Isaiah 11:1-5; Galatians 4:1-7; St Luke 2:(22-32)33-40
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
“Let us all together praise our God before His glorious throne; today He opens heav’n again to give us His own Son, to give us His own Son” (LSB 389:1). We who have celebrated with one accord the great Feast of the Nativity of our Lord continue, this blessed week, to rejoice at such a wondrous and majestic gift from the Father, who in the fullness of time, sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law - that is, to redeem us, who were languishing in sin, death, and darkness, under the condemnation of the Law - so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Today is the seventh day of Christmas, tomorrow we shall celebrate the Circumcision and Name of Jesus on the eighth day, but the Gospel assigned for today takes us to the fortieth day after our Lord’s birth, when He and His Virgin Mother came [to the Temple] for their purification according to the Law of Moses. St Mary comes for her purification. The Child is brought in fulfillment of the Lord’s word to Moses: “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is Mine,” says the Lord (Ex 13:2).
But why do Mary and Joseph do this? We do they come to the Temple for her purification? She was and remained a virgin during her miraculous conception and after her no-less-miraculous birth. And her Child, the Christ, is the Holy One of Israel, set apart by His Father from the moment of His conception by the Holy Spirit. He is the Holy Lord. So, then, why do they come?
There is a pop-Christian Christmas song (though it can hardly be classified as such) which has made its rounds, even in Lutheran circles. Its called, “Mary Did You Know?” It is a series of questions posed to the Virgin Mother wondering if she knew her various things about her soon-to-be-born Son and Messiah. Seventeen questions ranging from if she knew that her baby was God Himself to questions about His miracles. Like most pop-Christian songs, it repeats the chorus a bunch of times, emotively wondering, “Mary did you know?”
Yes! Mary knew! Unlike this unBiblical song, the Scriptural evidence bears out quite clearly that St Mary knew. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His Name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God.” (Lk 1:30-32). The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy - the Son of God (Lk 1:35).
Yep, Mary knew that her baby Boy was God Himself. And she has given us an even better Christmas song, one which she herself sang: My soul, magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior (Lk 1:46). Its helpful at times to check your favorite songs and books and movies, even your personal beliefs, against the evidence of Scripture and the scope of the Christian worldview.
But we’re not just picking on Christmas ditties. The point is this: St Mary knew, and yet she and St Joseph brought the Child to the Temple according to what is said in the Law of the Lord. For this is what faith does: it rejoices at the gracious gift of the Lord Most High, the gift of salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ, lives trusting in His promise of the forgiveness of sins and in obedience, delights in the Law of the Lord, all the while seeking to act according to it. One Lutheran theologian put it this way: “Faith allows the fulfillment of the Decalogue. Or simply stated, the believer is justified so that one might fulfill the law” (A Case for Character, Kindle loc 1630).
In faithful piety Mary and Joseph bring the Child to the Temple where they encounter another pious and faithful man and woman: Simeon and Anna. These two Old Testament saints are anxiously awaiting the consolation of Israel, the redemption of Jerusalem, the revealing of the Messiah. Much like Christians today, Simeon and Anna are out of place and time. They are oddities among their people. The temple-goers laugh them off as drunks or weirdoes. Just like folks do to Peter and the Twelve at Pentecost. Just like folks do to you for your faithful observance of Christmas, for your steadfast confession and Christian virtue.
For to the eyes of the world the Holy Family looks like just another poor, Jewish couple coming to perform their vows. They can’t afford a lamb, so they offer the appropriate substitute, two pigeons. But with the eyes of faith, Simeon, by the grace and Spirit of God, is able to behold in this forty-day-old Baby, the salvation of the Lord. This patriarch steps up, we presume him to be old, though it isn’t clear, “and with penetrating clarity of discernment, recognizes and praises this Child as the Savior and Light of the World. All emperors, kings, and rulers are mere darkness, but this Child is the Light of the World. All the world is subjugated under death and damnation, but through this Child the world will obtain salvation. This Child, in short, is the One whom the prophets foretold” (Luther, House Postils, vol 1 p154-55).
And it is his beautifully crafted sermon that causes the Child’s mother and father to marvel at what was said about Him. Consider the words of Simeon, this Biblical canticle we call the Nunc Dimittis, which you sing and pray after you have received the Body and Blood of the Holy Child in the Sacrament of the Altar. He says and you sing, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word.” We have even adopted a line from this canticle in the dismissal from the Table: “Depart in peace.”
But the word used for “depart,” is not what you might expect. The word used elsewhere in the Gospels for “depart” as referring to death - and this is clearly referring to death - is εχοδυς. But here that’s not the word. The word is απολυεις. Now set free Your servant, Master, according to Your Word. The translation is fine and the intent is correct. Let you’re servant die in peace. That’s what you’re saying when you leave the Altar after having receive the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. “Lord, I am prepared to die in peace according to Your Word. For I have received all that is necessary for salvation.”
But απολυεις doesn’t mean only mean “die” or “depart.” It means release or set free. Its the word all the Gospels use to describe Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but is forced to release Barabbas instead. Απολυω. Simeon is indeed prepared now to die in peace, according to the Lord’s Word. But even more, because of the Advent of the Lord’s Christ, Simeon has been set free from sin, death, and the power of the devil. He has been “set free” to serve the Lord without fear, holy and righteous in His sight all the days of his life. He has been “set free” to keep the Law, the strive after it, to try. For now, in Christ, the Light to the Gentiles and the Glory of Israel, the Law no longer accuses and condemns him. Even as it did not condemn the Virgin Mary, yet in faith she comes to the Temple according to the Law of the Lord.
It is no different for you, beloved. For Mary’s Child, brought to the Temple on His fortieth day, according to what is said in the Law of Lord, is Himself the Lamb of God who will be offered up in sacrifice according to the Word and will of the Lord. He has opened heaven to us by the shedding of His own precious blood and by His innocent suffering and death. He has undertaken a great and blessed exchange. He not only put on your human frame, but took upon Himself all your sin. That is, all the lies and slander, all the deceit and distrust. Christ became the disloyal spouse, the bratty child, the lustful adolescent. St Simeon holds in his arms the One who holds the weight of the world’s sin.
And yet, he is not overcome. Simeon is not burdened down. And neither are you. For in this blessed exchange our Lord has given you His righteousness and life, His consolation and redemption, His peace and hope and joy and love, His promises and obedience under the Law.
And He bestows them upon you here in His Supper. In the Sacrament of the Altar. The self-same Child Child held by Simeon in the Temple is placed into your hands and your mouths, as He beholds you in favor and makes your body His Temple by His Spirit. Like Simeon, the Lord has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. In Him you cry, “Abba! Father!” As He promises that you shall not see death, for you have beheld the Lord’s Christ, in the preaching of His Word. In a sermon, like Mary and Joseph. And marvel at the Child.
So it is that you depart from this Altar, this Table, singing, “Now, set free Your servant, Master.” For God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. You, beloved, are set free from living under the Law, from living under its crushing weight and accusing burdens. You are redeemed and set at liberty, made children, sons and heirs of your Father in heaven by virtue of faith in His Son and Mary’s Son.
If then a son, how ought you to live before your dear Father in heaven? The prophet Isaiah tells you even as he proclaims the Word of the Righteous Branch: His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His loins. Like the Decalogue, these statements describe Christ, the fulfillment of the Law, as you heard in the Epistle. But also like the Decalogue, the Law which is fulfilled in Christ and no longer condemns you according to faith, serves as a guide to the Christian.
You are dressed up in the clothing of your Righteous Brother, Jesus Christ. The Father sees you as He sees His own Son. An heir. You live within His House by the cause of His grace and mercy, but you live in His House according to His Ten Words. The Gospel sets you free from the Law to live in the Law. Not to be legalists. Nor to be Pharisees. The Law continues to condemn and crush both of these natural inclinations of our hearts. But in the joy of sins forgiven and the peace of reconciliation brought about by the blood of the Lamb, you delight in the Law of the Lord. For He has given you His Spirit and you love the things He loves.
Thus do we praise the good works of Anna. For they are done in faith. And she is, as with all the saints, a godly example to us of a life lived in faith toward God and in fervent love toward one another. Anna was a godly virgin, a godly wife, a godly widow. In all three roles she exercised her fitting works in faith and fear of God. Let every Christian do likewise, attend to his calling, and do in faith what is committed to him. This is how one grows in the wisdom and stature of the Lord. This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who has opened heaven again to give us His own Son.
Merry Christmas, dear friends.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
“Let us all together praise our God before His glorious throne; today He opens heav’n again to give us His own Son, to give us His own Son” (LSB 389:1). We who have celebrated with one accord the great Feast of the Nativity of our Lord continue, this blessed week, to rejoice at such a wondrous and majestic gift from the Father, who in the fullness of time, sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law - that is, to redeem us, who were languishing in sin, death, and darkness, under the condemnation of the Law - so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Today is the seventh day of Christmas, tomorrow we shall celebrate the Circumcision and Name of Jesus on the eighth day, but the Gospel assigned for today takes us to the fortieth day after our Lord’s birth, when He and His Virgin Mother came [to the Temple] for their purification according to the Law of Moses. St Mary comes for her purification. The Child is brought in fulfillment of the Lord’s word to Moses: “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is Mine,” says the Lord (Ex 13:2).
But why do Mary and Joseph do this? We do they come to the Temple for her purification? She was and remained a virgin during her miraculous conception and after her no-less-miraculous birth. And her Child, the Christ, is the Holy One of Israel, set apart by His Father from the moment of His conception by the Holy Spirit. He is the Holy Lord. So, then, why do they come?
There is a pop-Christian Christmas song (though it can hardly be classified as such) which has made its rounds, even in Lutheran circles. Its called, “Mary Did You Know?” It is a series of questions posed to the Virgin Mother wondering if she knew her various things about her soon-to-be-born Son and Messiah. Seventeen questions ranging from if she knew that her baby was God Himself to questions about His miracles. Like most pop-Christian songs, it repeats the chorus a bunch of times, emotively wondering, “Mary did you know?”
Yes! Mary knew! Unlike this unBiblical song, the Scriptural evidence bears out quite clearly that St Mary knew. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His Name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God.” (Lk 1:30-32). The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy - the Son of God (Lk 1:35).
Yep, Mary knew that her baby Boy was God Himself. And she has given us an even better Christmas song, one which she herself sang: My soul, magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior (Lk 1:46). Its helpful at times to check your favorite songs and books and movies, even your personal beliefs, against the evidence of Scripture and the scope of the Christian worldview.
But we’re not just picking on Christmas ditties. The point is this: St Mary knew, and yet she and St Joseph brought the Child to the Temple according to what is said in the Law of the Lord. For this is what faith does: it rejoices at the gracious gift of the Lord Most High, the gift of salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ, lives trusting in His promise of the forgiveness of sins and in obedience, delights in the Law of the Lord, all the while seeking to act according to it. One Lutheran theologian put it this way: “Faith allows the fulfillment of the Decalogue. Or simply stated, the believer is justified so that one might fulfill the law” (A Case for Character, Kindle loc 1630).
In faithful piety Mary and Joseph bring the Child to the Temple where they encounter another pious and faithful man and woman: Simeon and Anna. These two Old Testament saints are anxiously awaiting the consolation of Israel, the redemption of Jerusalem, the revealing of the Messiah. Much like Christians today, Simeon and Anna are out of place and time. They are oddities among their people. The temple-goers laugh them off as drunks or weirdoes. Just like folks do to Peter and the Twelve at Pentecost. Just like folks do to you for your faithful observance of Christmas, for your steadfast confession and Christian virtue.
For to the eyes of the world the Holy Family looks like just another poor, Jewish couple coming to perform their vows. They can’t afford a lamb, so they offer the appropriate substitute, two pigeons. But with the eyes of faith, Simeon, by the grace and Spirit of God, is able to behold in this forty-day-old Baby, the salvation of the Lord. This patriarch steps up, we presume him to be old, though it isn’t clear, “and with penetrating clarity of discernment, recognizes and praises this Child as the Savior and Light of the World. All emperors, kings, and rulers are mere darkness, but this Child is the Light of the World. All the world is subjugated under death and damnation, but through this Child the world will obtain salvation. This Child, in short, is the One whom the prophets foretold” (Luther, House Postils, vol 1 p154-55).
And it is his beautifully crafted sermon that causes the Child’s mother and father to marvel at what was said about Him. Consider the words of Simeon, this Biblical canticle we call the Nunc Dimittis, which you sing and pray after you have received the Body and Blood of the Holy Child in the Sacrament of the Altar. He says and you sing, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word.” We have even adopted a line from this canticle in the dismissal from the Table: “Depart in peace.”
But the word used for “depart,” is not what you might expect. The word used elsewhere in the Gospels for “depart” as referring to death - and this is clearly referring to death - is εχοδυς. But here that’s not the word. The word is απολυεις. Now set free Your servant, Master, according to Your Word. The translation is fine and the intent is correct. Let you’re servant die in peace. That’s what you’re saying when you leave the Altar after having receive the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. “Lord, I am prepared to die in peace according to Your Word. For I have received all that is necessary for salvation.”
But απολυεις doesn’t mean only mean “die” or “depart.” It means release or set free. Its the word all the Gospels use to describe Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but is forced to release Barabbas instead. Απολυω. Simeon is indeed prepared now to die in peace, according to the Lord’s Word. But even more, because of the Advent of the Lord’s Christ, Simeon has been set free from sin, death, and the power of the devil. He has been “set free” to serve the Lord without fear, holy and righteous in His sight all the days of his life. He has been “set free” to keep the Law, the strive after it, to try. For now, in Christ, the Light to the Gentiles and the Glory of Israel, the Law no longer accuses and condemns him. Even as it did not condemn the Virgin Mary, yet in faith she comes to the Temple according to the Law of the Lord.
It is no different for you, beloved. For Mary’s Child, brought to the Temple on His fortieth day, according to what is said in the Law of Lord, is Himself the Lamb of God who will be offered up in sacrifice according to the Word and will of the Lord. He has opened heaven to us by the shedding of His own precious blood and by His innocent suffering and death. He has undertaken a great and blessed exchange. He not only put on your human frame, but took upon Himself all your sin. That is, all the lies and slander, all the deceit and distrust. Christ became the disloyal spouse, the bratty child, the lustful adolescent. St Simeon holds in his arms the One who holds the weight of the world’s sin.
And yet, he is not overcome. Simeon is not burdened down. And neither are you. For in this blessed exchange our Lord has given you His righteousness and life, His consolation and redemption, His peace and hope and joy and love, His promises and obedience under the Law.
And He bestows them upon you here in His Supper. In the Sacrament of the Altar. The self-same Child Child held by Simeon in the Temple is placed into your hands and your mouths, as He beholds you in favor and makes your body His Temple by His Spirit. Like Simeon, the Lord has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. In Him you cry, “Abba! Father!” As He promises that you shall not see death, for you have beheld the Lord’s Christ, in the preaching of His Word. In a sermon, like Mary and Joseph. And marvel at the Child.
So it is that you depart from this Altar, this Table, singing, “Now, set free Your servant, Master.” For God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. You, beloved, are set free from living under the Law, from living under its crushing weight and accusing burdens. You are redeemed and set at liberty, made children, sons and heirs of your Father in heaven by virtue of faith in His Son and Mary’s Son.
If then a son, how ought you to live before your dear Father in heaven? The prophet Isaiah tells you even as he proclaims the Word of the Righteous Branch: His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His loins. Like the Decalogue, these statements describe Christ, the fulfillment of the Law, as you heard in the Epistle. But also like the Decalogue, the Law which is fulfilled in Christ and no longer condemns you according to faith, serves as a guide to the Christian.
You are dressed up in the clothing of your Righteous Brother, Jesus Christ. The Father sees you as He sees His own Son. An heir. You live within His House by the cause of His grace and mercy, but you live in His House according to His Ten Words. The Gospel sets you free from the Law to live in the Law. Not to be legalists. Nor to be Pharisees. The Law continues to condemn and crush both of these natural inclinations of our hearts. But in the joy of sins forgiven and the peace of reconciliation brought about by the blood of the Lamb, you delight in the Law of the Lord. For He has given you His Spirit and you love the things He loves.
Thus do we praise the good works of Anna. For they are done in faith. And she is, as with all the saints, a godly example to us of a life lived in faith toward God and in fervent love toward one another. Anna was a godly virgin, a godly wife, a godly widow. In all three roles she exercised her fitting works in faith and fear of God. Let every Christian do likewise, attend to his calling, and do in faith what is committed to him. This is how one grows in the wisdom and stature of the Lord. This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who has opened heaven again to give us His own Son.
Merry Christmas, dear friends.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
RSS Feed