Jesus, Uniter and Divider
Notes
Transcript
We will be in Luke 2:22-52 this morning. In a moment I’ll read the first few verses and then we’ll come back to the end. As you’re turning there I want you to imagine that we have 35 guitars up on stage. Each of them are tuned differently. I have a tuner and we can get them all on the same page. But I have a question for you. Is this tuner a uniter or a divider?
Our text this morning is going to be about unity and division. The Jewish people had been waiting for the rescuer to come for many years. We are going to read of a guy named Simeon and a prophetess named Anna. She’s likely around 100 years old. They’ve been waiting their whole lives for this deliverer. And when Jesus—still just a baby at this point in our story—when Jesus comes into the temple both of these are moved by the Spirit to celebrate the arrival of the long awaited deliverer.
But there’s another side to this coin that we’re going to see from Simeon. He’s ecstatic. He’s celebratory. But there’s another message that’s connected to this. It is profoundly good news for the deliverer to be here. We sing in our Christmas hymns of “peace on earth” but is it possible that Jesus actually brings division as well? What we’re going to see in our text today is that Jesus not only unifies but he also divides. See if you can hear that in the text.
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That tuner is both a uniter and a divide. It unites all those which conform to it’s tuning…it’s a standard by which all gather around. But it also divides. Because unless you are united to the tuner you are going to be divided. That’s what this text is showing us about Jesus. He doesn’t leave any neutral ground.
It’s no secret that our world is incredibly divided. Just turn on the news. There is great polarity. I could ask only a couple of questions and it’d likely create a pretty heated discussion among us. Instead, I believe the gospel is meant to unify. It is meant to reconcile. Reconcile sinners to God. And reconcile sinners to each other. But just as that tuner the good news of the gospel is only good news if you’re under it’s umbrella. The death angel in the Exodus. There is a deliverer…wipe the blood on your door post…but if you don’t…then you aren’t going to be rescued.
In the same way that Jesus is the rescuer and uniter he is also the great divider. This is what Simeon is saying to Mary and it’s also what we’re going to see played out in the life of Mary when we read the story of Jesus in the temple as a boy. So let’s look at this from the text.
Jesus is the rescuer
In Galatians we read that Jesus was born of a woman, born under the law. And that’s what we are seeing played out in these first few verses. It was customary to present children at the temple. There were purification ceremonies that a woman would have to go through after giving birth to a child. And they would be called to offer a sacrifice---to celebrate, to dedicate the child to the Lord, etc. The “pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” is a pretty good indicator that they were of the poorer class. That was the offering allowed for them.
So they go to the temple to do what God calls them to do. They are obedient. They are faithful. That’s what Luke wants us to see. They are fully at home within the world of Judaism. They, like everyone else are looking for a Deliverer a Rescuer. But they’ve been told that this baby is who that is. Certainly, though, their understanding would have been pretty incomplete. But the picture fills out a little when they meet this devout man named Simeon. We don’t know much about him really. He was righteous, devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. That means help or rescue. That’s what he’s waiting for.
All through the OT there was a promise of a rescuer or a deliverer who on the way. Many thought it would be military a great king. But there was starting to merge this idea of one particular rescuer who would be a prophet like Moses, a priest, and a king. This would be the Lord’s Christ. They’d look at places like Isaiah…Isaiah 40 and on, like we preached through awhile back. They’d look at these places to see that a rescuer was coming. And so Simeon is waiting on this because the Lord had revealed to him that he wouldn’t die until he saw it.
He holds the baby in his arms and proclaims that this is the deliverer. He can now “depart in peace”. This has caused many to say that Simeon was an old man. And likely so. This sounds like the words of someone who had been waiting awhile, but we don’t know that for certain.
Salvation. Rescue. Help. Deliverance. Shalom. This child is bringing all of that. He’s bringing peace with God. He’s uniting.
WHY IS THIS GOOD NEWS FOR YOU?
Maybe we can see that more clearly by what we see in verse 32, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.” In the Bible light is often connected to morality—clean living—it means that you aren’t hiding. There is an authenticity to the light. There is life there. There are colors in the light. There is beauty in the light. I think what John Piper says about lust can really include about any sin:
Do you know why there are no windows on adult bookstores? Or do you know why there are no windows on certain kinds of nightclubs in the city?
I suppose your answer would be, “Well, because they don’t want people looking in and getting a free sight.”
That’s not the only reason.
You know why? Because they don’t want people looking out at the sky.
You know why? The sky is the enemy of lust.
And I just ask you—you think back on your struggles. The sky is a great power against lust.
Pure, lovely, wholesome, beautiful, powerful, large-hearted things cannot abide the soul of a sexual fantasy at the same time.
There’s something about bigness, there’s something about beauty, that helps battle against the puny, small, cruddy use of the mind to fantasize about [these] things.
But what Luke is saying is that apart from Christ we don’t have windows. We have a darkened worldview. We aren’t able to see glory the same way. And so Jesus comes and he brings that light. He captures us with beauty. He opens our eyes and our minds. 2 Corinthians talks about the god of this world blinding eyes and minds. That’s why I pray often that God would cause the light of the knowledge of the glory of Christ to shine in hearts. All that stuff is there in this blessing of Simeon. He’s seeing that Jesus is that and that he does that.
Light dispels darkness and confusion. It helps you to see beauty. It takes away all the confusion and purposelessness. It’s as C.S. Lewis said,
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
And then Simeon also says, “for glory to your people Israel”. I want spend a ton of time here but this is what we talked about a few weeks ago in Isaiah—where God will take places of your deepest shame and turn them into glory. That’s all part of this promise. The Jewish people had been shamed. They were nobodies. They were just a little blip on the map. They were overtaken by so many other countries. They couldn’t keep their own identity. But this child is forever going to give them a story—it’s going to encompass them into God’s great plan for the world. Redemption, salvation, rescue, light all of that is going to come from here. That’s great news to a shamed people.
And so these are massive words and Joseph and Mary are marveling at this. And Simeon blesses them and then has some great and wonderful and yet also scary words for his mother. The fall and rising of many. A sign that is opposed. And a sword will pierce through your soul as well.)
2. The divisive nature of Jesus
So this is the second thing we see here in this text. Yes, Jesus is the Light. He is the Rescuer. He is the deliverer. He is the one that divides history. That’s great news. But think about this for a moment...
Light can also be repulsive. It calls us to no longer be dedicated to our lesser lights. That’s tough. We talked about that a few weeks ago in Isaiah 50.
We talked about being in a dark and unfamiliar cave and how our first instinct is to grab for a light. The darkness unsettles us. And we also talked about core narratives. It’s what we use to answer some of life’s really important questions. Why do things matter? Why does this thing matter more than that thing? Your core narrative is how you go about answering that question. Your core narrative is the story you tell…it’s how you make sense of the world.
Every single one of us has a way of viewing the world. It’s the light that we live by. It’s how we see things. It’s the candle that lights our path. What Jesus coming into the world does is it rocks our core narrative. The Israelites had established a story. Jesus didn’t exactly fit that. He was bigger than the candles they were burning. And so what do you do when it doesn’t square up?
You see that’s one reason we don’t like the light. We’re so enamored with our own torches. And so when Jesus comes and calls us to drop those torches it’s difficult.
But we also can hate the light because we love the darkness. When somebody throws on a light switch in the morning. We don’t like that. We throw our heads back under the covers preferring darkness instead. We don’t want to be exposed. Yes—there is beauty in the light—but the dark is also familiar, it feels safer. And so we prefer the numbness of it sometimes. Jesus divides.
That’s what Simeon is saying here. He says that Jesus is going to reveal the hearts of people. He is going to show us who we really are. He’s going to be a stumbling block for many. This goes back to Isaiah 8. And all of it’s really saying that Jesus divides because he presses for a decision.
The great practical doctrine before us is this, that wherever Jesus Christ comes, with whomsoever he may come in contact, he is never without influence, never inoperative, but in every case a weighty result is produced. There is about the holy child Jesus a power which is always in operation. He is not set to be an unobserved, inactive, slumbering personage in the midst of Israel; but he is set for the falling or for the rising of the many to whom he is known.
Again Spurgeon:
but when they hear the truth as it is in Jesus, they either take it joyfully in their arms with Simeon, or else it becomes to them a sign that shall be spoken against
We see this play out in the last section of Luke 2.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
A couple things to point out. First, this isn’t awful parenting. They didn’t travel the same way we did. They traveled in groups. And so it would be nothing for them to not see a child for an entire day. It wouldn’t be unheard of for mom to expect the boy to be with the father’s group, and the father likewise expects him to be with the women. So this isn’t bad parenting. But oh man that moment.... “where’s the child”. And can you imagine even this—you’ve had all these promises made. We lost the special boy. Oh man we’ve blown it.
How could you do this to us?
Now keep in mind that there has been twelve years in between these stories. It slows down in the day to day drudgery of things. I’m not saying that Mary and Joseph were doubting his identity or anything like that…but it’s just playing out slower. It’s not going to be as heightened. And so they’ve gotten into a normal. There is a certain way that Mary has been viewing her son. “Her son”.
But this changes everything. I MUST be in about my Father’s business. (That’s literally how it reads…my father’s house is supplied…I must be of the things of the Father…) But Jesus is here teaching and learning and growing. We’ll see more about this in the coming days for now…it’s enough to see that this is just a tiny little preview of the piercing that will happen in Mary’s heart.
By saying “I had to be,” Jesus begins to undertake such a path, a route that one day will mean he will go his own way. Luke loves to mark key sayings with dei (“it is necessary”) to show the presence of the fulfillment of God’s plan (4:4; 9:22; 13:33; 17:25; 19:5; 22:37; 24:7, 26, 44). Here is the high point of the infancy narrative, as Jesus explains his call in his own words.
Is Mary going to be mom or disciple? Jesus is even dividing and revealing the heart of his own mother. I like how one commentator applied this verse:
God faithfully reflects how we should seek God’s face. Time spent before him “in the temple” or at his feet “in the Word” or using our hands “in ministry” may not be understood by people with a different set of priorities. Sometimes our choices will be difficult, as we are perhaps not where others would like us be. Tensions between secular commitments to our job and making time available for ministry may lead some to misunderstand why we do what we do. This comes with the territory of a walk with God. God calls us, like Jesus, to be active and prepare ourselves for service with others.
Jesus demands a response. You cannot stay neutral. And because of this he divides history. He reveals the state of hearts. If you’re for Jesus then you are with the Father. If you aren’t for Jesus then you aren’t. There is no middle ground here. Allegiance to Christ alone or NOT.
But there’s another story weaved throughout this one as well…Jesus also unites.
3. How Jesus unites
Right after Simeon we are introduced to an elderly widow woman. She’s likely over 100. But she’s still fasting and praying every day. (Age doesn’t put a stop to kingdom work). Why does Luke include this story. High view of women. Two witnesses. The honor to the aging. All true…but there’s one detail in this that I think is often missing. Tribe of Asher.
Of the divided kingdom. Simeon likely a Levite—don’t know for sure. But what we have hear is a uniting of the kingdoms…around what? Around Jesus.
This is a point I’ve made quite a few times before. I like to illustrate by using a magnet and some paper clips. People who are diverse…unite to Jesus. When he draws them he changes their identity…worldview…etc. and unites really diverse people. I like to highlight this by using the example of Matthew the Tax Collector (hear Roman sell out) and Simon the Zealot (hear going to bring about God’s kingdom with the sword and killing those dirty Romans who have taken their nation).
But there is a point in this that I’ve often failed to make. Matthew left his tax collector booth…and Simeon was no longer a zealot. Jesus doesn’t unite if it’s Jesus plus something else. Those something else’s have to square up before you’re united. That’s not biblical Christianity. United around Christ period. Christ alone.
Allow me to illustrate this as we close:
I’ll show that in the text here in a bit. But I want to illustrate that first…but we have to involve one of my least favorite subjects....Math.
Have everyone in the congregation pick a number 1-10. Have them shout out that number in unison.
Then have everyone multiply that number by 2. Give a little time for people to do the math. Have them
shout out the new number in unison. Then have everyone add 2 to that new number. Shout out the new
number. Now divide that number by 2. Again have everyone shout out that number in unison. Now have
everyone subtract their original number. Now shout out that new number.
We all started with a different number. But within a few steps we ended up in the same spot…this is what Jesus…and only Jesus can do. This is what He is doing and has done in the gospel. He has united us. We are called to maintain that unity. But as I said earlier there is a dividing quality to this too. You had to be willing to change your identity. All those who started on the number 6 had to move off that number in order to get to a place of unity with others. If you had said, “I’m a six, I was raised a six, I’m always going to be a six…I don’t care what all these other yaywhos do…I’m not changing my number.” If that’s you then when everybody shouted out 1 you were still stuck with number 6.
And this is what Luke is calling upon his readers…calling upon Theophilus to consider.
Called to make a decision about Christ
If he’s Lord and Savior then we live like it. That means something. Means something for our unity, for our identity, for what we give our lives to.
Live by his light.
The good news of this text. Jesus IS the rescuer. Jesus IS the light.