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:

Image: The phrase "We die well."

One of my favorite scenes from a TV show has an old warrior together with his former apprentice preparing to give their lives in battle. The old warrior Bra'tac states "We die well." His former apprentice Teal'c responds "More than that old friend, we die free." Then, out of nowhere a solutions arises and they are saved to fight another day. So, why all this talk about "we die well" I am convinced it is because each of us has engrained within us a desire for our life to have mattered and our death to not be in vain. See, one thing is constant in life, we all die! Nevertheless, we were made to die! Death is the unnatural consequence of sin. Did you catch that I said unnatural. Death was not part of the original creation, death is the result of sin. Even though each of us faces death, we were not born to die. In fact, there is only one who was born to die, the one who did not deserve to die. Now that is true irony. Today, as we look forward to Christmas, I want us to focus in just a little on the fact that Christ was born to die.

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).

The language Luke uses is important. We read that Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Greek word παράκλησιν is connected with the idea of encouragement but even more the idea of inexhaustible comfort. Several passages in Isaiah taught that God would comfort his people, (Isa 40:1; 49:13; 51:3; 61:2; 66:13). At this time in history the people might as well have been slaves in the Roman Empire. The people needed comfort and were waiting for comfort. Devout Jews knew that God's vehicle for comforting his people was the Messiah. The anointed one who would bring divine comfort upon the people. When we read that Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel we need to understand that Simeon is waiting for God to reveal none other than Messiah. And more than just waiting, Simeon had promise, he would see the Lord's anointed one. The most significant figure in history.

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. So, what is so significant about the Messiah?

During the intertestimental period, that is the period of time between the completion of Malachi and the birth of Christ there were at least six different strands of thoughts surrounding the Messiah. Some held that the Messianic hope of Israel had been forfeited, others such as those in Qumran anticipated both a priestly and kingly Messiahs. The "majority" position of mainstream Judaism was that the Messiah would be a warrior king who would free the people from Roman dominance. Some writing suggest that a few were looking for the Messiah to be a David King. The Samaritans were anticipating a restorer Messiah who would be the one greater than Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:18. There is even some literature that suggests some were awaiting a the Messiah as a great teacher or sage.

What we can see through these six strands is that many, but not all, were waiting for something more. If I were to summarize or grasp for a common thread among these six views the threat would be that there was dissatisfaction with the status quo and the people were waiting for a hero.

History seems to happen in cycles and often music tells a lot about culture. I want you to understand that while Jesus is the most significant figure in all of history, our current culture needs Jesus and unfortunately, many are still looking for the Messiah, they just don't realize it. Let me read you a few lines from Chad Krueger's song Hero that he recorded for the Spider Man movie back in 2002.

Someone told me Love would all save us But, how can that be Look what love gave us A world full of killing And blood spilling That world never came And they say That a hero could save us I'm not gonna stand here and wait I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles Watch as we all fly away Now that the world isn't ending It's love that I'm sending to you It isn't the love of a hero And that's why I fear it won't do And they say That a hero could save us I'm not gonna stand here and wait I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles Watch as we all fly away

We need Messiah! We live in a world where people are searching for a complete life. I have enjoyed talking a lot about music with our college students on Saturday nights and a few weeks ago one of them used the term post-grunge to describe music in the 2000s. This intrigued me and I did some research. Let me describe the music post-grunge music (that was so popular in the 90s and 2000s) wrote about nihilism (the view that life is pointless), the problems of personal excesses and celebrity culture. 

The culture of 2000 was looking for a hero to save us. I think in many ways the culture of 2020 has given up on the hero. Actually, bear with me just a moment. I was thinking through some of the lyrics and artists who are topping the charts right now. Much of their music has to do with personal empowerment. You might summarize it as "he hero you promised (whether a boyfriend, or other hero) just tried to use me for their own gain. I'm done with this hero thing. I am my own hero because I have the power."

There is truth in the 2000 post-grunge movement and in the current pop movement. Post grunge taught us we needed a hero. Modern music teaches us that the hero's people gave us were only in it for themselves. Unfortunately, neither movement really understood the truth. That Jesus is the hero we need. We need people to know that

Therefore, knowing Jesus is enough for a complete life (29-31).

Simeon upon taking Jesus into his arms boldly declares that his life is complete.

I do not want to get too far on a soap box but I do want to make sure to address matters here. So many people have either given up on joy or think that they will be their own source of joy. These are both broken false perspectives. Knowing Jesus is enough!

A theme verse for the last several months has been 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."

Part of the key to being a hero is being the hero for all. Part of what makes superman superman is that he does more than just save Lois Lane. We must also note that

And it is possible for anybody to come to know Jesus (32).

As if what Simeon has to say is not significant enough, he goes on to proclaim that Jesus is not just a hero to the Jews. Jesus is the hero for all. This is huge!

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,