Presentation! (Luke 2:21-38)

And Mary now go back to the parentheses. This is directly to her. Mary, a sword will pierce through your own soul also. This isn't a little sword used in hand to hand combat. This is a reference to a sword and just think Goliath's sword. Okay? It's a big one. It's gonna rip you up, Mary. It's gonna tear you up. His life will bring you great pain. [00:21:46] (25 seconds)  #SwordToTheSoul

Ask the average person what happened next, and you might be greeted with a blank stare and, well, I I don't know. I've I've never gotten much further than that. Frankly, for the world at large, that's really where they'd rather stay. It's it's a lot safer to keep Jesus in that manger. Let's not let him grow up. Certainly, turn in to be the soon coming judge of the world. Let's keep him as a cute little baby. [00:01:41] (29 seconds)  #JesusMoreThanAManger

Here you have this poor couple, this scene. But yet again, it's it's marked with such wonderful irony. As Mary and Joseph are watching the smoke from these two birds ascend to heaven, bringing about ceremonial cleanliness. They're standing there by the closest gate to the sanctuary just outside the court of the women and they're watching this and and although they're too poor to buy a sacrificial lamb, I wonder if that occurred to them they're holding one. They're holding the sacrificial lamb, the final sacrifice. [00:13:18] (36 seconds)  #LambOfGodPresent

Well, remember, Luke is writing a Gentile aristocrat and he's telling them Jesus was born for you, for the Gentile world. He's born as a, notice, a a light for revelation. What's he gonna do? He's gonna turn on the light. Is the world dark? Absolutely. Was it dark then? You better believe it. Is it dark now? You bet. Well, what do we do? How about turning on a light? We we can gather. We can curse the darkness. Oh, how bad, how terrible. We're here to show the world the light. And this is what he's come to do, turn on the light. [00:20:08] (42 seconds)  #LightForTheGentiles

This is going to induct Jesus into the covenant family of Abraham. This is going to to bring him into the national family of Israel. These are the credentials that are very important if he is to meet the qualifications of the law. By the way, this is really not a small thing here, this circumcision. This is really a statement of faith by Mary and Joseph. [00:04:18] (23 seconds)  #BornIntoTheCovenant

By the way, this is remarkable insight into the wisdom of God as it relates to the law of God. And even though we're not under this covenant law, there are still insights gleaned from how God designed things that were wise to respect. This would give this newborn mother time to heal, time to adapt, time to bond with her newborn, time to figure out so many new things. [00:08:54] (28 seconds)  #TimeToHealAndBond

But he's he's he's really preparing Mary, I think uniquely even as a mother for this incredibly difficult life. Listen, your baby is the Messiah, but let me tell you what that means to you. It's gonna be a sword that's just gonna cut into your life and bring great sorrow. This was tremendously helpful. I'm sure she thought of it often over the years as she suffered uniquely. [00:22:27] (27 seconds)  #MessiahBringsSorrow

So every day, Simon is wondering, is this the day? Every time he sees, you know, a little little boy run across the temple plaza, he wonders if I wonder if that's the one. Every time he sees a couple bringing in a child, I wonder I wonder if that's the one. Every time he sees some young Jewish man striding into the temple, I wonder if he's the one. [00:17:37] (22 seconds)  #WaitingAndWatching