Sermon Tone Analysis

Christmas In God’s House

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Christmas Prophecies In God’s House

Luke 2:22-38

 

 

        Christmas is a season that is inextricably bound to prophecy, joy, goodwill, promise, and potential.

And two of the greatest prophecies with respect to Christmas occur in God’s House.

In my study for the sermon series “The Houses of God,” the following thought dawned on me:  “Christmas actually began at The House of the Lord, i.e.

Herod’s Temple.”

Since we are suspending the series on “The Houses of God” to do four Christmas messages, it seemed expedient to me to continue to talk about Christmas as it relates to the House of God.

In our first message, we talked about how the first Christmas was tied up with God’s House.

Zacharias received the revelation concerning John the Baptizer, the forerunner of Jesus Christ, while carrying out his priestly duties, in Herod’s Temple.

*John the Baptizer, being the forerunner of Jesus Christ, is actually the forerunner of the first Christmas.*

/(That brings us to two wonderful Christmas prophecies in the Gospel according to Luke.

Would you turn with me to Luke 2:22-38.

I will read this aloud for us, as you follow along.)/

You have often heard me say, and I trust that it is beginning to sink in, that the Bible is a Hebraic book that we read from a western, Greek-oriented mindset.

The culture and context of this time is Hebrew and that often obscures information and understanding that might be otherwise obtained.

Verses 22-24, give us a context that is often either bypassed or overlooked.

The Old Testament assumes that people would encounter sin and uncleanness.

So, it provides a way to purify or cleanse one’s self.

In this situation, there was a waiting period, in conjunction with the days of purification, for the birth of a male child, which was seven days.

Since this context includes Mary, this was probably after forty days, which was the days of purification for the mother.

*When those days were complete, the Jewish couple brought their child up to Herod’s Temple, the House of God, to be presented before the Lord.*

This was in keeping with the Law of Moses, to commemorate the Passover.

Every first-born male was considered holy unto the Lord and a sacrifice was offered as a ransom for that child.

This was a memorial for God sparing the Israelite families during Passover.

The sacrifice mentioned was for those who were poor.

There are several things that I want to point out here.

*Christmas is about the presentation of the Son of God!!!

And we should be presenting Jesus Christ to the world!

This is not about the presentation of programs, mistletoe, reindeer, Santa Claus or anything else.

This is about the presentation of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world.

He is the Christ-child who was born, lived, died, was buried, and rose again, and His presentation means peace on earth and good will towards men!*

*Secondly, we do not offer sacrifices for Him, but He has offered the ultimate sacrifice for us!!!*

        *To present Christ to the world takes some purification on our part.*

It is inappropriate and ineffective to present Christ to the world with common, unclean hands!

We need to purify our hands and our hearts to handle and present Jesus Christ, the living Word of life, God’s greatest Christmas present to the world!!!

        We also see here an illustration of how to celebrate Christmas.

A spiritual celebration of Christmas should entail a sacrifice that is given as a memorial, and this memorial is pertaining to our salvation.

*We should give something to God to commemorate and celebrate our salvific deliverance from sin!!!  What should we give?

We should give at least a sacrifice of praise and worship, if not a monetary sacrifice.*

Some will protest that we are poor and don’t have anything to give, but so were Mary and Joseph.

Mary brought the offering of the poor, i.e. /a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons;/ had she been of ability, she would have brought a /lamb for a burnt-offering,/ and a /dove for a sin-offering;/ but, being poor, and not able to reach the price of a lamb, she brings /two doves,/ one for /a burnt-offering and the other for a sin-offering/ (see Lev. 12:6, 8).

This teaches us that every time we approach Jehovah God, particularly upon special occasions, we are to give thanks to God for His mercies and to acknowledge with sorrow and legitimate shame our sins against Him.

Furthermore, we learn that in giving glory to God, we are never without something to offer.[1]/

/*Even if we are poor, there is always something that we can give to God.

It is the praise of this kind of sacrifice that brings the true joy of Christmas.*

The poverty that I am thinking about this Christmas is the poverty of spirit.

There is a particular heaviness of spirit this Christmas that has to do with people getting in touch with their losses as never before.

There is certainly nothing wrong with that, but remember:  “Even when you are poor in spirit, there is always something to give to God!!!”

        *A major observation is that all of this takes place in Herod’s Temple, The House of the Lord, i.e.

God’s house!!!*  The first Christmas is inexorably tied to God’s house.

Even though Herod’s Temple was a long way from being a sanctified house of God; even though there was no Shekinah glory; Jesus still considered this place God’s house.

*A major lesson for us:  “Christmas should be bound up with and tied to God’s house!!!”*  *Christmas should be experienced in God’s house.

Christmas should be celebrated in God’s house.*

*And it is in God’s house that the wonderful prophecies and promise of the Messiah take place.*

It is in God’s house that we receive God’s prophecies and promises.

It is in God’s house that we begin to see the potential for the future.

It is in God’s house that we begin to see the gift of grief.

It is in God’s house that the good will of Christmas begins to come into focus.

\\ /(Now let’s reset the scene.)/

“It was in the Temple Court of Women that Mary presented Jesus for circumcision and naming.

Here also the godly Simeon and Anna give their prophetic utterances.”[2]

Herod’s Temple had an outer court of the Gentiles; then an inner Court of Women.

The innermost courts were reserved for men.

Praise God that Jesus opened up the throne to all people without regard to gender, ethnicity, nationality, or class.

Be that as it may, in the Court of Women, we come first to Simeon.

As Joseph and Mary entered the Temple to present Jesus Christ to Jehovah God, they ran into one of the main character of this side story:  Simeon.

Who was Simeon?

Simeon was a very interesting person.

Simeon was a righteous man.

He kept the Mosaic Law.

In addition, Simeon was a devout man.

The word literally means “cautious.”

*He was cautious in how he approached and treated God and His things.*

The narrative also tells us something about the passion of Simeon.

He was looking for the consolation or comfort of Israel.

*In other words, He was looking for the messianic hope of Israel.*

The belief was that when the Messiah came, He would establish His kingdom and restore God’s people to their place of prominence.

We get *no* indication that the shepherds or Mary are intimately acquainted with the Messianic prophecies, although every Israelite was somewhat acquainted with the hope of Israel.

*But, Simeon was waiting anxiously for the hope of Israel to appear.*

Beyond the prophecies themselves, Simeon knew in His spirit that the Messiah would one day come, because on this particular day the Holy Spirit of revelation was upon him.

This becomes even more evident in the next sentence.

The Holy Spirit had revealed something to Simeon that was wondrous.

The Greek word that is translated “revealed” is used regularly of the imparting of divine revelations.[3]

*The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death until he had seen God’s Christ or Messiah.*

Now some of us are in trouble.

Why?

Because this is *not* something that he received from studying the Old Testament, but is a *word of knowledge* through the direct instrumentality of the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Jack Hayford says that “‘The word of knowledge’ is a gift of the Holy Spirit giving supernatural insight or information which one would not have known apart from the Spirit’s revealing it.

It differs from general biblical knowledge in that it is spontaneously revealed rather than learned through study or acquired by experience; however, it must always be tested against revealed biblical knowledge.”[4]

\\ This revelation was *not* something that he thought up or studied up on, it was something that was revealed to his intuition.

*Although Simeon was familiar with the prophecies of the Word of God and was anxiously awaiting their fulfillment, this present knowledge was a fresh word of God, from the Holy Spirit.*

He knew, in his spirit, through the Holy Spirit, that he would *not* see death until he had seen the Messiah.

/(The next detail of the story is instructive.)/

The conflict, action, or plot revolves around Simeon coming upon Mary, Joseph, and the Christ-child.

Well, it just so happens…  Well, that is the way we handle life.

We talk about life in terms of happenstance, chance, and luck.

But, anyone who reads the Bible, with any depth, knows something about the divine providence of Jehovah God.

So, we should rather say, “At the right time or in the fullness of time, Simeon came by the Spirit into the temple.”

It seems that Simeon was guided to the temple that day under a special unction or anointing of the Holy Spirit.