Have you heard the one about the priest who’s giving a
homily on Matthew 5:44 where Jesus tells His listeners to love their enemies?
The priest says, “I’d bet that many of us feel as if we have
enemies in our lives. Raise your hands if you have many enemies.” Instantly,
quite a few people in the congregation raise their hands. He continues, “Raise
your hands if you have only a few enemies.” About half of the people raise
their hands. Then the priest says, “Well, raise your hand if you have only one
or two enemies.” Even fewer people raise their hands. “See,” says the priest,
“most of us feel like we have enemies.
Finally the priest says, “If there is anyone here who feels
like they have no enemies at all, raise your hand.” And as the priest scans the
sanctuary he spies one old man in the back of the church. He asks him to stand
and explain himself. So the man stands up and shouts, “Yes Father, I have no
enemies at all!” Delighted, the priest immediately invites him to come to the
front of the church saying, “What a blessing!” When the man gets to the front
he asks him, “Sir, how old are you?” The man says, “I’m 98 years old. The
priest says, “You have no enemies?” The man says, “No enemies whatsoever.” The
priest says, “That’s wonderful! Then tell us how it is that you have no
enemies?” And the man says, “All those b----‘s have died!”
It’s about loving your enemies that takes center stage in
our final sermon in this 15-message series, Divine
Exposure. Though it’s tempting to go back and review all of the occasions
in history that we’ve studied where God comes and reveals Himself, I won’t. The
biblical reason is two-fold: (1) You can do that yourself; and (2) all of those
exposures including the ones the Lord gives Mary and Elizabeth, are only a prelude
to His exposure to Simeon.
Like many other preachers, I have preached on Luke 2:22-35
on several occasions over the years, but I’ve never preached it on Christmas
Sunday. What’s more, I have never preached it the way I will this Sunday, for
I’ve never seen what I now see in the text.
Luke is the only gospel writer to mention Simeon, and yet he
gives scant detail. Who is he? Is he a priest? Is he a prophet? Is he old? How
long has he been hanging around the temple? No one knows for sure. What we do
know is he is the first named person in Luke’s gospel who holds Jesus, other
than His mother. But it’s not his hands that are our focus on Sunday. It’s his
eyes. In a message entitled “The Sight” we will look into that.
In preparation for Christmas Sunday, you may wish to
consider the following:
- Why has Luke take us from the hill country house of Zechariah to Jerusalem?
- Why do Jesus’ parents bring him to the temple for purification?
- What is the significance of the sacrifice in verse 24?
- Why does Luke name Simeon?
- Can you think of any other Simeons in the Bible that may relate to this Simeon theologically?
- What does Luke mean when he says that Simeon was righteous and devout?
- What is “the consolation of Israel”?
- What does Luke mean when he says that the Holy Spirit was upon him?
- Why does Simeon say, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace”?
- How does Jesus practice what He would later preach?
