Presenting Jesus

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the fifth Sunday after Epiphany, the 5th of February, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.]

This past Thursday, Feb. 2nd, was the day celebrated as the Feast of Presentation in parts of the Christian world, held 40 days after Christmas day.  It marks the day when Jesus was first presented to God at the Temple in Jerusalem.  He would still have been a baby, just 40 days old.

We know very little about Jesus as a youth.  We do know He was born as we are born, as one of us, and He lived and grew just like us.  But we only have a few accounts regarding His childhood.

And one of those has to do with the time when, still a small babe in arms, Jesus’ parents took Him to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord in the Temple.  Please listen and follow along to how the Apostle Luke described the events of that day, in the 2nd chapter of his Gospel account, verses 22 through 40, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

22 Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so His parents took Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. 23 The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord.” 24 So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord — “either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

25 At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the Baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there. He took the Child in his arms and praised God, saying,

29 “Sovereign Lord, now let Your servant die in peace,

as You have promised.

30 I have seen Your salvation,

31 which You have prepared for all people.

32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations,

and He is the glory of Your people Israel!”

33 Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about Him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the Baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose Him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”

36 Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. 37 Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. 38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the Child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

39 When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. 40 There the Child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on Him. 

--Luke 2:22-40 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for allowing Simeon and Anna to see that the little Baby Jesus was indeed Your Messiah, sent to save us from eternal punishment.  Sadly, not everyone could recognize their Messiah, not in the little babe nor in the adult that walked among them.  Father, please forgive those who cannot see, or refuse to see.  May Your Holy Spirit work in their hearts.  Thank You, Father, for letting us know Your Son, for giving us the faith to believe in Him, for choosing us to follow Him.

Please forgive us, Father, when we shirk our mission from Jesus to make more disciples for Him, when we fail for whatever reason to get out of our comfort zone and go out to them, to where they are, just as Jesus did.  Please help us be unafraid to witness for our Lord.  And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who are so willing to carry out his evil works.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Give us the insight into how we can present Jesus to others.  This we pray in the wonderful name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Columnist Cleveland Amory once told this little story about Judge John Lowell of Boston:

One morning the judge was at breakfast, his face hidden behind the morning paper.  A frightened maid tiptoed into the room and whispered something in Mrs. Lowell's ear.  The lady paled slightly, then squared her shoulders resolutely and said, "John, the cook has burned the oatmeal, and there is no more in the house.  I am afraid that this morning, for the first time in seventeen years, you will have to go without your oatmeal."

The judge, without putting down his paper, answered, "It's all right, my dear.  Frankly, I never cared much for it anyhow."

Just because we've been eating oatmeal for breakfast every day for 17 years doesn't mean we really like it.  Sometimes we just assume that something is a certain way because it has been that way for so long a time, at least in our minds.  We know that Jesus is God and we ascribe all godly things to Him, like the miracles He performed.  But sometimes we forget that Jesus was also a man, flesh and blood, just like us, born like us, lived like us, died to this life like we will, although our end will not be as horrible as was His.

He was also a little baby, innocent, vulnerable, smiling and giggling and pooping His diapers just like a normal baby.  God came down to us as one of us so that we could relate to Him.  He came to take away our sin and save us from eternal death.  This could only be done through the sacrifice of the Spotless Lamb.

Joseph and Mary were good devout Jews, and like good devout Jews they obeyed all the customs and the laws of the day.  So when their little Son was 40 days old, they took Him to Jerusalem to present Him in the Temple and dedicate Him to the Lord, making the appropriate offering on His behalf according to the Law.  There they came across Simeon, who was also a good devout Jew, and who had been led by the Holy Spirit to the Temple that very day.

Our scripture says that Simeon had been eagerly waiting for God’s Messiah to come and rescue His chosen people, even asking God not to let him die until he had seen the Christ with his own eyes.  When Joseph and Mary came in, Simeon instantly recognized the Baby in their arms as the long awaited and promised Messiah.  Simeon looked at Jesus and at Mary and pronounced that this Child would cause many in Israel to fall and many to rise, many will oppose Him, and Mary’s soul will be pierced as if by a sword.  Indeed, many did fall, and still fall, who did not accept Jesus as Lord, but many have risen, been lifted up by their belief.  And truly, Mary was pierced when she had to stand by and watch her Son die upon a cross.

Then a prophet named Anna, a very old widow who never left the Temple, also saw the Baby and knew Him to be the Christ.  She told everyone about the Child, everyone who had been waiting for God to rescue Jerusalem.  This is what we’re supposed to do: to tell everyone about Jesus, everyone who has been looking to God to rescue them, to fulfill then, to save them, whether they know it or not.

Jesus came to us as one of us, He was presented to us as any normal baby would be.  Why?  Why would God come down to earth in such a humble way, rather than in a blinding light with lightning in His hands and millions of angels behind Him?  Maybe because He didn’t want to scare us?  Maybe He wanted us to accept Him and love Him like we tend to do for any baby.  Does the all mighty, all powerful, all knowing God care for us so much that He wanted us to love Him as He loves us?

In the 2nd chapter of his book, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews quotes from the 8th Psalm when in verses 6 & 7 he asks God...

6b “What are mere mortals that You should think about them, or a son of man that You should care for him?

7 Yet for a little while you made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor."

--Hebrews 2:6b-7 (NLT)

That’s us – we were created, for a little while, to be a little lower than the angels.  That means that someday, we will be elevated up above the angels in stature.

And then the author continues in his own words, in verses 9-11 and 14-18 of chapter 2…

9 What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because He suffered death for us, He is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. 10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that He should make Jesus, through His suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.

11 So now Jesus and the ones He makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them His brothers and sisters.

14 Because God’s children are human beings — made of flesh and blood — the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; He came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for Him to be made in every respect like us, His brothers and sisters, so that He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then He could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since He himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are being tested.

--Hebrews 2:9-11, 14-18 (NLT)

This is Jesus – Almighty God and man like us at the same time.  Fully God and fully man.  For a short time, around 33 years, He was just like us – a little lower than the angels in the divine scheme of things.  He died for us so that God could bring us into His glory and lift Him far, far above the angels.

Jesus could not die unless He was also of flesh, and so He came in flesh.  We could not be saved and redeemed except by the cleansing power of His blood, so He came in blood.  He was tested and suffered so that we could be brought to salvation, and so He could help us when we suffer and are tested.  He is our faithful High Priest, our Intercessor before God.

All of us came into this world as little babies, completely vulnerable, innocent, blank slates just waiting to be written on.  As we grew, we learned because someone taught us things, showed us things, introduced us to things and ideas new to us.  Somewhere along the line, someone presented Jesus to us, and probably in a loving way.  It may have taken us some time to get to know Jesus, and especially to accept Him as our Lord, or our recognition may have been immediate, like Simeon and Anna.

But we who believe know Jesus not only as our Lord and Master, but also as our personal friend and Savior.  And we need to give other people the chance to get to know Him as well.  Like Anna, we need to tell everyone we come into contact with all about Jesus, so that He can be their friend, too.

After all, that’s the job He gave us when He returned to heaven, a job we should be happy to do.  So let’s introduce Jesus to other folk, and maybe they can be saved, too.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, You sent Your Messiah not as a conquering hero, as many expected, but as a tiny baby, as flesh and bone, as one of us to live among us, to die like us.  And You did it all just so that we might be able to be saved from our sinful lives and join You in paradise.  By the blood of Your Son, Father God, we are washed clean.  By our belief and acceptance of Him as our Lord, we are saved.  Thank You, Father, for loving us this much, for showing us such great mercy.  Forgive us, please Father, when we fail to live as You would have us live, when we don’t love others enough to try to help them be saved also.  Forgive us when we disobey You and think it’s all OK because we’re saved.  Please, loving Father, help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You bear many names: Lord, Master, Savior, Prince of Peace, King of kings, Intercessor, Messiah…  But Jesus, our favorite name is Friend.  You are our best friend.  Please help us remember all You did for us, all You went through for us.  Remind us often of Your commandment, our mission, to go into the world making disciples.  Help us love others as we love ourselves, as You love us.  Help us share with them the Good News of salvation through Your blood.  And Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.