THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 9. Anna and Simeon: Grace in Disappointment Faith in Difficulty Luke 2:25-32; 36-38 Our last study in Luke s account of the Life and Mission of Jesus began in the last section of chapter 2 where Luke tells us that Jesus was circumcised when He was 8 days old. He went on to tell us that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus up to Jerusalem 22. to present him to the Lord. 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. Luke tells us that two extraordinary people were present when that happened: Anna and Simeon. Virtually all of our study was spent looking at verses 33-35 and all that Simeon had to say about Jesus. I prefaced that study by saying that Anna and Simeon were worthy of an entire Bible study and that we just might revisit the close of Luke 2 to see the things that moved them, see how their lives stood out in some really hard times and see what the great treasure of their hearts really was. And that s exactly what we re going to do this morning. Luke 2:25-38 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. 36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer 1
night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Let s start with Anna 36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Again Luke did his homework. He talks of her as though he knew people who knew her. Anna was a prophetess. She is one of several women given that title in Scripture: Miriam (Ex. 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4), Hulduh (2 Kings 22:14), the wife of Isaiah (Isa. 8:3), and Philip s daughters (Acts 21:8 9). She was of the tribe of Asher. Her father was Phanuel. Jewish tradition tells us that the daughters of Asher were known for their beauty and that they were often married to the high priests, priests or the Levites. Luke tells us that she had been married. It was common for a Jewish girl to get married around the age of 15 years old. Luke tells us that she was married for seven years. If she was married at 15, her husband died when she was 22. The KJV says that she was a widow of about fourscore and four years. That means she was about 106 years old on the day Jesus was presented at the Temple. Anna means "God is gracious". The world around might have looked at this very old woman said, Sooo God is gracious? Really? He took your husband when you were 22! I want us to think about this. In a world where everything is broken, have you ever judged God by your circumstances! Here s what that sounds like: God can't be good, God can't really love me, because if He really is good, and if He really did love me, surely He would never let this happen to me. Surely He would never let me lose the thing that is dearest to me; surely He would never keep from me let the thing I want most. I have to confess that I have gone through seasons when I have done that multiple times in a single day. I pass judgment on how gracious God really is because things aren't working out the way I think they should, and when I think 2
they should. And here s the deal when things go they way we think they should go when life is rolling out just the way we think it should we start to develop a warped sense of entitlement before God. We feel like He is operating according to our plans. Let s try put ourselves in Anna s sandals. Let s say that she was pretty much the stereotypical female descendant of Asher she was a beautiful young woman and she married a young man destined for prominence. For seven years she was living the dream of every young woman in Israel. Then her husband dies. Imagine the sense of loss, grief, and aloneness. After a year of coming to grips with her loss she is still in her mid-twenties and beautiful and no one wants to marry her. Another year goes by, and no man in Israel wants to marry her. A decade goes by. Don t you think that at multiple points along the way it would have been easy for her to think: If God really is gracious, He would never let my husband die and leave me a widow for 10 years! But then another decade rolled by, then another decade and another and another until she was, at the least 84, and perhaps 106 years old! But she wasn t saying that and she wasn t living like that! Instead of letting her circumstances define God, she always defined her circumstances through the lens of what she knew about God. She believed what the Old Testament Scriptures had to say about God. Psalm 13:5-6 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me. She didn t and couldn't understand why God took her husband when she was in her twenties. She didn t and couldn't understand why God would want her to live EIGHTY-FOUR YEARS by herself in a place and time where life as a widow was really hard. Yet she just like the psalmist believed that the Lord had dealt bountifully with her not because life had rolled out according to her plans but because God had promised her that His steadfast love would never fail her! She trusted in the nature and character of God who said Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. That is what faith looks like. That is what it looks like to live by faith. 3
THIS IS HUGE Luke s description of Anna in the moment of Luke 2 tells us that she was convinced that if she knew what God knows she would have asked for the exact life God had given her! There she was in love with God. And if anyone questioned the grace of God she probably said, Yes, He took my husband when I was 22 But He s been my husband and I ve been His bride for 84 years. That is why, and that is how she was there serving God day and night, fasting and praying. The House of God was like home for her. The Court of Women was her favorite place. She was there day and night. She was there at the time of the morning sacrifice. She was there at the time of the evening sacrifice. She wasn t not bitter, she was there worshipping. In the worlds eyes when you lose the love of your life the best is past tense. In the worlds eyes when you are living alone for 84 years the best is WAY behind you. But Anna s life tells us something very different! And that is why the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to mention her being a part of this moment! Anna s life teaches us that when God is our treasure, we get what can t be lost. In a world invaded by sin and death we will lose loved ones. She lost her husband but she would never lose God because God would never lose her! Anna s life tells us that when God is our treasure we get the one thing that will only increase. She was never alone in those 84 years AND she got to see Jesus! If you truly know the Lord you have the one thing you can never lose. And one day you will see him face to face. THAT is why we have nothing to fear today. Here s some questions to take ask ourselves this morning and to take home with us and ask ourselves on a daily basis. How do I process the biggest heartbreaks and disappointments (or even the smallest) in my life? Am I going to judge God by my circumstances our judge my circumstances by what I do know about God? 4
Do I believe that if I knew what God knows I would have asked for the exact same day/life God has given to me and then serve Him day and night worshipping Him with my time, talents and treasures? As we process those questions remember this I ll put it in the first person singular: 1. I need Jesus so much that I need Him to help me ask those questions and answer them honestly. Jesus knows exactly the mess that I am and loves me anyway. But He doesn t want to leave me a mess. Jesus full of grace and truth will tell me the truth of who I am and then lavish on me the riches of His grace to transform me. 2. God s grace meets us in our deepest disappointments! Look at the woman He made out of a 23 year old woman! Look at how He kept her for this very moment! QUOTE: Paul Tripp If God can turn death into life (and he can), he can make something beautiful out of a lost, dark and messy life. Grace! Now for Simeon We want to look at this guy because the Holy Spirit tells us to look at him! The KJV begins verse 25 with the word Behold. For us to look at this man and see him clearly it s important for us to understand the world he lived in. 1. Rome had subjugated the world including the land of Israel. The Jews hated the Romans. Rome was polytheistic! Caesar Augustus, no doubt the greatest of the Caesars, was ruling at the time of Luke 2, and the worship of Caesar was in its beginning stages. Along with Rome s idolatry came gross immorality. By the way: Idolatry always breeds immorality. If you were a soldier in the Roman army, Judea was the last assignment you would ever want to have because the Jews were openly hostile towards Rome and its military presence. Imagine the United States being subjected to another world power. Imagine what life would look like if a foreign power had invaded and taken over our country. There was Simeon a monotheist living in a time and place ruled by those who worshipped idols. 2. Religiously the nation was dead. The Pharisees were adding to the Word of God. Mark 7:7-8 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. The Sadducees took away from the Word of God. They were liberal in their theology. 5
Acts 23:8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, Together these two prominent sects within Judaism had taken the Word of God and relegated it to second class status for the sake of their own religious power much like broad sections of modern church culture relegate the Bible to second class status for the sake of success. The Sanhedrin, the most powerful men in Israel, had sold out to the Roman authorities. The temple precincts were corrupted by the love of money. Greed and phony religion were on full display in the place that was to be the apex of the religious life of Israel. It was so bad that a sect known as the Essenes, who lived by the Dead Sea, wouldn't even go up to the temple because they believed it had been totally corrupted. In that time in the context of that national and spiritual climate the Holy Spirit says, BEHOLD, there was a man named Simeon. this man was righteous (KJV =just) That speaks of the horizontal axis of his life his relationship with those around him. His relation with others was what it should be not by the religious standards of his day but according to God's standard. How do we know that? Because that is God's estimation of the way Simeon dealt with the world around him. The Holy Spirit is the one telling us that justice was a word synonymous with the way Simeon dealt with others. this man was righteous and devout The Holy Spirit tells us that he was devout. That speaks of the vertical axis of his life. He was devoted to the Lord. Again this is God s estimation of Simeon. He was right vertically, and he was right horizontally. We talk much about having devotions. It s important to have time for what we call personal devotions to have a devotional life time spent alone with God. But devotions (plural) without devotion (singular), without personal devotion to God is a waste of time. Devotion is from a Greek phrase that means taking hold well. Simeon had taken hold well of God and his relationship with the Lord. It wasn t sloppy wasn t intermittent wasn t compromised. 6
this man was righteous and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. The tense of the verb here means that the Holy Spirit was continually upon him. And because of that he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Waiting is from two Greek words. The prefix means towards and the suffix means receive. He was facing forward to receive the consolation of Israel. That waiting consists of two elements: faith and patience. We re told in the book of Hebrews (6:12) that it is through faith and patience that we inherit the promises of God. He believed that the consolation of Israel was coming. And he looked forward to receive it waited patiently he so believed that God was going to be faithful to send the promised Messiah that he endured in his expectancy in the face of political oppression under Rome, and the religious corruption and spiritual deterioration of the nation of Israel. All the while, his devotion to God was deep, his relationship with men was right. All the while he was under the influence of the Holy Spirit. That is the Holy Spirit s portrait of this very old man. Here s another detail in that portrait. 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. WHAT DOES SIMEON S LIFE SAY TO US HOW DOES THAT APPLY TO US? FIRST This guy takes away all of our excuses. Follow me Our political situation is disheartening, discouraging. At the conference I just spoke at someone asked our discussion panel what specific things tell us that are living in the last days. Joe Focht said (jokingly, but at the same time serious) Our choices in the next presidential election are Hillary and Trump. Our political situation is disheartening, discouraging but it s not foreign subjugation. There are a lot of Christians in America who think that the witness of the believer in this world is somehow dependent upon the blessing of legislation and judicial action. Simeon s life screams that that isn't true. The church at large isn t in great shape. Christianity is losing ground in America. The church has downgraded the authority of Scripture across the board. 7
He had the Holy Spirit upon him, but we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. He had the Old Testament we have the completed canon of Scripture. But is there power in the church? And by power I don t mean goose bumps that you get when there s great music in a great venue with great musicians. I mean is the Holy Spirit upon us enabling us to live as witnesses for Jesus in the world? Are we Devout? Have we taken hold well of the Lord? Can we say that our relationships with our fellow believers, fellow human beings, are what they're supposed to be? Are we just on the horizontal? Not according to our standard but according to God s. Are we waiting for the coming of the Lord? SECOND The Holy Spirit gives us a clue as to how Simeon could be that kind of man in that kind of social and spiritual mess. His name is the Hebrew word for hearing, or to be hearing. Simeon wasn't just a religious guy who did religious things. He wasn't just studying scripture. He wasn't just studying the prophets. He was hearing the Word of God with a heart attitude that yearned for the God of the Word. He desired to obey what He heard because of who he was hearing from. He heard the promises of Scripture concerning the coming of Jesus and he waited and looked for His coming. His is the poster boy of Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. He was the poster boy for 1 Thessalonians 2:13 when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers That is what made him the kind of man that the Holy Spirit told us to behold! 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, The Holy Spirit led him into the temple on that day. This is a man who has the Spirit revealing things to his heart. And this is a man who is led of the Spirit. Are we longing for that kind of relationship with the Lord? 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 when I was preparing for this morning. Simeon took Jesus up in his arms! He put God incarnate in his arms. Simeon was older than the temple that was yet in the process of being rebuilt by Herod the Great. On that particular day by the leading of the Holy Spirit 8
he got up and went into the Temple. The language indicates that Simeon came in at the exact moment! This is so awesome! The intersection of Simeon s arrival with the arrival of Mary and Joseph and God s Son had been designed from before the foundations of the world! Behind all of this there are two majestic personalities, one of a Father and one of a Son. There is a Father in heaven watching His Son come to the temple in Jerusalem for dedication. And God the Father was not going to allow a corrupt religious system to take His only begotten Son and dedicate His life. That is why it says Behold 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.. That man was led by the Holy Spirit to the temple at the exact time he would intersect the arrival of Jesus. That man saw the only begotten Son of God and took that child in his arms. The Greek literally means is in the bend of his arms. He cradled him. He looks down at this babe and sees the face of Jehovah in swaddling clothes. Probably breathed in the new baby smell of God incarnate! That was the dedication that God the Father had planned! So wonderful! So beautiful! 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. He sees the plan of the ages. This is the one who is a light to lighten the gentiles. Lighten is the Greek word apokalupsis. That s the word that is the title of the last book of the Bible Revelation. A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles. He's looking into the face of the baby who is the consolation of Israel, the glory of Israel, the light of the Gentile nations of the world. Can you imagine how the whole of the Old Testament began to connect?! Of course, Lord, the seed of a woman that shall crush the head of the serpent. Of course, Lord, Unto us a child is born, a son is given. Of course, Lord, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Of course, Lord, this boy is the glory of Israel. 9
The title given to this scene in Latin is Nunc Dimittis taken from verse 29. The Latin means Now Dismiss. I can go now, because there s nowhere else to go! Over a hundred years Simeon s life was moving towards this moment! When he would hold this baby. So he says, Lord literally master let your servant, doulos slave he's been a willing slave to God let your servant be dismissed! It's time for your slave to be dismissed. My task is over. My job is done. What a scene. God the Father made sure that His son would be received, not by a pathetic religious system but by a very old woman named God is gracious and a very old man named hearing. And what was that like? After Simeon pronounced his blessing no doubt he handed the child back. I wonder if her turned to Anna and gave her the 1st century Jewish version of a high-five! Anna went and told everyone who was waiting for redemption. She knew those hearts that were true in Israel. And on his way home what did he do that day? He no doubt passed the same people he passed every day of his life. I m pretty sure he said He's here! I've seen the consolation of Israel, born in Bethlehem of Judea. It's true what the shepherds had said. I've seen with my own eyes the stories we heard from Zacharias and Elizabeth. On that night when he got home, before he went to bed he could look at the oil lamps burning in his house, look at the furniture in his house, lay down in his bed and say Lord, I can go in peace. ` 10