1^st Sunday after Christmas at Epiphany on December 28, 2008

Luke 2:25-40 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. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. ²⁷ 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, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: ²⁹ "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. ³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all people, ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." ³³ The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ 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, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too." ³⁶ 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, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. ³⁸ 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. ³⁹ When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

The Great Divide

How many of you remember talking about the Continental Divide in your grade school geography class? Supposedly, all the water that falls to the west of the Great Divide eventually makes its way into the Pacific Ocean. All the water that falls east of this divide flows into the Atlantic Ocean directly or by way of the Gulf of Mexico. Supposedly, once a rain drop makes contact with the earth of the American Continents, its ultimate destination is set – Atlantic or Pacific.

Today’s Gospel has a number of divides in it as well. As Jesus enters the temple, we see the divide between the Old and the New Testaments. We hear about a divide between Jew and Gentile. There is a divide between those who rise and those who fall in Israel. Perhaps the most dramatic divide comes in Simeon’s words to Mary: “A sword will pierce through your own soul too.” This morning we look at how Jesus affects the important divides in our lives.

There are all kinds of reminders of the Old Testament in today’s Gospel. Both Simeon and Anna grew up in the Old Testament. Joseph and Mary bring Jesus into the temple in Jerusalem in order to keep the ceremonial law of the Old Testament. The temple itself is an Old Testament building.

As Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into the temple, they met Simeon and Anna, two Old Testament saints. We know they were Old Testament saints because Luke very carefully tells us that they were waiting – waiting for the consolation of Israel and waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. People don’t wait for something if they don’t believe its coming. So both Simeon and Anna believed in the future Messiah and were waiting for Him. 

One of those Old Testament ceremonial laws that brought Joseph, Mary, and Jesus into the temple speaks to every mother that gives birth. ^“The LORD said to Moses, ² ‘Say to the Israelites: ³ On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised ⁶ … she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. ⁷ He shall offer them before the LORD to make atonement for her. … ⁸ If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering.’” (Leviticus 12:1-1,6-8) Thus we see Jesus’ family coming to the temple, eight days after Jesus’ birth, with a pair of doves or pigeons because they were poor.

Another law lays claim to every first born son because of the Passover. Moses said to the people, “When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.” (Exodus 13:15) Since Jesus was Mary’s first-born, the law said Jesus belonged to the Lord and Mary and Joseph had to redeem Him back. The interesting twist to this is that by redeeming Jesus according to the law, Mary and Joseph were foreshadowing the very redemption that Jesus would earn for all mankind. Because Jesus kept the law perfectly, including this ceremonial law, He was able to become God’s Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the entire world.

When Jesus took away our sins with His death on the cross, He became the Great Divide between the Old and New Testaments. All who came before Him are in the Old. All who come after Him are in the New. Those in the Old Testament believed in a Messiah who was coming. Those in the New Testament believed in a Messiah who had come. The Old Testament is rich in the ceremonial laws that point forward to the future Messiah. The New Testament is rich in the knowledge that the Messiah came and fulfilled those laws so that we no longer need them. As Jesus keeps the law perfectly by entering the temple, the days of that very temple with its ceremonies and sacrifices are numbered.

Perhaps the most dramatic divide mentioned at the temple that day was the division that would take place in Mary’s heart. Simeon spoke privately to Mary and said to her, “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.” Even as Mary presents her infant son to the Lord, Simeon prophecies of the future turmoil she will suffer as she watches this same Son die on a cross. Simeon joins many other prophets as the Holy Spirit shows him that the Messiah must suffer and die for His people.  This suffering and death that will cause Mary so much grief will remove the greatest divide of them all – the divide between God and man.

This Great Divide between God and man is our sin. Sin divided Eden with perfect God walking in the Garden and the newly sin-filled humans cowering in the bushes. It is this original sin we were born with and the actual sins we commit in thought, word and action that divides us from God. It is this sin that causes the Great Divide in our lives.

We experience this Great Divide in our time in history when we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. In this Great Divide we buy more, but enjoy less; we have more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; we have more knowledge, but less judgment. We have more experts, but more problems; more medicines, but less wellness. We’ve multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values; we’ve learned how to make a living, but not how to live life to the fullest; we’ve added years to live, but not life to years. We’ve been all to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.

In this Great Divide we’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted our soul; we’ve split the atom, but not prejudice. We experience this Great Divide in how we have bigger incomes, but lower morals; we’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality; we live for steep profits, but also shallow relationships. We talk to more people, but communicate less face-to-face. These are times of more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition; two incomes, but more divorce; fancier houses, but broken homes.

We are the ones responsible for this Great Divide. As God’s enemies, we do all we can to increase this Divide. We have more worship services, but fewer faces in church. We have better vehicles than our parents had, but fewer times we bring our children to the Lord’s house. We have more opportunities to feed our faith in Bible Class and Sunday School, but there are more times when we choose to starve our souls by withholding from ourselves God’s Word and Sacraments.

This Great Divide of sin is the reason God the Father sent His son to take on our human flesh. Its the reason we are interested in the story of a Jewish infant in the temple. This infant is the Son of God who has come to take our place before the justice of God. In order to stand before God’s justice, He Himself must be pure and sinless. He Himself must have no sin so that He can become sin for us.

That is the reason Jesus came into the temple. Even as an infant, He must keep the smallest point of God’s law.  Even though the primary purpose of the ceremonial law was to point to Him, Jesus must still keep it perfectly.  Only in this way can He be the perfect Passover sacrifice for the sin of the world.

Jesus became the bridge over the Great Divide caused by sin. After we receive Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, we sing the “Song of Simeon,” the Nunc Dimittis – Latin for “Now dismiss.” We live in turmoil, depression, and a frenzied lifestyle. Jesus brings us to His temple to slow down. He calms the troubled mind. He eases the burdens of work and worry. He soothes the guilty conscience. We are able to depart in peace.

Simeon held the baby Jesus in his arms and prayed, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. ³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all people, ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”As Simeon held the baby Jesus in his arms, he looked at that cute baby face and crown of brown hair. That face would be beaten and spit upon, and his head crowned with thorns. Simeon saw Jesus’ chubby fingers clutching Simeon’s beard with playful joy. Those hands would be clenched in pain, pierced with a rough nail. Simeon could see Jesus’ chest rise and fall with every breath and feel his excited heart beating. Jesus’ would take his last deep breath as He cried out, “It is finished!”His heart was pierced with a spear.

The wooden manger became a wooden cross. Jesus’ stayed for a little shile in a borrowed stable. He stayed for three days in a borrowed tomb. He fulled God’s law by going to Jerusalem’s temple when He was eight-days old. He fulfilled God’s salvation by opening Jerusalem the Golden’s temple to all believers for all eternity. He closed the gates of hell and opened the gates of heaven.

Jesus came to this earth not only to create some divides, but to tear down others. The Holy Spirit inspired Simeon to proclaim these wonderful words, “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.” With these words, Simeon proclaims that Jesus will heal the deep wounds of discrimination between Jew and Gentile. Because Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross, “There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6) Thus Jesus restores unity to that which had once been divided.

Mary’s heart would be divided in grief as she saw her Son dieing on the old rugged cross. Fortunately, Mary’s heart was divided for just a few days. The sword that pierced her heart withdrew when she saw her Son alive again. On the third day of her heart’s division, her Son rose from the dead. Jesus had defeated sin, death, and the power of the devil. He has brought consolation, redemption, peace and salvation to Jews and Gentiles alike.

Once a raindrop falls on the American Continents, its destination is set – Atlantic or Pacific. Once a soul is brought into this world, its destination is either heaven or hell. Jesus changes our spiritual geography. In the end there will be only one division. As Simeon told Mary, the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. Those who want God out of their lives will get their wish and fall on the wrong side of the eternal divide. There they will suffer forever. Those who believe in Jesus will rise and live on the right side of the eternal divide. There they will live in unity with God forever and experience eternal peace and joy. Amen.