Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:22-40)

 Sermon for Milledgeville & Whitestown UMC

Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:22-40)

 

A man named Carol grew up being harassed for his name. When he had his own family, he decided his wife should name their first child. She named their daughter, Love. Unfortunately, Love was teased for her name, too. After years of teasing and abuse from her peers, Love snapped. She yelled at her father, “You ruined my life! Why did you give me such a stupid name!” Not wanting to throw his wife under the bus, he simply said, “I’m sorry.” Love shot him and ran away. Later his wife came home to find her husband on the floor clutching his chest. He choked out, “Shot through the heart and you’re to blame. Darling, you gave Love a bad name.”

 

We’re talking about baby Jesus and the meaning of names today. Joseph and Mary took baby Jesus to the temple where they are met by Simeon and Anna. They came to the temple in obedience to the law. Leviticus 12 outlines what must happen for purification after giving birth.

 

When a woman gives birth to a son, she is ceremonially unclean for 40 days. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over.

 

When the days of her purification… are over, she is to bring to the priest… a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering… But 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. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’

(c.f. Leviticus 12:1-8)

 

Joseph and Mary are righteous, law-obedient. We learn from Luke’s account that they are poor. They offered two pigeons and two doves, as the law allowed for those who couldn’t afford a lamb.

 

Simeon Blesses Jesus
"My eyes have seen your salvation.” 

On the day they visited the temple, a righteous man named Simeon met them. From Mary and Joseph’s perspective this was a seemingly random encounter. They didn’t know Simeon, but Luke informs us that Simeon was led to the temple that day by the Holy Spirit. You see, Simeon was a man of prayer. The Holy Spirit promised Simeon that he would not die until he laid eyes on the Messiah. Simeon hoped in the promise of Christ and His kingdom. He was waiting on the consolation of Israel.

 

We read in our Call to Worship this morning from Isaiah 40.

 

“Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.”

See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
    and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him (Isa 40:1, 10-11)

 

Israel suffered under Roman taxes and Romans soldiers. Roman justice brought enslavement and death. Simeon prayed with hope for a savior to set Israel free. Simeon’s name means God hears. God heard their cries for deliverance and sent Jesus.

 

Hope is like oxygen to the soul. It is light pushing the darkness away. Hope lifts the spirit and eases the burdens of the heart. Hope is a vision of the future, a destination. And hope is something that brings us security.

 

The author of Hebrews wrote that we possess hope as an anchor to the soul, firm and secure. (Hebrews 6:19) The hope of which he speaks is salvation in Jesus who shed His blood to atone for our sin, once for all. Because of Jesus, we may approach the throne of God Almighty with boldness, trusting in divine mercy and love.

 

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)

 

Simeon was led by the Holy Spirit to see Jesus. When he laid eyes on Jesus, Simeon said, “Sovereign Lord, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation.” In Hebrew the word for salvation is yeshua. In essence, Simeon is saying I have seen your Jesus.

 

Jesus isn’t salvation only for Jews. In accordance with prophecy, Jesus is salvation for all the nations, Jews and Gentiles alike. Simeon said that the salvation Jesus will bring will be a light to the Gentiles and glory for Israel.

 

Simeon is referencing prophetic hope. God had always intended to save humanity through Israel. He chose the descendants of Abraham as His vessel through which the world would be blessed. Israel is responsible for revealing God’s righteousness, mercy and justice. Through Israel came Jesus Messiah.

 

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
² See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
³ Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn. (Isa 60:1-3)

 

Simeon held onto hope through writings like Isaiah. Simeon was waiting in hope for the Lord to show compassion on Israel and usher in the age of the Messiah. He saw God’s salvation, Jesus, and felt his life was complete. He could die happy knowing that the Messiah was born. God had kept His promise.

 

I imagine that Simeon wept tears of relief, for he suffered Roman oppression along with everyone else. He saw corruption in government and religion. He saw sin run rampant among his countrymen and it broke his heart.

To see Jesus, to see the Lord’s salvation, must have touched his pain. Hope gave way to healing and joy.

 

Then Simeon said to Mary that Jesus would cause the rise and fall of many in Israel. He will become a stumbling block for many just as Isaiah prophesied.

 

    for both Israel and Judah, The Lord will be
a stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall. (Isa 8:14a)

 

Simeon saw that Mary would also suffer. I wonder how Mary processed that information? What could the old man mean that a sword would pierce her own heart? It surely caused her concern.

 

Jesus would become a mighty prophet who would meet a prophet’s doom. His preaching would expose the sinful ambitions of the religious leaders and their shortcomings as shepherds of Israel. At the same time, Jesus would lift the hearts of the poor and common Jews, even Roman soldiers. Multitudes gathered to hear Jesus. Mary would witness Jesus’ rise and fall. He would be hailed the king of the Jews and executed on a cross in the same week. Mary would one day weep bitterly over her son.

 

Mary and Joesph were approached by another person, a prophetess named Anna. We don’t hear much of female prophets, but there is precedent. In the Book of Judges, Deborah was a prophetess who led Israel to victory over their enemies.

 

Anna’s husband died after only 7 years of marriage. She lived as a widow for 84 years, which means she was very, very old, maybe over 100. The Greek could mean she was 84, which is still far beyond the age most lived in her time. Anna praised God and told all who hoped in messiah about Jesus.

Anna’s name means grace. Her father’s name, Penuel, means “Face of God.” It’s the name Jacob gave the place where he wrestled with God face to face. It is this place where God gave Jacob a new name, Israel.

 

God saved Jacob from the wrath of his brother Esau, whom he had tricked into selling his birthright and cheated him out of their father’s blessing. Jacob’s identity as a liar and a cheat was transformed. He was no longer to be known as Jacob, the heel grabber, but as Israel, who wrestles with God. Jacob was blessed by God for wrestling with his human fears and his role as God’s chosen.

 

Ironically, Anna is looking upon the face of God when she sees baby Jesus. Anna is from the tribe of Asher, whose name means, blessed or happy. Ironically, she was looking at the very source of blessing. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to make him a blessing to all nations. Anna was happy to see the messiah and celebrated the good news with others. Most of her life was spent fasting and praying at the temple, waiting in hope for God to fulfill His promises. Now that she had seen the Messiah, she could not contain her joy. She couldn’t help but tell others about Jesus Christ.

 

Anna’s name means grace. Luke ends this part of Jesus’ story by telling us that Jesus grew strong, filled with God’s wisdom and grace.

 

Luke provides 2 chapters dedicated to the birth and boyhood of Jesus. By chapter 3, John the Baptist is a grown man heralding the coming Christ, for Jesus was ready to begin His ministry. In the weeks leading to Christmas, we learned of Zechariah and Elizabeth, an elderly priestly couple who had no children. But the Lord sent an angel to tell Zechariah that Elizabeth would have a son, and they should name him John. We learned how Mary, a young virgin, was met by the same angel, Gabriel, and told that she would bear God’s own Son, the messiah by the lifegiving power of the Holy Spirit. Matthew told how Joseph was urged in a dream to take Mary as his wife. She had not been unfaithful to him. The child was from the Holy Spirit and Joseph was to name the baby, Jesus, for He will save the people from their sins.

 

All this divine activity occurred under the noses of Herod and Caesar. They had no idea what was coming. But those who wait on the Lord in hope, know. They know God’s promises and they know God hears and responds to their prayers. They know that God has promised to show them grace and glory.

 

You carry that hope in Christ and hope carries you!

Hold onto hope in God’s wonderful promises, and by waiting in hope may we all grow in strength, wisdom, and grace.