I invite you to turn with me tonight to Luke chapter 2, where we find Luke's record of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are going to begin tonight at verse 21, after Christ had been born. Read together verses 21 through verse 40. And considering in particular the episode regarding the man Simeon, verses 25 to 35. Luke chapter 2 beginning with verse 21. So we hear now and give our attention to the Word of God. On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. When the time of their purification, according to the law of Moses, had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of doves or two young pigeons. Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, and a sword will pierce your own soul too. There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was very old. She had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage and then was a widow until she was 84. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth, and the child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Well, dear people of God, what do you want for Christmas? It's an important question, isn't it? I'm sure that question has been asked, especially to the boys and girls, many times in the last couple of weeks, what do you want for Christmas? It's an important question also for our retailers and for our economy. It's important for our retailers, we know, because their bottom line and whether or not they have a successful year depends on our wants and having our wants fulfilled. But of course, we know that it's an even more important question because the answer to that question, how you and I answer that question, says a lot about our true understanding of Christmas. Now, we can be sure that the Israelites of the Old Testament, as well as the Jews of Simeon's day, that they didn't have a concept of what the world and even we today call Christmas. But I think that if you had had the opportunity to ask Simeon, Simeon, if there's one thing in all the world that you would like to have, what would it be? I trust that Simeon would not have had to think twice about it. He probably would give an answer that's only one word long. Messiah. I want the Messiah. You see, beloved, with the coming of Christ, we remember and we celebrate Simeon's privilege. the privilege that was his to hold in his arms and to gaze upon the face of the gift that we all need. And this gift for Simeon, you see, was not something that would lose its newness. It's not something, boys and girls, that would end up in the closet or under the bed like our toys often do. But this gift for Simeon meant the world to him. It meant hope for him. It meant to him that God is faithful. And as he holds the Christ child in his arms, I can't help but to think that maybe the words to Sansa 5 that we just sang apply to him, Oh, may we keep and ponder in our mind God's wondrous love in saving lost mankind. Maybe that's what Simeon was thinking. I think it was according to what he says. As he held the Christ child in his arms, he responds to the gift. the one and only true gift of Christmas. And he does so, first of all, through his faithful prayer. And in that prayer, notice, he is praising God for fulfilling His promise. He says, Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You now dismiss Your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to Your people Israel. Through his faithful prayer, he praises God for fulfilling his promise to a servant. A servant who was unknown. Oh, he was known to God, we can be sure, because God spoke to him through his Spirit. But he's relatively unknown to you and me. We're not given much information in the Bible about Simeon. We don't know what he did for a living. We don't know whether or not he had some sort of a high position in the community. We're not told anything about his family. We don't even know how old he was, although we assume, we suspect that he was a bit older because we are told that God had told him through the Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And now he says, I'm ready. I'm ready. But what an awesome promise. That he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ and the time had come for the fulfillment of that promise. What we do know about him, we read in verse 25. He was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. What a beautiful description of his spiritual life. And here we see him praising God for God's fulfilled promise to a servant who was unknown to us, but one who was waiting. He was waiting. He was waiting during a bad time in Israel's history. It was a bad time, politically speaking. Israel had no independence. She was under a cruel king named Herod, and she was subject to a foreign power called Rome. And it was also a bad time, spiritually speaking. The religion, basically, was an external religion governed by legalistic scribes and Pharisees and worldly-minded Sadducees. They were governed by leaders who gave lip service to God. They said the right things. But they trusted in themselves. You see, in the midst of a bad time in Israel's history, there were those who waited. Who waited patiently for. Who looked forward to, hopefully. Who earnestly expected. What? Well, the consolation of Israel. the comfort of Israel. This was the comfort of God Himself, the comfort that God would send in the Messiah. Even though by this time God had been silent for about 400 years since the last prophets of old, yet God preserved a remnant of those who were faithful to Him, those who believed His Word, those who kept watching and waiting for His Word to be fulfilled. And that company, that remnant included Anna. It included Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist. It included Mary and Joseph and many others. And of course, it included Simeon. All of them, you see, took God at His word when He said, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. And the government will be on His shoulders, and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish it. They believed that word. And they believed the word of the Lord through Isaiah in another place when he says in chapter 60, Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord will rise upon you. Rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you, and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Simeon was a part of the remnant that was waiting for the fulfillment of the Word of God, and he praises God for fulfilling His promise through a servant who was also faithful. The Bible says he was righteous and devout. Boys and girls, he was righteous. He sought to walk uprightly, to do what was right. He made it a conscious effort to do what was right according to the law of God, to be obedient to the law of God, and also to walk uprightly in his dealings with men. He dealt honestly with his fellow man. And he was devout, the Bible says. I think we ought to think there of devotion. He was devout, the idea being to take your faith seriously. To consciously desire and consciously strive to do all that you do to the glory of God. He was devoted to God and to that which pleased God. He lived in a covenant relationship of faith in God. He served him. And it's clear that Simeon had an intense longing for the coming of the Messiah, boys and girls, kind of like when you can't wait for your birthday to come, or you can't wait for Christmas to come, or you can't wait for this exciting event to happen that you know is going to take place. Simeon couldn't wait. I believe he was probably like a little child in that way. He simply couldn't wait for the Messiah to come. And, of course, he had that wonderful promise. God, through his Holy Spirit, had graciously promised him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ. And, therefore, he was also a servant who was trusting. He trusted God to keep his word. And he trusted God to work out the details of keeping that word. But we can't help but to see God's providence, as it were painted all over this episode because we can be sure that Simeon did not have an appointment with Joseph and Mary to meet them in the temple that day. The temple is the place where he desired to be. Joseph and Mary were there doing what the law required. Jesus was born under law. They were doing what the law required, engaging in the ritual for purification for the mother and redeeming the firstborn son. Maybe there were others there that day too with very small, with newborn infant children, firstborn, doing the same thing. We don't know. But the Holy Spirit directs Simeon to Joseph and Mary and this child. And again, maybe he had remembered that God said a child is born. So a child would not have necessarily been a surprise to him. But through the Holy Spirit, he had confidence that this is the one. And therefore, this servant was also a content servant. As he took this child in his arms, Simeon was not disappointed that the Lord's Christ was not some great big warrior, some great big hero who had already proved himself. He wasn't turned off by the fact that it was a tiny child, a baby, a newborn, a helpless little one. Instead, he was content. As he took this child in his arms, as he laid his eyes on him, and as he enjoyed the fulfillment of God's promise. And to him, and to you and me, a confirmation that God would be faithful to all of his promises. And notice as well again the effect on him. Verse 29, Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. He had seen the Lord in life. And now he was ready to see him, to meet him in death. Because for Simeon, having laid his eyes upon the Lord's Christ, having believed, death lost its sting for him. And he expresses this further comfort as we read again, For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. and he praises God for fulfilling his promise to a servant, but also to the world. Because Simeon recognized, unlike so many other people of that time when Christ came, that he was not going to be a Messiah, an earthly Messiah. And therefore, he was not only for Israel, but he was also for the Gentiles. Simeon understood that this consolation of Israel was to be for the world that needed salvation. And therefore, his faithful prayer included rejoicing in Christ's salvation. You see, as Simeon held his child, he beheld salvation itself. He laid his eyes upon the Redeemer who had been foretold long ago. He looked upon the end of the spiritual warfare. He saw in his very arms the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He held the very one before whom one day every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He beheld God himself in the flesh and he rejoices in Christ's salvation of Israel, to be sure. Jesus Christ came to redeem Israel, to save those who would believe. Simeon describes him as the glory to your people Israel. Indeed, he was the glory of Israel. You see, the greatest privilege of all the privileges that Israel enjoyed throughout her history was the privilege that the Messiah would come forth from her, as we considered this morning, as we considered Christ's genealogy. That was the greatest privilege. Christ is the glory of Israel. You see, as a privileged people, Israel was a chosen nation by God to be a showcase to the world of God's grace. Yet, her true and her necessary consolation was only for those who would believe in him. Who would trust in him. But again, that salvation was not only for Israel. But he is also the salvation of the world, as Simeon says, which you have prepared in the sight of all people a light for revelation to the Gentiles. The Gentiles, of whom Isaiah says walked in darkness, would also be brought to know the light of God's salvation. Beloved, Jesus Christ came to save all who would believe. Only those who would believe. But all those, not one who believes in him, will be cast away, will be left out. Simeon was humbled as God's promise was fulfilled in his heart and in his very arms. And he was filled with gratitude and contentment at the salvation of God. And beloved, we too, as we reflect on the gift of Christmas, God coming in the flesh with His strong arm to act on behalf of His people, we too are to be filled with awe and thankfulness that He came for one like me. That He came for one like you and me, those who did not deserve Him. And we too, like Simeon, are to find comfort and peace in Him for this life, but also for the life to come. And may it be too, beloved, that we would be devoted to Him and be devoted to that which is pleasing to Him for the only gift that truly is life-changing. Simeon had faith in a child, and we are called to have faith like a child. In Jesus Christ, our Lord. But notice, Simeon's response was not yet finished. He says wonderful things that caused Mary and Joseph to marvel, yet he gives his shocking prophecy. In verses 34 and 35, Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed and a sword will pierce your own soul too. Now we are used to people saying positive and nice things about newborn babies. He or she is so cute and so precious and cuddly and so tiny. But Simeon says some pretty shocking things about this child who was only eight days old. Indeed, he had talked, he had rejoiced in Christ's salvation, but now he gives a confident prophecy of Christ's suffering. Hinting at Christ's suffering unto salvation, but that which would also cause division. The division of mankind, as we considered last week, Sunday morning, Jesus said, I came to bring a sword. but of course this division fits with what isaiah says in isaiah chapter 8 verses 14 and 15 and he will be a sanctuary but for both houses of israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall and for the people of jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare many of them will stumble they will fall and be broken and they will be snared and captured and peter picks up on this in first peter chapter 2 when he says now to you who believe this stone is precious but to those who do not believe the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone and a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall they stumble because they disobey the message which is also what they were destined for Simeon gives a shocking prophecy that this one would be the cause of division of mankind including Israel Israel would be divided indeed he came for salvation but not all Israel would believe. He would be both a blessing and a hope for some who would rise in Him, but a downfall of others. He would bring forth love and a longing for Him and faith from some, but also He would bring opposition and unbelief and hatred from others. Those who would embrace Him by faith would rise on wings like eagles, but those who reject Him and oppose Him would be crushed and broken to pieces. by this tiny child. Simeon says that Christ is the sign. That he was appointed to be a sign that will be spoken against so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. Those who speak against him do not understand that as they do so, their hearts are laid wide open before him. He is a sign pointing to the sender the heavenly father he came to reveal the heavenly father to reflect the image of god the father to perform the works of his father and he would be a sign of division because claiming to be one with god the father would draw opposition as we know it did from the scribes and the pharisees and the chief priests who hated him for his claims they wanted to kill him in luke chapter 4 we read so All those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. And we know that they forced him out of the city and they wanted to throw him off a cliff, but he passed through them unnoticed. He is a sign of division, dividing those who believe in him from those who want nothing to do with him. And Simeon's words as well were a part of Mary's preparation. Preparing Mary for the truth that the child's life, humanly speaking, would not be prosperous and appreciated. It would not receive universal applause, but He would be rejected because of who He is. As a light to the world, He would expose the darkness of sin. Nothing would be hidden. Nothing can be hidden from His truth. We can hide nothing from His truth. He would lay open every heart. He would uncover every deception. He would strip away every mask of hypocrisy. And again, for those who speak against Him, He would reveal the thoughts of many hearts. Because, beloved, the truth that He reveals is the truth of man's sin. And the truth of man's hopelessness before God on our own. And the truth of man's need for another to take our place. But you see, in sin, man can't stand to be told these things. Man can't stand to be told that we're wrong. Man can't stand to be told that he's not great, that he's not perfect, that he's not worthy. He can't stand to be told that we can't please God, and that we need help from another. He can't stand to be told that there is a God who holds us accountable. But this one would also reveal the truth that he is the other. And that only in him will God be satisfied with us. And beloved, we need the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit to help us to see all this and to embrace Jesus Christ by faith. And this very child that Simeon held, the consolation, the comfort of Israel, sent the comforter. He sent the Holy Spirit to lead us to and to lead us in the truth of Jesus Christ. But this prophecy of division also includes a division of Mary, in a sense. Because the world's rejection of her son would also affect her. And a sword will pierce your own soul too. Now the sword that is being spoken of there refers to a large, broad sword. And boys and girls, it's just a symbol because we know that Mary wasn't physically thrust through with a sword. She wasn't pierced with a sword. But these words are a symbol of the intense pain and frightful piercing anguish that she would experience. And the fulfillment of that came at the foot of the cross as she stood at the foot of the cross and watched her son watched her Savior being crucified. Because she too must learn a lesson. The lesson that she needed to learn is that her consolation must also come from him. Her earthly needs he provided through his beloved disciple. And her eternal needs he also provided, as he did for you and me, through his death and resurrection. Simeon's shocking prophecy is that this tiny child that he held in his arms was the seed of the woman who had come to crush the head of the serpent. He came causing division among mankind between those who believe in him and those who don't. This child came to save from sin and to restore to favor with God the favor that man had lost in the garden. And those who believe on him by the grace of God rise with him to eternal glory. But those who reject him fall against him. to eternal destruction. Beloved Jesus Christ is the gift of Christmas. The one and only. And He is the gift that is necessary for that bottom line of heaven or hell. Now, Simeon was not concerned about the economy or about the world rulers or about dangerous opposition. But he found hope in this child of consolation. and he died in peace with eternal comfort because he saw his Savior. He knew his Savior by faith. And the same is true today. You see, apart from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that sentimental baby that many think of at Christmastime will soon be boxed up with the rest of the decorations and the ornaments and forgotten for another year. Because this time of year provides only temporary comfort and joy for those who do not know Him. But for those who look to the Lord Jesus Christ, again, all those, and that Word is so sure. The Bible says all who look to Him, all who believe in Him and trust in Him, have the eternal consolation of Israel. They have comfort of the saving work of Jesus Christ in life. So that we too do not need to be worried about the economy or world rulers or dangerous opposition, Not in an anxious sort of way. In a responsible sort of way, yes. But not in an anxious sort of way. Because we have the comfort of the saving work of Jesus Christ in life and also in death. May we too be able to say with Simeon one day, Lord, may your servant now depart in peace. He is the gift of Christmas, boys and girls, that will never wear out. He will never become outdated. but also he is one who is not only to be taken out one time per year. And by faith, you see, he is just as real to you and me as he was to Simeon who was holding him. And he alone, beloved, gives peace and comfort and joy in the midst of a frightful world. He gives peace and comfort and joy that nothing will be able to separate us from his love. Simeon saw in this child and he expected from the Christ child the salvation of God, and he responded with grateful praise to God. And therefore, may we too respond to this one who is love's pure light. May we respond to him with the grateful praise of our lives, sharing this hope with those who do not yet know him. Oh, indeed, beloved, we rejoice in our hearts and we celebrate. We celebrate tonight. We celebrate with a special program. When I was growing up, the Sunday school program, which always took place on Christmas Eve, was one of my favorite parts of Christmas. The Sunday school kids would line up in the basement and come up marching down the center aisle singing Once in Royal David City. The kids probably don't even know that song. What a beautiful time of rejoicing and celebrating. And indeed, it's wonderful. But may this just be a taste of our rejoicing and are celebrating every day because He is salvation. Beloved, He brings redeeming grace. He is the gift, the one and only of Christmas. He is the one we need and there is no greater gift. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, indeed we do rejoice. Give thanks and sing because of Your wonders performed on our behalf through Your Son. We know, Lord, that any celebration, any rejoicing, any praise we can give to You is not sufficient for You, but we pray that cleansed by Your Holy Spirit You would receive it and accept it for Jesus' sake. And indeed, we pray that You would continue to work in our hearts and lives, even at this very moment, that we might grow in that great saving faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might continue from this day forward to rejoice in the gift of Jesus Christ and His saving love. In His name alone we pray, Amen.