Thursday, November 20, 2008

Pondering Luke 2:21-40

Jesus Presented in the Temple
21On 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.
22When 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 23(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"[
a]), 24and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons."[b]
25Now 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. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27Moved 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, 28Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss[c] your servant in peace.
30For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
32a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."

33The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34Then 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, 35so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."
36There 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, 37and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38Coming 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.
39When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.


Footnotes:
Luke 2:23 Exodus 13:2,12
Luke 2:24 Lev. 12:8
Luke 2:29 Or promised, / now dismiss

Words/phrases that stuck out to me:

*** Moved by the Spirit..."; verse 27: How often do I ignore where God is leading? We need discernment, sure, or else every impulse we have can become "God's Spirit told me to..." (and we all know examples where either we or others could have used some wisdom there), but I know I am waaaaay too good at not following some leadings that are probably from God.

*** "...as you have promised..."; verse 29: Here we see yet another example of someone showing great faith and certainty. Simply put, Simeon certainly didn't seem "surprised" by this encounter with the young Jesus...

*** "...destined to cause the rising and falling of many..."; verse 34: I certainly have seen this (and it has been evidenced throughout history). Jesus rarely causes a "meh" attitude toward him and his claims as savior. In fact, I would propose that even lackadaisical attitudes and beliefs about Jesus equate to "against". To paraphrase early church father Augustine, either Jesus is everything...or he is nothing. Either Jesus changes everything about you, right down to your core...or not. And we all know of times where our faith and allegiance to Christ above all results in surprising anger and frustration thrown back at us by those not believing...despite attempts to show love (sounds like what happened to Jesus some, huh?).

*** "...hearts will be revealed."; verse 35: I think this goes hand-in-hand with the above comments. When we truly encounter the Messiah, our true nature is revealed...and we are laid bare.

*** ...grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him."; verse 40: This is about all we get about Jesus age 1 week-12 years or so...but oh how we should all be praying for the same for us and our kids!

Questions for myself:

Am I seeking to truly be completely influenced by God's Spirit? Or even as Tony Evans put it (and I heard on the radio last night) and David Crowder's song of this same title says, "intoxicated" by it? Do I talk myself out of what God wants from me in the name of being "prudent"? If I do try to be open to the Spirit...do I pray for wisdom and discernment so I can better judge what is God...and what is not? Ultimately, do I have the, um, juevos to do what God asks, even if others around (including well-meaning friends) think it's crazy?





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