27 December 2020
Text: Luke 2:22-40, Gal 4:1-7
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
The coming of Jesus had been foretold by prophets, and had been predicted by the Scriptures for four thousand years of human history. And as the centuries rolled by, God revealed more and more about how His divine plan would unfold. We learned not only details, like His descent from the tribe of Judah and from the kingly line of David, and His birth in Bethlehem of a virgin mother, but also the big picture: why God was coming into space and time, and taking on human flesh.
Jesus is leading the largest rescue mission in human history. And he is not merely saving us from enemy soldiers, or a malicious worldly ruler, not just from some dread disease, or from an assault in the middle of the night. Jesus is not just protecting our house from going up in flames, or merely preventing us from growing up in ignorance. Of course, we have all kinds of human vocations through which God works to save us from these things.
But there was one thing that God could not do through ordinary men and women: to save us from our sins. Jesus is God who broke into our sinful world, like a commando dropped behind enemy lines, to grab hold of us, to pull us out of harm’s way, and to return us to where we were meant to be. His does this by redeeming us from our sins, by the shedding of His own blood as a redemption. And this is not merely a king’s ransom, this is God’s ransom – for the cost to save us will be the physical life of God Himself. This is a great mystery, and it is not something we fully comprehend. But we do understand one thing, dear friends: love. We understand what it is when someone loves us and is willing to do anything for us. And in our lives, this is typically a parent or a spouse, though it might be a more distant relative, a friend, or even a complete stranger who risks his life to save us from some tragedy or other – even death itself.
We understand love, because even though we are broken sinners, we do experience our own imperfect love, love that is willing to sacrifice itself for the beloved. Sometimes we are the one who serves others in love, and sometimes we are the beloved. Love is what is needed to redeem us from Satan’s hatred, malice, lies, violence, and desire to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And so it was necessary for our Lord to enter into a pitched battle with the devil, and to engage in mortal combat against him. And mortal is was, dear friends. For Jesus spoke of Himself when He pointed out that the greatest love of all is a person dying to save his friends.
But like any plan, this one was laid out logistically in advance. There is strategy. There are intricate alternatives. And the mind of God was able to conceive of this plan even before the foundation of the world. All that was needed was the “fullness of time” spoken of by St. Paul, when “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were born under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” For this is what we are, dear friends, adopted sons of God, adopted by virtue of the flesh-and-blood Son of God, who redeems us and gives us this gift of adoption. And we are all sons whether we are men or women, for “son” here is a legal term, one who inherits property from the one who wills it. God wills us everything, dear friends! He wills us eternal life and all of creation that He has made for all of us, even though we foolishly rejected Him in the Garden of Eden, and we continue to do so today. This love He has for us is what grace is.
His mission is to free us from slavery, for as sinners, we are slaves of sin. But by His salvation, we are liberated, freed to be who God created us to be. And so in Christ, as St. Paul says, “You are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, an heir through God.”
And this was what was happening when the “righteous and devout” man named Simeon, whom we believe was an elderly priest who recognized the young child Jesus when His family brought Him to be presented at the temple. Simeon had received a message from God, for “the Holy Spirit was upon him.” And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that “he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”
St. Simeon was one of the final prophets of the Old Testament, an old man, a priest of the Law, who was to see the great shift from the Old Testament to the New, who was to see the young one who would fulfill the Law, by whose blood the Gospel, the good news of salvation, would be proclaimed. Simeon received a preview, and even as he awaited the “consolation of Israel,” he was indeed blessed to see the Lord’s Christ, as promised. For this Christ was not some kind of idea, not a spiritual goal for everyone to attain by meditation or spiritual formation, not a cosmic idea or life force. No indeed! This Christ was, is, and ever shall be Jesus, the second person of the Trinity who took human flesh, born of the virgin, who was crucified and risen from the dead, our Lord, our Savior, our Master, our liberator, our brother according to the flesh, and also our God!
And so salvation is not some abstract idea for us Christians, dear friends, not some kind of intellectual pondering or spiritual state. Salvation is living and breathing: flesh and bone and mind and soul. Salvation is tangible, for as Simeon took the child Jesus “up in his arms,” he “blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word, for my eyes have seen Your salvation.”
Jesus isn’t simply a person who brings salvation to us, rather Jesus is God in the flesh, who is our salvation. “For my eyes have seen Your salvation,” says St. Simeon. And we also say this with him, dear friends, for we sing Simeon’s Song, the Nunc Dimittis, after we too have seen salvation with our eyes in the Sacrament of the Altar.
We will sing along with St. Simeon again today. And these words are not only Simeon’s words, but are also God’s Word. And what’s more, they become our words. Instead of beholding Jesus as the God who is veiled in human flesh, we see Him veiled under the forms of bread and wine. But nevertheless, this is the same Christ, manifested in space and time, incarnate so that we can experience Him even in our fallen flesh. For it is here, dear friends, in the world, in the flesh, and under siege of the devil that we need Jesus: “in the presence of all peoples,” as Simeon says.
For the incarnate Lord is present in His body and blood and in His proclaimed Gospel here in this place, and at Christian altars, fonts, and pulpits around the world, spanning the centuries, from the holy prophets to the holy apostles, and even to us: His holy church, His adopted sons who together are also the bride of Christ. There is no one nation or people or race that has a claim on the faith, for as we sing with Simeon: “My eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles, and for glory for Your people Israel.”
St. Simeon’s confession of the Christ child is connected to this same Jesus who will be crucified many years after St. Simeon will “depart in peace.” Simeon prophesies to Mary that “a sword will pierce through your own soul also,” for she will witness her Son’s crucifixion, by which He will indeed save the world. This Christ will not remain a child, but will become a man, a warrior, who will lay down His life for His friends, for His brothers and sisters, and even for His enemies.
So when you have received the Holy Sacrament, dear friends, as the Lord’s presence is with you in this wondrous miracle, this mystery of faith, as you sing: “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,” think of this consolation of Israel, this long wait for your salvation to come, your liberator to release you from your slavery, this warrior who fights behind enemy lines to rescue you – and your children, your parents, your friends, and even your enemies – this salvation who is not an idea, but who is a person, God in the flesh, the baby in the manger, the sacrifice on the cross, the risen Lord, and the King of the Universe, the consolation of Israel: even Jesus Christ our Lord!
Let our celebration of Christmas continue, dear friends, and let the fulfillment of St. Simeon’s waiting be the joy of your own life – even unto eternity!
Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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