27 December, 1998
INTRODUCTION
Most of us would probably like to have an idea what our children will be when they grow up. As scary as it might be in knowing the future of our children, there is probably something within most of us that would like to know their destiny.
And what about their career? Will he be a doctor? A lawyer? The president of a corporation? Will she be a full-time Christian worker? A missionary? What will our children be when they grow up? What is their destiny?
Background
Mary had already heard quite a few things about the child to whom she had just given birth. She had been told that "he would be great and would be called the Son of the Most High." She had been told that "the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever." She had been told that "His kingdom will never end." Joseph had been told He would "save His people from their sin." All of which. I am sure, raised a lot of questions in both of their minds.
But what Mary and Joseph heard from Simeon must have really set them to thinking because what they heard from this old priest was quite different from what they had heard so far. The words that Simeon spoke to Mary and Joseph on the day they dedicated Jesus in the temple told them that their son would have a very glamorous life. He would not become a doctor or a lawyer (even though He would heal people and stand in their defense). He would not become a business man (even though He would be the leader of a great movement). He would not make a lot of money (as a matter of fact, He would spend several years of His life homeless). The destiny of their child would not seem all that great. But whether they realized it or not, this child that Mary was holding in her arms would have a major impact on the world that He would live in. He would literally turn His world upside down and inside out.
And when it was all said and done, He would not be forgotten. To some, the impact He would have would be negative - but to others, to many others, because of Him, they would never be the same.
The fate and destiny of the Messiah that Simeon spoke of is as real today as it was when Mary saw it unfolding before her eyes. What Simeon spoke of the destiny of the Christ-child continues to be true of Him now.
The first thing that Simeon tells us as he did Mary and Joseph is that...
1. Christ is The Cause of Many to Fall
The word fall as it is used here in this text basically means "downfall or collapse." It is the same word that is used in the parable of the house built by the wise man and the foolish man. In that parable, it was the foolish man's house that was built on the sand that collapsed or fell with a great crash. And it is used here in this text referring to the fate of those to whom Christ was an offense.
The Prophet Isaiah had said long before Jesus entered this world, when he prophesied of His coming in Isaiah 8:14-15, "he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured."
And those words were certainly fulfilled. There were a lot of people who just could not understand where Jesus was coming from. They could not understand or accept His teaching. His teaching was hard - it called for things like, sacrifice, self-denial, child-like faith, forgiving those who offend you..... His teaching was so hard that it is recorded that many of His followers abandoned Him. There were so many who could not accept His teaching. It called for a lot of things that many could not accept. And because of who He was and what He taught, He was rejected and in that way, Jesus was the cause of the falling of many. Peter refers to Him and "a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." (1 Peter 2:8)
Why did people stumble and fall in the days of Jesus?
Times are really not that much different today. There are so many who have heard the truth - they have been confronted with the message and that message has been offensive. They have been confronted with the decision to follow Jesus - and yet they have chosen to go their own way. They have chosen not to take Christ at His Word and the end result has been their own moral and spiritual collapse. When men and women build their lives on the principles and philosophies of this world and as a result, they will not stand. It happened to the house of the foolish man that Jesus spoke of in Matthew chapter 7 and it will happen to anyone who refuses to accept and embrace the claims of Christ.
William Barclay says this about this declaration of Jesus: "This is a strange and hard saying but it is true. It is not so much God who judges a man: a man judges himself; and his judgment is his reaction to Jesus Christ. If, when he is confronted with that goodness and that loveliness, his heart runs out in answering love, he is within the Kingdom. If, when so confronted, he remains coldly unmoved and actively hostile, he is condemned. There is a great refusal just as there is a great acceptance." (William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series, The Gospel of Luke, p. 26)
When we reject the truth that can change our lives, as so many did in the days of Jesus, we will only experience the collapse that Simeon spoke of. Jesus and His apostles presented the truth of the gospel and it did not set well with so many people. It was literally offensive to them - just like it is today. It turned them off - it turned them away - it made them angry - and they rejected it. The moral failure and ruin of the people of this world comes from the fact that the gospel is so offensive to some that it has been rejected.
In this way, Jesus would cause the falling of many - He would be a stumbling block. His gospel would be and still is a stumbling block to many - it would be and still is offensive. And it would be that truth that offends that would cause many to stumble and fall and collapse.
Simeon also tells us that....
2. Christ is the Source of Salvation
I know this is a theme that as been mentioned over and over again this Christmas season but it is certainly worth mentioning again - because this is the over-arching theme of the coming of Christ.
Even though many could not accept His teaching because of the offense of the gospel, there were many others who realized that they had no choice but follow Him. Many would realize, as Peter did, that His words were the words of eternal life. Many would realize that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that in Him was the light of life, and that life was the light of men.
It is interesting that the word that is translated rising in Simeon's declaration is the word anastasi, which literally means resurrection. As one person has said, "Jesus did not come to make bad people good, He came to make dead people live." He came to give life. Paul makes the declaration in Ephesians, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins...But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-- it is by grace you have been saved. (Eph 2:1, 4-5 NIV)
This little baby that Mary held in her arms came to bring light and life to a people who were dead in their transgressions. He came to raise those to life that had been walking in the shadow of death and darkness. It was His destiny to die on the cross "so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." (Heb 2:14-15 NIV)
J. Sidlow Baxter writes, "Separate Christmas Day from Good Friday, and Christmas is doomed--doomed to decay into a merely sentimental or superstitious or sensuous 'eat-drink-and-be-merry' festivity of December. Bethlehem and Golgotha, the Manger and the Cross, the birth and the death, must always be seen together, if the real Christmas is to survive with all its profound inspirations; for "the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; and to give His life a ransom for many." (J. Sidlow Baxter in Awake, My Heart)
You may be one of those to whom Jesus has given life. At one time you had no idea what life was all about until you came to know the Giver of life. At one time, you dreaded the thought of life beyond the grave but since you came to know the One who conquered death, life beyond the grave is your ultimate goal. If you are now alive in Christ, it is because He has raised you up unto life.
The third thing that Simeon tells us is that...
3. Christ Is the Object of Much Opposition
From the day that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He was the object of serious opposition. Out of extreme jealousy and a sense of being threatened, King Herod destroyed who knows how many little boys in Bethlehem in an attempt to destroy the One who would be the King of the Jews. And from that time on, until He was nailed to a tree, Jesus was the object of much opposition. His message was opposed and contradicted and His mission, purpose and intent was called in to question. He was accused and threatened - He was ridiculed and rejected. And in the end, He was unjustly arrested, tortured and murdered.
Luke tells us two things about the opposition that Christ experienced.
a. It would be an opposition that would reveal the heart of man.
Luke tells us that it would be in their opposing Him that the thoughts of their hearts were revealed. In their opposing Him, it would be obvious what they truly thought about and felt about Jesus.
When a man or woman is confronted with the claims and truths of Christ and is confronted with the decision to follow Jesus or not, it is going to be pretty obvious how that person feels about Him. When we are face to face with the question of following Christ or not, our heart and attitude toward Him will be revealed.
b. It would be an opposition that would be painful to those who are devoted to Him.
Simeon is specifically referring to the pain and suffering that Mary would experience as she watched Jesus being mistreated and murdered. He tells Mary that her own soul will be wounded with the reproaches and indignities that would be hurled at her son. He tells her that the grief she will experience will be like a sword piercing her own soul.
But I wonder if the same isn't true of others who followed Jesus in those days. Certainly it was extremely painful for the disciples to see their Lord and Master being crucified. Even though all of them deserted Him on that night, certainly their hearts were wounded as they saw Him hanging on the cross.
And what about you and me as followers of Christ. Does it do anything to us when we see Him rejected - when we hear His name taken in vain. Does it do anything to us to see how the world continues to be hostile towards His kingdom. And what about when we see His followers abused and persecuted because of their loyalty to Him.
Christ is certainly the object of much oppostion even as His church is opposed. He has been opposed since the day He set foot on this earth. And it is an opposition that is seen most vividly in the way the people of western society oppose His church and everything that is associated with Him and His church. When they oppose you and I as followers of Christm they are in essence, opposing Him. They will try and keep the work of the kingdom from advancing in any way they can. They will stand up against Christ and His church any way they can. And that opposition will reveal the heart of man towards Him and it will be painful to those who are devoted to Him.
But let it be very clear. All of the opposition will not stop His kingdom from being built. They can take prayer out of school - they can keep government offices from displaying Christian symbols - they can throw us in prison - they do what they will. As much opposition as Christ experienced on this earth, nothing could stop Him from accomplishing His purpose. And as much as the world rises against Christianity today, God's kingdom will come and His will will be done.
Conclusion
So let me ask you, what or who is Jesus to you?
This little child that Mary was holding in her arms - this One whose birth we celebrate, lived a life that many of us might not choose to live and a life that we would probably not choose for our own children, But if He had not come to live the life He was sent to live and die the death He was sent to die, we would have no hope beyond the grave. Let's not take that for granted.