Mary's purification and Jesus' Presentation reveal His Glory. The Word of God for this Sermon is written in Lk 2,22-32:

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1 Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa Sermon- Fourth Sunday of Epiphany Mary's purification and Jesus' Presentation reveal His Glory St. John's Lutheran Parish Shelly Beach The Word of God for this Sermon is written in Lk 2,22-32: ESV 22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, "a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons." 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel." Let us pray: Come Holy Spirit, open our ears, enlighten our minds and present Yourself to us so that we will believe and live in You. Amen. Dear Congregation in Christ! The eight days old Jesus was circumcised according to the Law. Then Luke shares with us another detail of Jesus' childhood, Mary's purification. We ask why are these things important for us to know? Apart from it Pastor: Kurt Schnackenberg, Tel.: Date: 24 Dec 2013

2 being interesting detail Luke tells us why these details are important [39]: "And when they had performed (fulfilled) everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth." Jesus literally fulfilled all the Laws of God! What does this imply though? This implies that all the ceremonial Laws of the OT were put in place to point to Christ, who He is and what He came to do! The circumcision pointed to the fact that Christ was a Jew. The purification of Mary tells us that Christ's birth was a normal birth by a normal sinful mother. God facilitated, put these customs into place, so that when Jesus stepped into these customs they start to proclaim us who Jesus is and what He came to do. That is exactly what we see happening. As they were following the Law of God, God uses this as an occasion to proclaim His mission with Jesus. For this He had positioned Simeon, who was waiting for this moment, a prophet, to prophecy who this little baby boy was and what He came to fulfil. But before we come to Simeon let us first consider what the purification of Mary tells us about Jesus! When a boy was born the women was considered unclean for forty days and was not allowed to the temple in those days. Mary follows this custom. That means this was a normal birth. What does this tell us of Jesus? Gal 4,4: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,". God stoops low, very, very low right where we sinners are, to accomplish one thing: To rescue you and me from evil. The infinite comes right down into the finite, the spiritual right down into the physical realm, even under the law. Not above the law. Right to where all sinners are Pastor: Kurt Schnackenberg, Tel.: Date: 24 Dec 2013

3 sitting in anguish, pain, fear and weakness. This is confirmed by the fact that Joseph and Mary only sacrificed a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons. This was the minimal offering allowed for the poor. Actually a lamb should have been slaughtered as well. But they were too poor. Jesus is born in the poorest of families. But they followed the law of God. Do you see, how even these customs of God provide opportunity to proclaim the Glory of God! The Glory of God, because this birth of Christ in poor human flesh is not a loss of God's greatness; it shows the greatness of God, who was willing to stoop so low in order to save men! 1 And that is what Simeon sees. Who was he? He was a man waiting for the consolation of Jerusalem, for Jerusalem to be comforted. He was waiting for the Messiah. He trusted in the coming anointed Saviour. Hence he was righteous and devout. He knew the Messiah would come to the temple that is why he sat there waiting. It was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he "would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." And that day Joseph and Mary with Jesus came. Simeon took the child in his arms and blessed God and prophesied the hymn which became known as the "nunc dimittis", which found it's place in the Liturgy of the church after the Lord's Supper [29-32]: "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." Inspired with the Holy Spirit Simeon saw the baby with his human eyes 1 Gregory of Nyssa Pastor: Kurt Schnackenberg, Tel.: Date: 24 Dec 2013

4 but with his eyes of faith he saw the Messiah- before Jesus was baptised by John. He must have seen the poorness of the family with his human eyes, yet he saw the light of salvation in this little Israelite. And God used Simeon to prophesy the appropriate word for this occasion. After seeing Jesus, he was ready to depart in peace. We are in a similar position. We wait for the Saviour to come in Glory! As Simeon embraced the little Jesus, Salvation, we embrace and hold Salvation in our hearing and in our eating and drinking of the body and blood of Jesus in, with and under the bread and wine. Our human ears hear human language, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we hear Salvation being spoken to us by God. With our human eyes we see bread and wine, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we see Jesus present with us, a light for the revelation for the Gentiles. All of this happens in His temple, amongst His people. That is what the Holy Spirit does. He let's us see through the lowliness. He let's us see the light of the Gentiles, forgiveness of sins, Salvation, clad in lowliness and humbleness. We realise, here is God, with His Glory. Here is God with His heart, with His compassion and comfort for Israel, that is for us. Receiving these gifts, our eyes of faith opened by the Holy Spirit we are prepared to depart in peace. That is what the Divine Service does to us. We are prepared by God to receive His peace. If it would have depended on us in any way, it would never have happened. He has prepared Salvation, starting long ago in OT times, culminating in prophecies like those of Simeon, Anna and John the Baptiser. It was fulfilled in the incarnation and death of Jesus. God stoops down, very low Pastor: Kurt Schnackenberg, Tel.: Date: 24 Dec 2013

5 down for us, so that we may participate In His Salvation. And now hold onto Him. Embrace God's Salvation, Christ crucified for you with your heart, mind and with your body. He is your Glory, your Light, and then sing with Simeon the beautiful hymn inspired by the Holy Spirit. And know that you may depart in peace. God's salvation has been prepared for you, it has been given to you, for you to abide in. It has prepared you for your final departure from this chaotic world and all evil to the wonderful eternal light where you will see what you have believed together with the whole of Israel, God's people. There you will meet Simeon, Joseph and Mary and all others gone before us in the Body of Christ. Glory to God in the Highest. Amen. "The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Amen. Pastor: Kurt Schnackenberg, Tel.: Date: 24 Dec 2013