<i>Today on Growing Through Grace</i> <i>A Little Baby, 40 Days Old,</i> <i>Simeon, Let of the Spirit,</i> <i>Seize Him as the promised one</i> <i>that would deliver a man from His sin,</i> <i>He takes Jesus in His arms,</i> <i>and He blesses the Lord,</i> <i>and He literally says,</i> <i>Okay, I guess I can die in peace now.</i> <i>♪ I love you in your grace ♪</i> <i>♪ You have your hand on me ♪</i> <i>♪ And all that I do wrong ♪</i> <i>♪ Love will keep me strong ♪</i> <i>♪ I'd love you in your grace ♪</i> <i>♪ You're listening to Growing Through Grace</i> <i>♪ With Pastor Jack Abilam,</i> <i>of Morningstar Christian Chapel</i> <i>in Whittier, California.</i> <i>It's good to be with you today</i> <i>as we pick up our study</i> <i>in Luke chapter 2 verses 21-38,</i> <i>and Pastor Jack continues</i> <i>his discussion of these shining examples</i> <i>of a couple of senior citizens</i> <i>in Jesus' day</i> <i>that never gave up hope</i> <i>in the coming Messiah.</i> <i>It sets quite a precedent for us</i> <i>as we look for the return of Jesus.</i> <i>Our teacher will then move on</i> <i>to chapter 2 verse 39-52</i> <i>and examine the few verses</i> <i>that we have of Jesus' younger life.</i> <i>Here's Pastor Jack.</i> <i>I want to put out to you</i> <i>verse 27</i> <i>and it's in a couple of</i> <i>different places in the scriptures</i> <i>that the Lord calls Mary</i> <i>and Joseph,</i> <i>Jesus' parents.</i> <i>Because God and to his heart</i> <i>apparent is not someone</i> <i>who has a physical child</i> <i>because Joseph didn't.</i> <i>But a parent to Jesus</i> <i>is someone who provides nurture</i> <i>and care and direction</i> <i>and left for a child.</i> <i>When Mary gets angry</i> <i>at teenage Jesus</i> <i>or almost teenage Jesus</i> <i>for running off,</i> <i>she will say to him</i> <i>I think it's verse 28-48</i> <i>of this chapter,</i> <i>your father and I</i> <i>have been very worried.</i> <i>Well, that's not your father.</i> <i>But in God's economy,</i> <i>a father is not someone who has a child</i> <i>is someone who raises one.</i> <i>And so, sometimes we hear</i> <i>from parents to be that are having</i> <i>to adopt or are unable</i> <i>to bear children or their own.</i> <i>Someone said, "Would you</i> <i>have any of your own?"</i> <i>Well, I think from God's</i> <i>point of view,</i> <i>the important thing,</i> <i>are you a parent?</i> <i>Are you a father?</i> <i>And so, if God puts you</i> <i>in that position,</i> <i>at least the very way</i> <i>that He spoke to Mary and Joseph,</i> <i>you would understand</i> <i>that the Lord's heart is</i> <i>parents of those who</i> <i>provide and care for.</i> <i>And Joseph certainly did that</i> <i>and it seems like</i> <i>divelty Joseph died</i> <i>fairly early.</i> <i>He wasn't around on</i> <i>Jesus died.</i> <i>But he was a father</i> <i>and a parent.</i> <i>So this little babe...</i> <i>and notice...</i> <i>Simion picks him up in his arms</i> <i>and I might have said,</i> <i>Hey, what are you doing?</i> <i>My kid!</i> <i>But anyway...</i> <i>The Lord was in this</i> <i>and he begins to bless the Lord</i> <i>out loud, and he says,</i> <i>Lord, you are...</i> <i>can now let your servant</i> <i>depart in peace.</i> <i>Even according to your word,</i> <i>remember God had promised him</i> <i>that he would not see death</i> <i>vers 28</i> <i>until he had seen the Lord's Christ.</i> <i>My eyes have now seen</i> <i>your salvation.</i> <i>You have prepared me...</i> <i>of which you have prepared</i> <i>before the face of all of the people.</i> <i>He'll be a light to your</i> <i>revelation to the Gentiles,</i> <i>and he is a glory</i> <i>to your people,</i> <i>Israel.</i> <i>Little baby, 40 days old,</i> <i>Simion, let of the Spirit,</i> <i>seize him as the promised one</i> <i>that would deliver a man</i> <i>from his sin,</i> <i>400 years of silence,</i> <i>and God has begun to speak again.</i> <i>Here's a light to the Gentiles.</i> <i>He's going to be the glory</i> <i>of Israel.</i> <i>They're going to be able to say</i> <i>God brought his salvation</i> <i>through our nation.</i> <i>He takes Jesus in his arms,</i> <i>and he blesses the Lord,</i> <i>and he literally says,</i> <i>Okay, I guess I can die in peace now.</i> <i>Because as you,</i> <i>verse 26,</i> <i>have promised,</i> <i>that I would see him.</i> <i>Here he is.</i> <i>By the way,</i> <i>verse 30,</i> <i>you should probably remember.</i> <i>It says that God's salvation</i> <i>is bound up in a person,</i> <i>not in a set of rules.</i> <i>He's the one.</i> <i>My eyes have seen your salvation.</i> <i>Who are you trusting in?</i> <i>What are you trusting in?</i> <i>If your answer to salvation</i> <i>is not Jesus,</i> <i>you're not down the right track.</i> <i>You're on the wrong road.</i> <i>It won't lead you</i> <i>or you're hoping to go,</i> <i>because God's salvation</i> <i>is wrapped up in a person.</i> Notice also that he will be a revelation to the Gentiles. Again, here's Luke, always so considered interested in that the Gentiles understand that even here at the dedication, God's interest was already there. The Gentiles would come to know God's heart, and Israel would see the blessings that they had been given, being chosen by the Lord, to bear the Son. So Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. I can just imagine every confirmation to this couple, every word. You know, there was that virgin birth. That's a pretty big sign. There was the angel visit. There was those prophetic words from cousin Elizabeth when Mary showed up. There was the visit from the shepherds and what they were told about the angel. There's this old man in the temple. He's a light to the Gentiles, a glory to Israel. This is pretty much going to overwhelm this young couple. But no one should miss him. There's plenty of evidence to be trusting in him. I always loved just looking around and seeing what God has done. I met a guy yesterday. I went out and spoke at a men's conference over at Dave Ross Church. But I met a fellow here and he said, "Do you know who I am?" And I said, "Nope." Because I used to go. I think that you look familiar. This guy didn't look familiar. He said, "Your wife was in our wedding." Oh, still no help. 44 years ago. So good to see him 44 years later. He came to our first study when the church started with three couples. Just to visit and then the Lord moved him on with his job. But now he ended up over in the Laguna Wordjerry. But anyway, it was so good to see what the Lord had done. And he said, "I drove by the church. It's sure a lot bigger than it was when we met in the little house." Now, what wasn't God just amazing just to watch, just to marvel at his work. You just look around and go, "God is so good. God's given us lots of reasons to believe him." Hasn't he? And to believe in him. And so I love verse 33 because just check, check, check. You know, Mary just must have been overwhelmed. I don't know who she tells and who believes her, but oh my goodness. He finishes by saying as he blesses them, he turns from speaking about Jesus to speaking to the couple. And especially to Mary, his mother. "Behold, this child is destined for the rise in the falling of many in Israel and a sign that will be spoken against, and yes, a sword will pierce your own soul also so that the hearts of many would be revealed." So Jesus is destined for the rise in the fall of men. He'll be a stumbling block to some. He'll be a light to others. Peter would write, "You are living stones, built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. Behold, I lie in Zion, a chief's cornerstone. He's precious." You believe in him, you find life. It all comes down to it. What do you think about Jesus? What do you think about Jesus? A stumbling block or a step up? This is condemnation, Jesus said to Nicodemus. The light has come into the world and then left darkness rather than the light their deeds are evil. It's all about Jesus. Why do we preach Jesus all the time? Because it's all about Jesus. Why do you always have to talk about Jesus? Because it's all about Jesus. He's the one you need to know. He's the one you need to know. Jesus, when he was speaking to the Pharisees there in Matthew 21, who were arguing with him and actually insulting him in so many ways. Jesus said to him, "Haven't you read the Scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone? It's the Lord's doing. It's marvelous in our sight." I'm saying to you that the kingdom of heaven is going to be taken from you, he says, and given to a nation that will bear fruit for it, whoever will fall upon this stone will be broken, but whoever this stone falls upon will be crushed to powder. It's all about Jesus. And Simeon signs off by saying, "It's all about Jesus." He's going to be the sign. He's going to be the one. Many will speak against him and in the context of Mary's ministry, her heart will be broken off and watching the reaction of her son and to her son. But in so doing, he will reveal the hearts of many. She will suffer as a result. She was chosen. But oh, what a difficult road she's going to have to travel. On Pentecost, 3,000 rose to life, and it's the last time we see Mary. It was on Pentecost with all of the believers. But if you go through the Gospels, you know the religious men plot to kill Jesus. They look for it to destroy him. Isaiah writes he was despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows are acquainted with grief. There's a lot of folks who pretended to love the Lord and didn't, and there was a whole bunch of folks showing up to kill him on the day Mary had to stand and watch his son crucify. Yet the heart is revealed every time the cross is spoken of. So Simeon, quite a prophet, sees the long-term effects of Jesus, the sorrow of Mary, and yet the consequence and the goodness of God in bringing life. With that Simeon, or Simeon, sorry, leaves the temple. And the Lord gives us one final comment here. He's not done revealing himself to Mary and Joseph. And like I said, this is the last word from the Lord about those first month and a half or so. And then we read in verse 36. There was also a woman named Anna. She was a prophetess. She came from the tribe of Asher. She was old. She had been married for seven years and now had been a widow. And now she was 84 years old. And she spent her days just at the temple serving the Lord. She was fasting and prayer. She was there day and night. And she came in that instant as well as the Lord leads and thanked the Lord and began to speak of Jesus to everyone who were looking for the redemption of Israel. So Anna, the word Anna means gracious. She was a prophet. She had lived a pretty tough life. Only married seven years and then been left as a widow for the rest of her life. She had devoted herself to being in church. I remember when I was at Costa Mesa Calvary for years growing up as a Christian that there were literally 100 people there that had retired and just worked at church. I don't think they were on the payroll. I don't know how to check it out. But they were just there every day. The church really depended upon these retired folks. Sometimes they were retired at 40. They did well in business, sometimes older. But I just love the picture of this woman. And we certainly have lots of couples here that are retired that the church depends upon. Lots goes on here because of the faithfulness of those who just, you know, they don't spend your retirement just sitting at home with their feet up. They're out serving the Lord in their later years and God is using them. And here's another devotion. And again, notice verse 38. To the people that were listening, she was able to speak. But the group was fairly small. And so she begins to speak of the Lord's work and to anyone who would listen. In Anna's day there were the Pharisees. There were the legalists. There were the Sadducees. There were the material kind of humanists. They believed in no life, no death. I should say no life after death. And then there is Anna and Simeon touched by God, like Daniel and Babylon, like Jeremiah and Zetichler's court, or like you in the world today. You're outnumbered, man. You're in the minority. But with Jesus, we're in the majority. And so we'll see what the Lord will do. Here's two old believers following the Lord's of the Lord, bearing witness to Jesus. Speaking of His coming, speaking of His work, and I guess, in that regard, we better do the same thing as we wait for the Lord to come. Verse 39, where you read. Now when these things had been performed according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own city of Nazareth. Again, we have to put Scripture with Scripture. We know, for example, because of Matthew chapter 2, that they did not leave right away. In fact, they found a home here. It is here where the wise men would come within the year or so, maybe a little bit later. They didn't show up on Christmas morning. They came bearing gifts. They were expensive. They all had significance. And we'll look at those there in Matthew. But at the same time, they came to a home where Jesus was now a young boy, one or two, maybe closer to two years old, even, with His parents. And they were the ones who came to Herod. First, where's the Messiah supposed to be born? They said Bethlehem. So they went to look for Him. They said He was the king of the Jews. Herod didn't like that title at all. So He said, "He will come and tell me where He is so I can come worship Him. Translation so I can come kill Him." God spoke to the wise men and said, "Don't go back home the way you came after they met with the Lord. They went a different route. Herod got angry, ordered the slaughter of all of the children at least two years older under, so that he could somehow catch Him in that anger and that fear, if you will. There's a scripture in Jeremiah chapter 31 that spoke of it. It says in Rama, "There is great weeping and great bitterness as Rachel weeps for her children." But then the Lord spoke to Joseph and he said, "Get to Egypt." And so God took Mary and Joseph and Jesus to Egypt for a time so that Herod would die. And then maybe it would be a little easier to return. There's a scripture in Hosea 11 that says, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I have called my son." And so when Herod died, they came back to Bethlehem. But the problem was that in Bethlehem, Herod's replacement was his son, a guy named Archelius, who was as bad as he was. And so the Lord directed them to go back home to Nazareth where they had lived previously. And that's why Jesus is called Jesus of Nazareth. It's where he grew up and after this initial time of moving around. So when you read in verse 29 after these things, well these after these things you have to put Matthew chapter 2 in there as well. Because it certainly is a time of upheaval for this young couple. And then from here the gospels, for the most part, focus on the three and a half year ministry of Jesus's publicly. Only Luke gives us what we're going to look at this morning. The only insight into the preteen days of Jesus, if you will. By the way, there is a lot written if you read, I won't say they're Bible commentaries because they're nonsense. But in the apocryphal books, you know what those are. And the apocryphal books will say, "Well, in Jesus when he was young, he would make clay pigeons and then he'd throw them up and they'd get life." And he healed a little boy's arms in school that he accidentally broke plain football. It just groups ridiculous. The Bible says his first miracle was done at a wedding feast in Canis, so I think we'll go with that. But needless to say, this is what we are given by the Lord. And from this beyond this, there's very little that we know about Jesus's first 30 years of life. We might surmise that he worked as a carpenter. In his dad's business, Joseph, it does appear biblically dyed young. Jesus being the oldest, the first born would have had the responsibility for the business as well as for taking care of the family. So we don't told anything other than those things that we might conclude on our own. So Luke continues his account here. But like I said, insert Matthew chapter 2 there or write it in your margin if you will. Matthew was already in circulation. But we read in verse 40, and the child grew and he became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. And his parents would go to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. One of the things that you can learn of Jesus's early life here is that he grew up in a godly home. Now that's not saying much maybe to you, but in the culture in which they lived, there was a lot of oppression politically. And there was tremendous perversion spiritually. You know, the chief priest, the guy who ran the temple, didn't believe in life after death. His family made their living millions of dollars hustling people and came to worship at the temple. And yet we read here of Jesus that he grew up spiritually, strong, filled with God's grace, accompanying his family every year up to Jerusalem for the feast of the pasto. From Nazareth to Jerusalem, roughly 75 mile trip, every adult male, if they could, was according to the law of Leviticus. We do it around to be 16, required to make this trip three times a year for the Passover, for the Pentecost and for tabernacles. These were family events of great importance to Jewish faith. You know, it was a celebration of God's goodness, his deliverance, his help. In the New Testament, Jesus will establish communion at a Passover dinner. He will give this third cup that is used in the pastor of the cup of redemption. And he will give it to the disciples there at the last supper and talk about his blood being shed, that the blood which was celebrated put on the doorposts in Egypt that spared the Jews of this angel of death as they were brought out of Egypt would now be the blood of Jesus placed upon you. And he would present that to them in that context. Paul told the Corinthians that Jesus was our Passover. And so he grew up in a home of solid spiritual direction. Joseph and Mary sought God in the ways that God had established and provided for men. He followed the law, had great respect for it. And Jesus was constantly, if you read the Gospels, in conflict with the religious leaders, more often than not about the law. The law to the Pharisees and to the scribes were kind of outward demands. They had no internal kind of implication. And in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tackled that with six different illustrations. You've heard them say a very old time, but let me tell you. And then he corrected the viewpoint that somehow the law was something external that you could just obey and then move on with your life. Jesus said, "You've read that you shall not murder, but he have hate in your heart. You've read that you shall not commit adultery, if you have lust in your heart." And he went after the law as being what the law was intended to be. A schoolmaster to turn us to Jesus with the idea that, "You have read what you want. I can't do that. There's no capacity in me to be able to perform those things." And so the law was intended to bring you to Jesus. And the Lord taught that. But in Jesus' day, the scribes and Pharisees taught that you couldn't work on the Sabbath. What could work me? Well, if you had a wooden leg and you put it on, that was work. If you had false teeth and you put them in your mouth, that was work. It left the people hating God, not wanting to come to know him, and as a direct result, there was this misrepresentation that turned the hearts of the people away from God's goodness. But Jesus grew up in a home that taught those things properly, had respect for them, if you will. In Matthew, I think it's chapter 23, the Lord said to the Pharisees, "Whatever they tell you to do, or actually to the people, observe what they tell you to do, but don't do it according to their works because they're talking but they're not doing. They live to lay heavy burdens upon the people on their shoulders, but they won't left a finger to help them." They were real good at doling out guilt, but no kind of solution for that whatsoever. And so Jesus spoke about this grievous burden that the people were being put on by the religious leaders. But Jesus grew up in a home that saw God clearly and whose family worshiped the Lord in truth. He warned Jesus did there in Matthew, I think chapter 23, that he said to the Pharisees, "You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inwardly you're just filled with self-indulgence and extortion, clean the inside of the cup, then the outside will be fine too." So he spoke to them about the application. So that was when the battle is, but notice what we heard told about Jesus and his early life. He grew up in a place where the law of God was embraced and where Joseph and Mary humbly did with the Lord, passed them to, and he learned, I think, early on that the truth about God's law was out of harmony with his Pharisees who just taught that, you know, it's an external practice that we really don't have to be impacted by it all. The law should say to you, you have a heart that can't obey God, you need a heart transplant, you need a new heart. Jesus grew up under the law in a godly household. And with that thought, we'll stop there for today and pick up the balance of Luke chapter 2 verses 39 through 52, the next time we're together. This has been the second part of a three-part study taught by Pastor Jacob Ilin. If you'd like to get the entire message, we do have that available for you. All you need to do to order, simply contact us and ask for study number 4240. It's always helpful for us to know the radio station that you're listening to, so be sure to mention those call letters when you get a hold of us. As we look around at our society, or even closer to home, within our own family members, you may come to realize that depression is very prevalent and has literally become an epidemic, leaving many to seek drastic measures for relief. Pastor Jack has written a book that's titled "Hope for the Hopeless." In this book, Pastor Jack uses the solid truth of God's word to outline our hope during times of need, whether it be as a result of depression or fear. So if you'd like to get Pastor Jack's book "Hope for the Hopeless" for yourself, or for a family member or friend, or if you'd like to get today's study, just dial our toll-free phone number at 866-88-Grace. That's 866-88-4-7223. 866-88-4-7223. You can also order by mail, just to address your letter to Growing Through Grace, P.O. Box 1954, Whittier, California, 90609. And as always, we have this and all of our resources online at growingthroughgrace.com. Just log on to growingthroughgrace.com. That's going to wrap up our time together today. We do thank you for being with us. So until next time, as you daily walk with our Lord Jesus Christ, may you continue to grow in His grace. Growing Through Grace is a listener-supported ministry brought to you by Morningstar Christian Chapel in Whittier, California. A Calvary Chapel Outreach. (gentle music)
