Luke 2:22-40 Born to Die

Theological Proposition/Focus: Jesus was born to die and that changes everything.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: We should strive to know Jesus, but not just the fun parts. Rather we strive to completely know Jesus.

Introduction:

Setting the Stage:

When we tell the story of Christmas we often stop at Luke 2:20. But what happens right after 2:20 is also important.

In verse 21 we see that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to be circumcised exactly as the law had commanded.

When we talk about Jesus one of the hardest aspects we need to keep in mind is the balance between Christ's humanity and his deity. What better time to think about this balance than Christmas? Here in the remaining verses of Luke 2 we catch a glimpse of Christ's humanity. This begins with verse 21 but extends through verse 40 and beyond. We learn that Jesus was fully human and born into a Jewish family before Christ, hence the law mattered and there was a prescribed format that needed to be followed.

There is one reality that we as humans all face, not taxes, but death. Jesus was born fully human without a sin nature and so he was exempt from the requirement of death. However, what we learn in verses 22-40 is that Jesus was in fact, born to die.

Body

Before I get into the points I have outlined for this passage I want to call your attention to verses 21-24. According to Leviticus 12:3, every male was required to be circumcised on the 8th day. Moreover, the firstborn was specially consecrated as per Exodus 12:2. Finally, after the birth of a child a mother and father were required to bring an offering to God as described in Leviticus 12:1-8. The recommended sacrifice was a lamb and a pigeon or turtledove. However, in the case of a poor family, two birds could substitute. Here we see that Mary and Joseph offered the birds, a reminder that Jesus was fully human. Not only did the parents of Jesus offer a human sacrifice, they offered the poor version of the sacrifice. We need to realize how humble Christ's humanity was. The God of the universe condescended not only to be human, but to be a poor human.

We must acknowledge that

Knowing Jesus changes everything (25-32).

Let me start by stating something obvious,

Jesus is the most significant figure in all of history (25-28).

Making this claim in a Bible-believing church is a safe statement but I want us to go deeper. To do so let me talk for a little about the Messiah. The term Messiah is a Hebrew term that means "anointed one." The Jews were waiting for the coming of one who would serve as a great king and priest for the people. This great king was expected to be a divinely appointed eschatological deliverer who would free Israel from the Roman Empire. The Greek word that was used to translate the Hebrew Messiah is the word Christos from which we get Christ.

We should go about life seeking to know Jesus more and more (36-40).

Mary and Joseph remind us that even though Jesus changes everything, life still goes on (39).

Why not stay in the temple? Because life needs to continue,