TITLE: Kingdom Bound: Waiting for the King! Luke 2:22-38 AIM: Importance of actively waiting for God to act, for Christ to come.

Transcription

1 1 TITLE: Kingdom Bound: Waiting for the King! Luke 2:22-38 AIM: Importance of actively waiting for God to act, for Christ to come. INTRO: As we have entered the Advent season (2 nd Sunday) we are at the same time drawing to a close our emphasis on the kingdom of God (after today, 3 more messages). Our Theme: KB for, by the grace of God thru faith in Christ; by, in that the reign of Christ the King must mark our lives here/now. Last week we considered the example of Jesus, who kept the big picture of His Father s kingdom plan in view, in spite of glory which He had to set aside for a season, favor He garnered from people, who would make Him king on their terms, opposition from religious leaders, & even death. Nothing could deter Him from breaking the curse of sin & establishing His eternal kingdom. We must also keep the big picture in view. Just as Jesus set that example for us to follow, so we are given in today s text, another example we must follow, the example of learning to wait on God, seen in the lives of Simeon & Anna. Christians should get used to waiting, because the Bible is filled w/that admonition. God has intended for us to learn to wait, & while we wait He is at work in us, in our circumstances, & for His glory & kingdom s sake. We know our King is coming, but those who are KB must learn to wait for Him, not only to come again, but to act for His kingdom & our sake until He comes. Luke 2:22-38 [READ] What a beautiful story this is, especially as we celebrate the incarnation/birth of our Lord Jesus. Jesus had been born in Bethlehem, where His earthly parents had gone to register for tax purposes, under the order of Caesar Augustus. But evidently they chose to stay in Bethlehem, possibly for up to 2 years - still there when the Magi came to worship Him whose star they had seen. After He was 8 days old, Jesus was circumcised & officially named. Then after 33 more days, allowing for Mary to be cleansed/healed from birth, it was time for her to go before the priest to offer a sacrifice - a lamb & a turtle dove or

2 pigeon, the lamb as a burnt offering & the bird for a sin offering, unless couldn t afford a lamb, then 2 turtle doves or pigeons (Lev.12). Also, because Jesus was their 1 st -born son, they were to present/dedicate Him to God (Ex.13). Joseph, being a devout Jew, took his wife Mary & Son Jesus up to Jerusalem to present them before the priest in the temple. When they got there, they were met in the temple area by an old man named Simeon that name means hearkening. Luke records that Simeon was righteous & devout, that he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. That word means a calling near, summons for help, comfort, solace, or that which affords comfort or refreshment, thus pointing to the Messianic salvation. The Rabbis called the Messiah the consoler/comforter (Strong s). The people of Israel had been waiting for centuries for the Messiah to come, for the consolation the Messiah would bring to them, for God to comfort them & reestablish them as a nation, to save them from the curse under which they had longed lived. We recognize that most Jews are still looking for the Messiah to come, tho it is in ignorance of the fact that He has come. Simeon was different. Yes, he was waiting for the Messiah to come, but Luke wrote that the Holy Spirit was upon him. And, the Holy Spirit revealed to him that would not die until he was given the opportunity to see the Lord s Christ. He hearkened to the Holy Spirit s whisper & I think he must have prayed day after day Lord, is this the day? Maybe he came every day, maybe not, but Luke said that on this day the Holy Spirit led him to the temple & he followed His prompting. When he saw the baby Jesus, he knew! Oh, he knew! This is the Messiah! He took Him in his arms & began to praise God! Lord, now I can die in peace, for You ve let me see Him, just as You promised. My eyes have seen Your salvation right here before us all. Here is the Messiah Savior not only for the Jews, but Gentiles, too. He blessed Joseph & Mary also, prophesying to them about Jesus 2

3 vs About this, Norval Geldenhuys, in his commentary on Luke, wrote, Jesus is the Inescapable One sooner or later everyone must take up a position w/regard to Him & must choose for or against Him. Jesus, Simeon declares, will be like a stone over which some will trip & fall & perish, but by which others will be enabled to arise & be saved. He is the sign, the line drawn in the sand by God salvation in no one else. Come to Jesus & thru Him to life, or oppose Him & be destroyed. Through the acceptance or rejection of Christ the heart of everyone will be revealed. The opposition Jesus would face would be keenly felt by His mother Mary, too. Joseph & Mary marveled at these words. Then, they also encountered an older woman, Anna, whom Luke described as a prophetess. Here was a woman who married young, was married 7 yrs when her husband died. At this time she was 84, so she had been a widow for 60 or more yrs. Luke records that she did not depart from the temple, worshiping w/fasting & prayer night & day. Even if that means she only went home to sleep, she was at the temple 12 or more hrs daily, praying. What was she praying? I have to think it was for the Messiah to come, for redemption for Israel. When she encountered Joseph & Mary & the baby Jesus, she began to give thanks to God For what? She knew, by the Holy Spirit s enabling, she knew! This was the One! The Messiah had come! Her many prayers over yrs of time were answered! And she began to tell whoever she saw Look! It s the Messiah! Our prayers are answered! Who knows whether or not anybody believed her report, but she knew her wait was over. The point is that Simeon & Anna had waited their whole lives for the Messiah to come, but as they waited they were not idle, but very active serving God as they prayed, actively looking for the Messiah to come, expecting God to keep His promise. Their examples are ones we should follow, because theirs was an active hope. And that s Biblical. Psalm 27:13-14 David s prayer for help in the midst of danger I believe 3

4 that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, & let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Isaiah 40:31 the context is the promise of God s deliverance thru the coming Messiah. They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up w/wings like eagles; they shall run & not be weary; they shall walk & not faint. I Thessalonians 1:9-10 Paul wrote of the report that was going around about the Thessalonian Christians. They had turned to God from idols to serve the living & true God, & to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. Biblical waiting whether the wds translated wait or hope are in OT or NT - means to bind together (intertwining faith w/god s promises), collect (lay hold of God s promises, God Himself), expect (God to be who He is, to keep His promises), wait, w/patience & trust. This is active, not inactive/idle. What are you/we waiting for? Are we actively or passively waiting? Psalm 37:3-9 Trust in the Lord, & do good; dwell in the land & befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, & He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him & He will act. He will bring forth you righteousness as the light, & your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord & wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, & forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. Is that how you wait? As you wait for God to hear your prayers concerning the healing of your marriage, or for your children to get on track w/god, or for provision regarding a need in your life, for something that you ve been longing/aching for to come to fruition, for an opportunity to witness or for your witness to be effective, for a particular burden to be lifted 4

5 you can fill in the blanks in your own lives are you actively waiting, taking hold of God, embracing His promises by faith, expecting Him to be faithful, who He is? Are you doing good as you wait? Are you doing what is right? Are you befriending/cultivating faithfulness being faithful to God & others? Are you committing your way to the Lord? Are you delighting in Him, meaning that He is your 1 st desire, no matter what? Are you fretting or trusting? Are you given to anger, or refraining from anger, forsaking wrath? Do you believe God is who He says? That He is faithful (& will be)? That what He gives is never a stone, tho it may take some time to see the bread His answer really is? Jesus made a statement in His sermon on the mount that we must remember & obey: Seek 1 st the kingdom of God & His righteousness, & all these things (all we truly need) will be added to you. Do you believe that? Then are you seeking His kingdom (rule in your life, His reign over all) 1 st? Are you waiting in faith for the King to act? Are you serving as you wait? Are you praying consistently, believing Him? The same needs to be true as we together wait for the King to come again. Wait, taking hold of Him, collecting His word/promises in your heart, standing on those promises & believing the God who made them. Bro/sis, we are KB! Let us then be kingdom minded, King Jesus focused, actively waiting for our King, who will be faithful now & to eternity. 5