Critical Choices

Note:  We apologize that there is no audio for this sermon.

Earlier in the book of Luke we have seen where Jesus called different ones to follow Him and become disciples.  Here we see another aspect to this, as Jesus now picks 12 of the disciples to become His “apostles.”  We will talk more about this word.  But, suffice it to say that Jesus needed 12 men who would serve as His inner group and become the foundation of the Church once He ascended into heaven.  This is a critical choice.  Now let’s look how Jesus makes it here in Luke 6:12-18.

Taking Time To Pray

Jesus truly is a marvel when you study his life and deeds.  To those who accept Him as a real person from history, it is a marvel to understand the amazingly divine things that He did.  On the other hand, for those who find it easier to see Jesus as divine, it is amazing to see the very human things that He did.  Jesus is at a big transitional point in His life and ministry.  He has some critical decisions before Him.  The 12 men He picks will play a critical role in the plan of God.  In fact, to the uninformed person looking on, the choice of Judas Iscariot may appear to have been a bad one.  But we will come back to that in a moment.

The key at this point is to first see that Jesus spends all night praying about this decision.  Why would Jesus pray?  Doesn’t He know all things?  Isn’t He God?  Part of the mystery is solved in seeing the importance of relationship to God.  Throughout eternity past the Son has always existed in a unique unity with the Father and Spirit.  Even though the incarnation has switched things up a bit, the Son still is motivated by relationship.  In fact the glimpse we have of His time in the Garden of Gethsemane may help us to see that perhaps one of the things Jesus was doing that night was agonizing over the choice of Judas.  Here is the good news.  In Christ, we are invited to enter into this eternal, relationship of God.  Sometimes in our rush to get results we can miss the importance of the process.  In fact, we can forget that of the results God desires in life, relationship is the most important. So why should we pray?

First of all, Jesus sets the example here.  Relationship with God is important.  Even if we can handle “it,” God wants us to spend time talking things through with Him.  If He “needed” to talk with His Father then how much more do we?  Are we greater than our master?  To follow the example of Jesus is to say, “I trust your way rather than mine.”  Of course, prayer is cumbersome and difficult at first.  But over time all relationships become more natural and the communication becomes easier.

Another reason to pray is that we are told to pray throughout the Bible.  Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  In this passage we are told to not let ourselves be distracted by the multitude of cares and concerns we face in this life.  Rather, we are to turn to God in prayer.  The end result of this process is God’s peace.  This is different from having peace with God.  A believer can be at peace with God in the sense of not being His enemy any more, but still lack the inner serenity that God wants us to find in times of relationship with Him.  In fact this verse may seem to be stating that God’s peace surpasses all understanding.  This is definitely true, but not the point of the verse.  It is actually saying that having the peace of God is something far greater than having perfect understanding.  Think about it.  Most of the time, we want God to make everything perfectly clear.  But God is saying that He wants us to have something better.  But doesn’t lack of understanding cause lack of peace?  It definitely contributes to it.  But it is not the cause.  The cause is a broken relationship between man and God.  The more we go to God in prayer and agonize over our decisions and life, the more we will sense His peace in our hearts.  Having the peace of knowing our Father has heard us and has everything worked out is superior to having full understanding.  It is what protects our hearts from doubts and making decisions based on fear and fleshly desires.

Why pray?  Prayer is me saying, “God, you are my answer.”  It declares what your source of wisdom is.  If I never pray about my decisions than I am revealing that He is not the source of my decisions.  What is your source?  I am able to make all my decisions without God’s input, whether in prayer or reading the Word.  But is this wise?  It clearly is not.  Prayer is that means by which I move the source of my decision making from my flesh (my understanding, desires, fears, etc…) to God Himself.  My source of wisdom becomes a spiritual source.  But not just any spiritual source (e.g. demonic or satanic).  The very same mind that created all the cosmos calls me into relationship and is the source of my decisions.  Wow!

Lastly, prayer exercises our faith.  Like a muscle, our faith can atrophy from lack of use.  The more we learn to turn quickly to God in prayer, the stronger we become in our faith.  But do not confuse faith with presumptuous choices.   Thus Jesus, who of all people could have presumed that He could make a good decision, goes to His Father in prayer.  I don’t pretend to know what that night’s prayer looked like exactly.  But I do know that we would be wise to follow Jesus in this.

Calling His Apostles

Now Jesus had many people who wanted to learn of Him and were His disciples.  But He needed 12 men into whom He would reproduce Himself.  Just as God is working to help us become like Jesus, so Jesus took time to reproduce Himself into these men.  Thus the choice involves discerning who would serve Him best from among a larger pool of disciples.  This reminds me of being picked in grade school games.  However, it is clear that Jesus wasn’t picking like we tend to do.  He wasn’t picking His best friends, or the ones who were the studs.  Rather He picked some people that many would scratch their heads over.

Now, the word “apostle” literally means “sent one.”  The person sent was commissioned to be a representative of the one sending.  Thus the apostles are authorized to speak on behalf of Jesus in the years after His death, resurrection, and ascension.  They are enlisted to become the ambassadors of a heavenly King. 

They would also become part of the foundation of the Church.  Scripture gives us this picture of a foundation being laid in several ways.  On one hand Jesus is the ultimate foundation on which everything else that hopes to stand must be built.  In this sense Jesus is the only foundation.  However, another picture that is used would be more like an arch.  Ephesians 2:19-20 says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.  Here the importance of the prophets and apostles is underlined.  But the uniqueness of Jesus is upheld by referring to Him as the chief cornerstone.   It is the critical stone that holds the others in place much like the wedge at the top of an archway.  Leaning upon each other these stones become the strength that holds up everything above it.  In fact, Revelation 21 points out that the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven will have 12 foundations named after each apostle.

Another aspect of the people Jesus picks that day is the diversity of the group.  One one hand you have some who are brothers and therefore very close (Peter & Andrew, James & John).  Also these four worked together in the fishing business.  Thus they had learned to work together and appreciate each other.  You have some who were blue collar workers and others who were white collar workers (Matthew the tax collector).  Then we have differing political views.  Matthew as a tax collector was clearly not a rebel.  Yet, we also have Simon who was a Zealot.  This group was a “freedom fighting” group that often operated in terrorist-type ways.

Lastly, we have the one who would betray Jesus in the end.  It has been noted that Judas seems to be the only one from Judea.  Why would Jesus pick Judas?  Was it a mistake?

Clearly it was not a mistake from God’s perspective.  However, it has been noted that the real question is not, “Why did God pick Judas?”  But, rather, “Why did God pick me?”  Don’t we all have the wavering faithfulness inherent in our heart?  Haven’t we all betrayed the Truth of Jesus at one time or another?

Verses 17-18 do not show any great ceremony.  One moment Jesus is calling 12 men to be His apostles and the next minute He is knee deep in ministry.  These apostles go from being a part of the crowd to being with Jesus.  This “one the job” training may not be what they expected that morning.  Any new job is cumbersome at first because you are clueless.  However, I’m sure these guys felt worse than clueless that day.  Yet note the words “with them.”  Jesus, who is Immanuel “God with Us,” comes with His apostles and ministers with them by His side.  Couldn’t He do it all by Himself?  If by “it” you mean heal people then, “yes, he could.”  But God wanted to minister to man in the face of man’s spiritual enemy with 12 weak individuals whom He was turning into Christ-like warriors.  They would participate in His glory and be exalted to a high position within God’s Kingdom.

When we do have a sense of what God wants us to do, we are going to have to learn to trust Him.  We don’t have perfect knowledge of how things will end up.  So why not choose to have perfect peace instead?  Relationship.  Trust.  Peace.  God’s choices for us personally or for us as mankind can be trusted as He wraps up this stage of History and brings in His millennial kingdom.

Lord of the Sabbath II

Last week we saw how Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, which means He is the authority on what it’s purpose was about.  Jesus rejected the “splitting hairs” tradition of the rabbis because they were dead wrong on what Sabbath was all about.  Today we are going to see a second issue that led to complaints to how Jesus kept the Sabbath.  This begins in Luke 6:6.

Often the differing schools of interpretation within Judaism liked it when Jesus contradicted or disproved their opponents.  However, Jesus had an ability to do this to all of them.  That is why they scrutinized him so much.  They needed something they could use to discredit this “dangerous man.”  Let’s see how Jesus responded to this scrutiny.

Jesus is Scrutinized

In verses 6 and 7 we are given a scene at a synagogue, much like a church is today.  In this scene the Scribes and Pharisees are watching Jesus like a hawk.  What would he do?  There is a difference from watching out for a brother and watching someone like a bird of prey.  This scene is similar to the political maneuverings we see in our own day.  In fact, the “smart” politicians take out their opponents before they can get any following.  Yet, this is not the Spirit of the Lord. 

There happens to be a man there who has a paralyzed hand.  It is called “withered” because the paralysis had shriveled and curled the hand up leaving it useless.  Most likely this man heard Jesus would be there and had come hoping to be healed.  It is possible he is there because the religious leaders are creating this trap.  Either way, they are hoping Jesus will heal the man because then they can accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath Law.  It is almost surreal that they could on one hand know that He could heal and yet on the other hand still accuse Him.

Now this leads up to the issue.  There is nothing wrong with testing teachers, prophets, and healers.  The Bible tells believers to “Test all things.”  God’s children are not called to be gullible sheep who are easily duped.  Not everything that purports to be a miracle from God really is.  However, we must learn to test properly.  These religious leaders have created a improper test.  They do not test Jesus against the Scriptures themselves.  But rather, they test Him against their own traditions based off of the Scriptures.  This is a dishonest test.  It is not just that they had a different interpretation.  But at the heart of it, they had added things you couldn’t do on the Sabbath because of their own wisdom.  All things must be “properly” tested against “Scripture alone.”  We shouldn’t test it against one verse pulled out of context.  Nor should we test it against a twisted and tortured understanding of a text.  Often, we might find ourselves coming to the conclusion that we don’t have enough information.  It is not clear.  In those cases it would be better to leave it between that person and God, rather than making a public judgment.

Jesus Responds with Teaching and Healing

Verses 8-11give the response of Jesus.  It is important to notice that, in the Bible, Jesus is not a rebel who was always trying to “stick it to the man.”  Rather, He was interested in Truth and rescuing Israel from the path that their religious leaders were taking them down.

Now we are told that Jesus knew their thoughts.  Whether words had been said, He knew what they were hoping for.  Remember that the same is true today.  Christ knows what is in your mind and heart.  He knows whether you are looking for excuses to walk away from Him or if you are hoping for a miracle.  You most likely aren’t struggling over whether Jesus should heal on the Sabbath or not.  However, you might have things against Jesus and His Word that are unspoken in your mind and heart.  Jesus could have not healed the guy, or did it later when they weren’t around.  Instead he boldly met their challenge.

First Jesus challenged their biblical understanding.  Just like Isaiah 1 has God calling out to Israel, “Come let us reason…” so Jesus takes time to reason with the “wise men” of any age.  He does so to draw us away from lies and towards a love of the Truth.  He asks two questions.  “Is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath?”  Now doing evil on the Sabbath is clearly wrong because it is wrong on any day.  The Sabbath law was given, in part, as a check against the “evil” of working 7 days a week trying to increase yourself without acknowledging a need for God’s help.  This law helped to check the evil heart and point man to his greater need and greater supply.  We may not be under the Sabbath law today as Christians, but we still need to listen to the wisdom of God behind this law He gave Israel.  However, on another level this question begs another question.  If it is in your power to help someone in need and you do nothing, isn’t that evil?  Jesus could heal.  How could he walk by a man who wanted healed and do nothing because it is the Sabbath day?  Clearly he should do something.

Now there are many who use this line of reasoning against God Himself.  “How can God sit in heaven and not fix the bad stuff in this world?  If He exists then He must be evil.”  Of course this line of reasoning would be true if God had done nothing.  But the testimony of the Scriptures and of many throughout history is that God has helped us, just not in the way we demand he do it.  A common problem in helping people is that sometimes people don’t want to be “helped.”  God has helped mankind, but most won’t receive it.  What a tragedy.  He asks the same question again but used the word heal.  Which is lawful to heal or destroy?  The word translated as save in some versions would mean to heal in this context.  Jesus did not come to destroy men, but to bring healing and salvation to their lives.  This is the heart of God, especially in the Sabbath law that He gave Israel.

Jesus has the man come and stand by Him.  Apparently no one wants to debate with Jesus.  So Jesus then tells the man to stretch out his hand and it is healed.  They don’t care about the reasoning of Jesus.  They are convinced that they are right and only watch the outward actions of Jesus so that they can condemn Him.  Jesus is not only the justifier of His disciples, but He is also the healer of them too. He courageously steps forth and heals a man even though He will be maligned for it.  In fact this is a hallmark of Jesus and God.  God has the courage to stand by the weak and poor of this world who will embrace Him.  Even though the strong, rich, and wise mock such a band of people.  Whose side are you on?

The last verse of this section says that the Pharisees and Scribes were filled with madness.  Literally they lost their mind and tried to figure out what to do with Him.  When we contrast this with the passage in Acts 2, it begs another question, “What are you filled with?”  Am I filled with a madness or with the pure, Holy Spirit of God?  When God is doing a beautiful and wonderful work of salvation or healing, what am I filled with?  At the Red Sea the children of Israel were filled with joy and praise as a way was made through the waters.  However, Pharaoh’s heart was filled with rage and rushed into the trap bent on destroying Israel.  Today, God is drawing together a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.  He is filling them with His Spirit and faith.  However, others are becoming more and more maddened by such archaic beliefs.  We live in a mad world, but in the midst of that madness we are called to be a bold and courageous healer and savior with Jesus.  Let’s stand with the Lord of the Sabbath and rest in His peace!

Lord Sabbath II audio

The Lord of the Sabbath

Today we are going to look at Luke 6:1-5.  At issue in this portion of Scripture is a legal issue regarding the Sabbath day under the Law of Moses.  Now the term “Sabbath” means to rest or cease an activity.  It is a reference to the Creation, in which God created all things in six days.  The seventh day becomes the day on which He ceased the activity of creation or rested from creating.  This is where we get our idea of a 7 day week with at least one day off for rest.

There is no indication that this was ritually observed before the flood.  But in the Law of Moses God commands Israel to do no work on the seventh day.  In fact the Old Testament refers to these days of rest as something God was giving Israel.  They were God’s rests that He was giving to Israel.  In other words, by resting on this day and worshipping God they were demonstrating their trust in God to take care of them.  The natural desire to keep working out of fear for the future is counteracted with God’s offer of rest.  If they trusted Him He would ensure that they had enough.  Thus Sabbath day was intended to not just be a day of physical rest, but also a day of emotional, psychological rest.  However, it is in the New Testament that we begin to see that this day of rest also has a spiritual application.  Thus Scripture declares that there is “no peace for the wicked.”  (Isaiah 57:21)  The wicked may be able to rest physically and even emotionally.  But spiritually they would have no rest or peace with God.

So let’s look at this event and see who Jesus really is.

Picking Food On The Sabbath

In verses 1-2 we are told that it is a Sabbath day and that Jesus and His disciples walked through a grain field.  The disciples were picking grain, rubbing it in their hand to remove the outer shell, and eating it.  No doubt the discussion with the Pharisees takes place when they reach a town, either outside of it or inside.  They probably see the group approach from out of the fields and notice the “infraction” in the hands of the disciples.  Now we might be tempted to think that the problem is one of stealing.  However, in Israel, as long as you weren’t trying to harvest for yourself, it was not considered stealing to pick a fruit or pick some grain on your way through your neighbor’s fields.  In fact all of the land of Israel technically belonged to God.  He had delegated authority over the land to the tribes who in turn divided it among the family clans.  Thus there was a concept of private property.  But, it was more like a manager status.  The “owner” was the one who had delegated authority over the property.

No, the problem here is not stealing, but rather that what they are doing is classified as work by the teachers of Israel.  Now clearly this is a stretch of the meaning of the word work.  But over the years the teachers of Israel had developed a complex system of things that were considered work and things that were exceptions.  The act of picking the grain and the act of rubbing it in their hands were both unapproved activities.  Now this form of legal nit-picking is clearly not a thing that God likes.  When we do this kind of thing we lose sight of the original intent of the law.  God had a purpose in the Sabbath law, which was being buried under an avalanche of things you couldn’t do.  However the opposite can be a problem as well.  We can use the nit-picking of others to justify total disregard for the law.  God is not a fan of that either.  The Law has a purpose and should be obeyed.  However, the spirit (purpose) of the law can be lost when we devolve into this form of legal nit-picking.  Thus the original purpose of a speed limit was to keep traffic moving at a safe speed, not make money off of people who don’t have cruise control.

Part of the problem can be described with the term “mission-creep.”  Originally this had to do with a military mission.  It was common to have initial successes that lead to additional objectives being added.  Over time the addition of objectives can lead to losing sight of the original mission or it can lead to objectives that directly thwart the primary objective.  This happens in legal settings where the original intent of the law gets lost in attempts of politicians to push the envelope of what the words might mean for us today.  Israel had experienced “tradition-creep.”  Over time they had built up a tradition of what could or couldn’t be done on the Sabbath that was not in the Bible.  The traditions had taken on the same force as Scripture and lost touch with the original purpose of God.  The purpose of the Sabbath was to be a blessing to man, not a straight-jacket that put him in fear at every turn.

Now it would be easy to say that the Pharisee’s problem is that they are judging the disciples.  But that is too simplistic.  Yes, Matthew 7:1 says, “Judge not that you be not judged.”  But that verse goes on to describe that the purpose of this statement is to get us to judge ourselves first so that then we will have the right spirit and ability to help our brother.  In John 7:24 Jesus says, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”  God wants us to make good and proper distinctions in life.  Yet, he doesn’t want us to have a critical spirit of others while having the opposite spirit towards ourselves.  This type of prideful and spiteful judgment is displayed everyday online in the comments section of an article.  It is difficult to wade through the blatant “I’m right-You’re wrong” nonsense that goes on.  So finding that balance and learning to make good judgments is important and godly.

Jesus Justifies His Disciples

In verses 3-5 Jesus gives His response to the Pharisees and it has two basic points.  Now, let me just say that it is nothing new to be criticized by others.  Sometimes we should be criticized, yet, often critics go too far.  The important thing for believers is that we recognize that Jesus is the one who justifies us (He is also the one who judges us.) 

Now the first point Jesus makes is to come down to their level.  They live for legal arguments, rabbinical precedents, and scriptural anecdotes.  Jesus reminds them of just one of the places in the Old Testament where an exception is made for one of God’s laws.  If there were exceptions being made then God’s original purpose could not have been to create a police state where everyone is forced to live in fear of getting caught breaking any one of a swelling body of traditions.  Neither was God wanting to create a society of people trying to catch each other.  Jesus could have skipped this argument because His second one completely wins the argument.  However, it is important for us to think about this.  Now the Pharisees knew that there were exceptions in the law.  In fact, they had their own favorite loop-holes.  Yet, in many places the Law was not as tight as their traditions had made it.

The particular story Jesus refers to has to do with David running for his life from King Saul.  Without going into too much detail (you can read the story in 1 Samuel 21), David goes to the tabernacle looking for some food and weapons.  The only food available is “holy” bread that had been removed from the Holy place.  Technically only the priests of Aaron should eat this bread.  Yet, the priest lets David have the food as long as he is ceremonially clean.  In this story we see that human need took precedent over a ritual observance.  The ritual of the bread was important and should be obeyed.  Yet, its main purpose was to symbolically teach Israel about the holy bread of God (a picture of Jesus).  When human need or human life was on the line, the ritual could be stretched.  Thus we see the priest doing his best to keep the ritual (“are you ceremonially clean?”), and yet, not overlooking David’s need in a time of persecution.

We see this principle of the priority of human life over ritual throughout the Old Testament.  We also see the priority of God’s purpose over the letter of the Law.  David speaks of this when he says in Psalm 51, “You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burn offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise.”  David is not advocating lawlessness.  However, he is recognizing that God really wanted people who had sacrificed themselves spiritually.  The animals were only a symbol and a way of expressing faith in God.  Thus God’s Law of the Sabbath had an original purpose.  There is purpose and scope to all of the Laws of God and the person who tries to turn this passage into a license for disregarding them is being foolish.

The second argument is a form of “pulling rank.”  Jesus basically says that He is in the authority over the Sabbath Law.  His use of the term “son of man” is definitely referring to himself.  However, it is also a reference to Daniel 7.  Throughout the Old Testament “son of man” is a way of saying “human.”  However, in Daniel 7, Daniel sees a particular human (son of man) who comes to God and receives the Kingdom that lasts forever.  Thus “son of man” is a messianic title.  The Messiah is lord of the Sabbath.  In fact, the argument can be made from Scripture that it is Jesus who gave the Sabbath Law to Moses in the first place.  Jesus is not saying, “He who makes the Laws can break the laws.”  What He is saying is that the maker of the Law is the One who you look to do “interpret” it, not rabbinical ideas and thoughts.  Moses demonstrated this during the desert.  God had not given him every law all at once.  When a situation came before Moses, he would go to God and pray for an answer.  If God answered it would become a part of the Law.  If not, then it would not.  You do not add to nor subtract from God’s word.  Instead of waiting for the Messiah to make problem situations clear, they had plunged ahead in their own wisdom.  Jesus is basically saying, “I made this law and my intention was not to bust people for doing what these disciples are doing here.”

Now let me close by just challenging believers today.  Jesus is your justifier.  Sometimes those who criticize you are totally unjustified and you want to tear into them. However, you will not change their minds and only fill your heart with evil desires and thoughts.  Let Jesus be your justifier.  Learn to trust Him and stand with Him.  Our country is becoming more and more hostile towards those who try to stand with Jesus.  Just know that Jesus is your defense.  If you stand with Him, you will stand in the end.  But if we retreat from Jesus because of the criticism of others, then we actually cut ourselves off from the very one who can justify us.  There are times when we need the criticism of others.  God sometimes uses the negative feedback we get from others to show us that there is a problem.  However, in both these cases, we need to look back to Jesus and work this out in our own hearts before Him.

Lord of Sabbath Audio

Prophecies in the Temple

When we read the Bible for ourselves, we find out that Jesus was not a nonconformist rebel.    He definitely came to change things.  Yet, the way he went about that was quite different then the revolutionaries of history.  He was no Che Guevara.  Rather, we see him growing up in a family that observed the Law of Moses and Jesus as the obedient Son who fulfill the Law.  He then goes on to lay that perfect life down as payment for all who will put their trust in Him.  The critical difference is that revolutionaries rebel against something that they disagree with and refuse to do.  However, Jesus did not disagree with the Law.  He completely agreed with it and completely fulfilled it.  Yet, He knew it would not save anyone.  He becomes the perfect Law keeper, not to hold it over our heads, but to lay it at our feet.

Today we will look at Luke 2:21-40 as the parents of Jesus observe the different rituals of the Law.

The Law Fulfilled

Two rituals are mentioned in this passage: circumcision and the presentation of the firstborn.  Luke summarizes this section in vs. 39 as “performing the Law.”  The Law required all male children to be circumcised on their 8^th day.  It also required that every firstborn must be brought to the temple and be presented before God. 

Let’s look first at circumcision.  Circumcision was a symbol in the flesh of each male that they were under the covenant of Moses with God.  However, the prophets and Christ himself later gave deeper meaning to this act of circumcision.  It further symbolized a spiritual act that God desired in which a person was separated from the sins of the flesh.  Colossians 2:11 says, “In Him you were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.”  In this passage Paul compares and contrasts physical things with their spiritual counterpart.  In the New Testament we are told that physical birth occurs because of the desire and intention of a man.  However, spiritual birth can only occur because of the will of God.  Similarly, physical circumcision occurs because of the intention of an earthly father.  Yet, spiritual circumcision occurs because of the work and intention of God.  Another thing that is different in both is that no baby has any say in its birth or circumcision.  Yet, spiritual birth and spiritual circumcision happen as we put our faith in God.  Scripture clearly sees this as something that is done when we put our faith in Christ.  Yet the 8^th day could also be a hint that after man’s life is finished (i.e. seven days) God will separate him from his sinful flesh so that he can live in purity before God (resurrection).

Now it was common in Israel to give the child his name at his circumcision.  So we are told that He was given the name the angel told them: Jesus.  Now there is much controversy that surrounds this name and for no good reason.  The New Testament was written in Greek and in those texts the Greek name used was Iesous.  Neither Greek nor Hebrew have “J” sounds.  This is how ancient names that had “Y” sounds were brought into English.  The “I” is the Greek way of making a “Y” sound.  Now the underlying Hebrew name would be translated as “Yahweh Saves,” as told by the angel.  Thus we can know that the Hebrew name of Jesus had to be a form of Yoshua (Joshua), Yeshua, or Yehoshua, etc…  We can’t be certain of the variant but Yeshua is usually used.  Even in the Bible we are shown that names taken from one language to another are either transliterated (closest sound equivalent) or translated (meaning in one language is brought into the other).  Thus either form are biblically acceptable.  To the English speaking world the baby is Jesus.  There should be no controversy in this.  It is not wrong to call Him Yeshua.  However, neither is it more spiritual.  It begs the question, “What language will we speak in the Millennium or in the “eternal state?”  Even if it is Hebrew, it is not necessary for all Christians to learn how to speak Hebrew and call Jesus by a Hebrew name that may not be the right variant.  I don’t believe God is concerned with this as much as some try to make out.  We are putting our faith not in some syllables, but rather the one who stands behind them.  In fact there are more than one Yeshuas in the Bible.  It is the Yeshua who died on the cross in Jerusalem and was resurrected to new life that we are putting our faith in.  That is the “Yeshua, Jesus, Iesous” who saves.

Now let’s look at the Presentation ceremony.  Technically every firstborn of Israel should have died in Egypt during the 10^th plague.  However, God had spared them because of their faith in Him and His instruction to put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts.  Thus he required all parents to acknowledge this fact in the temple while also offering a burnt sacrifice and a sin sacrifice.  They would then pay 5 shekels to redeem their child from the Lord.  This was to prepare them to understand how God was redeeming them from sin through the blood of Jesus (the Lamb of God).  This would happen 40 days after the birth of the child.  One thing that is interesting is that it says Joseph and Mary offer up two turtledoves.  This gives us a clue to their financial status.  If a person could afford it they were supposed to offer a lamb and a turtledove.  However, if that would be a burden they could offer two birds.  There was a third option to offer one bird and a measure of fine flour.  Thus we see that the family of Jesus was not rich, but neither were they destitute.  Peter must have been thinking of this ceremony when he says in 1 Peter 1:18, “You were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold.”  The disciples recognized that the Law was good in that it gave a picture of what God would do.  But in some ways it was cruder than the reality.  A parent would redeem their child with the blood of animals and the metals of gold or silver.  Neither of these even compare to the precious reality of the death of Jesus and the price of His perfect life paid for us.

The Testimony of Simeon

Now in verses 25-35 we see that Joseph and Mary run into a man at the Temple.  We are not told exactly where and whether this is before the ceremony or after.  But we are told that Simeon is a righteous man.  Whether he was a prophet or not doesn’t matter.  What does is that Simeon was a Spirit-led man who heard from the Lord.  He goes on to prophesy about this baby. 

First He declares Jesus as the salvation of God.  Clearly he recognizes Jesus as the Messiah or the Consolation of Israel.  No doubt he had questions as to the specifics, but he testifies (goes on record) as saying this baby is the Messiah.

Second, he declares that the baby will be revelation for the Gentiles.  Now man can search out knowledge and we know from Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle that the Gentile world had some brilliant men.  Yet, salvation cannot be deduced through the scientific method.  Man can figure out amazing things.  But he will continue to battle with sin to the point of self extinction, if God let it be.  But God cares enough to give revelation.  Knowledge from outside the system is brought into it by the designer for our sakes.  The Gospel of Jesus is that light.

Third, he declares that this baby will be “The Glory” of Israel.  Now in light of the divine origin of Jesus this is more than just saying the baby will be the greatest Israelite to ever live.  Now this is true.  However, God was always considered to be The Glory of Israel.  In Jesus the Glory of Israel had taken on flesh to live out the perfect life of the greatest Israelite to ever live.  Think about this: with its own hands Israel destroyed its own glory.  What does that say about all of us in life?  Is it possible that Satan and sin tempt us to destroy and tear apart, with our own hands, the very things that God intends for our glory?  A spouse has a stroke and can no longer function.  Do you leave them because “you have needs?”  Or, do you stand by them and love them for better or worse?  Many people every day walk away from and throw away the very thing God intended to bring them true glory.  Be careful what you do with what you have.

Simeon closes this time by declaring that the baby would grow up to cause the fall of many in Israel and the rising up of others.  This inversion of fortunes is not necessary.  It is simply up to the hearts of the individuals.  Jesus would be the revealer of hidden things in the hearts of men.  He would be a kind of “Litmus Test” from heaven to reveal what cannot be known my mortals.  What we do with Jesus is the ultimate test of whether we love Truth or not and whether we have Faith in God or not.  Jesus is still such a litmus test to this day.  The test is not just to embrace Jesus, but to embrace Jesus only as He is presented in Scripture.  It is common today to say that you believe in Jesus and yet go on to mold Jesus into whatever image you want.  Their “Jesus” becomes a Jesus who is very different from the Jesus who went to the cross and was resurrected on the third day.  Make sure you are truly embracing Jesus rather than an imagination you have received from others or concocted in your own head.

The Testimony of Anna

In verses 36-38 we have another public witness of who Jesus is.  Anna is a woman whose husband had died after they had been married for 7 years.  This would put her somewhere in her twenties.  On top of this she remained a widow for 84 years.  This would make her over one hundred years old in this event.  For 84 years she had prayed and fasted from time to time.  She was used by God as a prophetess.  What were here prophecies?  Most likely she prophesied that the Messiah was coming.  Thus in the context of fulfilling the Law we have two witnesses who step forward to verify that the baby is the Messiah.  If we count God himself, Joseph, Mary, Zechariah, Elizabeth, and the Shepherds, we have quite a number more.

Although we do not have the specific words of Anna, we are told that she verifies that Jesus is to be God’s Redeemer.  It is clear she is supporting what Simeon has said.  Thus the words of the Spirit are confirmed by two prophets and the previous words that God had given Mary, Joseph, and the Shepherds.

Further Thoughts:

Now Luke leaves out the story of the Magi who visit Jesus in Bethlehem.  It seems unlikely that they have already visited.  Most likely they did visit within that first year.  Thus Luke’s account appears to contradict Matthew.  Luke says that “after they had performed all things according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee…”  Is this actually a contradiction?  Actually it isn’t.  Luke may have left out the story because he hadn’t heard it, or because he didn’t have the ability to verify it.  He clearly states that he is writing what he received first hand or verified for himself.  Second of all Matthew says that the coming of the Magi and the flight to Egypt were fulfillment of Scripture.  Thus Luke’s phrase, “after they had performed all things according to the Law,” could include the flight into Egypt.  The timeline would be that they first went back to Nazareth.  The Magi would have visited sometime later that year.  They would have fled into Egypt right after that.  Herod dies right after this whole episode.  So they wouldn’t have stayed in Egypt more than a year.  This puts Jesus at the age of 2 or 3 years old when they go back to Nazareth.  These type of specifics are irrelevant to the overall purpose of Luke.  What Luke states is basically true even though there may be more to the story.

Lastly, verse 40 says that Jesus became strong in Spirit, wisdom, and God’s grace.  O that it would said of all of us.  To be strong in Spirit doesn’t just mean that he is stubborn.  Rather it means that He listened to the Spirit and the Spirit was evidently with Him in what He did.  Growing in wisdom is a reference to that mystery of the divinity of Jesus.  In some ways He was very human.  Someone taught him to read.  Yet, he was the Son of God from Eternity past.  The Holy Spirit makes little attempt to dispel this mystery for us.  Therefore it is not important.  Yet, we all need to grow in wisdom and God’s word is the greatest source of wisdom on the planet.  Jesus also grew in God’s grace.  God had gifted Him in very obvious ways.  May God help us in this new year to be strong in His Spirit, His Wisdom, and His Grace.  Amen.

Temple Prophecies audio