Christ with their lips but never hear His Word and live Chrisitan lives, we understand that this is child has been appointed for this. If the Holy Spirit did not want Mary and Joseph to be offended at the world and the hypocrite’s rejection of their Son, how much more does He want you to know this in advance, so that you may not stumble and fall over Christ when you see it in for yourself? The child is still revealing the thoughts of many hearts as some fall and some rise on account of Him.
The Holy Spirit does not want you to be discouraged by what you hear and see in the world and in most of what calls itself Christ’s church but is not. Nor does He want you to be offended so that you fall away when you experience cross and hardship for this child’s sake. He wants you to remain faithful unto the end, like Simeon and Anna, joyfully receiving the redemption Christ has brought. Even though many stumble over Christ and although many speak against Him, the Holy Spirit reminds you that regardless of what people may expect Him to be, this child is the Consolation of Israel, He is God’s promised redemption. He is the light to lighten the gentiles by the gospel, and the boast of Israel. And although you’ve already been told, marvel at this, as Mary and Joseph did, though they had already been told. Be devout of Simeon had been. Dedicate yourself to prayer and disciplining your flesh as Anna did. The world and false church will only speak against Christ, His kingdom, and His gospel because it isn’t what they think it should be or want it to be. Leave them to it. The Holy Spirit has told you this would happen. Instead, marvel in faith at the words of Simeon and Anna, and rejoice, for this Child is your Savior and your Redemption. Amen.
May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds Christ Jesus. Amen.
