The Lord is With You {Week 6}
A Study of Luke 1 & 2
The Lord is with you, and He has given us salvation!
Today we enter our last week studying the Christmas story. What a joy it has been to study this beautiful story alongside friends! Today we will visit scriptures that share with us what happened in the days after Jesus was born. We will see God’s provision for His Son and the precious family that would raise Him. We will see people marvel at Jesus. And we will see Mary and Joseph continue to treasure their time with this precious baby boy.
TRUTH #1: Jesus IS the Lamb of sacrifice for all of us who cannot afford our own — {Luke 2:21–24}
In the days after Jesus was born, we see Mary and Joseph following the laws outlined in the Old Testament surrounding having a new baby/a firstborn baby boy.
We see in Leviticus 12 that new baby boys were to be circumcized on the 8th day of life and new moms and dads would visit the temple after 33 days to present sacrifices for this new baby. Normally, the sacrifice for a new baby was to be a lamb but God provided a less expensive sacrifice for those who were poor, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
After 8 days, Mary and Joseph had their baby circumcized and gave Him the name Jesus, just as the angel had said. Then, according to the law, they brought their sacrifice when the purification days were completed. We see in Luke 2:24 that Mary and Joseph sacrificed “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” which once again drives home the truth that God chose to send His son into this lowly world, entrusting Him to the poor and lowly.
There is also another beautiful truth we see in this passage: Jesus is the lamb. Mary and Joseph did not need to bring an animal lamb to the temple, as they were going with the Lamb of God.
Matthew 5 contains the beautiful Sermon on the Mount which starts with the Beatitudes. In verse 3, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
Part of being poor in spirit is seeing ourselves rightly. To inherit the kingdom of heaven we must realize that, spiritually speaking, we cannot afford our own lamb, our own sacrifice — there is nothing we can do to pay the penalty for our sin. When we realize how poor we are within our own selves we realize how much we need Jesus. When we realize how much we need Jesus and accept Him as our own we take on His inheritance — heaven itself.
Before you go…
- Is Jesus your Lamb, your Sacrifice? Or are you trusting yourself and what you have done?
- Take time to “preach the gospel to yourself” this week, marveling at the gospel’s work in your own life.
Jesus is the Lamb of sacrifice that we cannot afford.
TRUTH #2: We, like Simeon, go everywhere we go “in the Spirit” — {Luke 2:25–28}
We find in our passage that Simeon was a godly man who had the Holy Spirit upon him. When I first read the phrase “came in the Spirit,” I admittedly pictured some mystical entrance of this man into the temple. Like, was he physically in the temple or was he a ghost? But further examination of the text leads me to believe he just walked on into the temple but the Holy Spirit was inside of him. How else could he have reached out and physically held the Baby who was Jesus the Messiah?
Stop for a minute and think …
- For the Holy Spirit to be abiding in someone was so noteworthy that this writer pointed it out
- Now that God has given the Holy Spirit to the church, all of us who are Christians have the Holy Spirit inside of us all the time — we are sealed with Him forever
- Imagine if you narrated your own day, I’ll do it to my own: Ellen came in the Spirit to church on Sunday, carried the Spirit into the grocery store that afternoon, walked in the Spirit as she mothered her children the next day, ministered in the Spirit when a friend called while feeling upset. For those who are Christians, this is exactly how our every step of life is lived — in the Spirit.
- What did walking “in the Spirit” lead Simeon to do? {see verse 28} It led him to bless God!
- How does having the Holy Spirit inside you change your day-to-day life and choices?
Simeon blessed God and prophesied about Jesus and the life He would live.
Simeon also gave a prophetic word to Mary in verse 35:
“and a sword will pierce even your own soul — to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
Mary was told that she would be a bereaved mother. Is there any grief that compares to losing a child? A sword piercing your own soul is quite a fitting picture. I have known no pain like when I lost babies to miscarriage and I am not sure I know a fear greater to that of losing one of my children. But Mary’s pain would provide our salvation. The piercing of her soul would bring forth the salvation of God’s people.
Before you go…
- How differently would you live your life truly understanding that the Holy Spirit lives in you — that everywhere you go you are “in the Spirit?”
Walking in the Spirit led Simeon to bless God
TRUTH #3: God Provides — {Matthew 2}
In our passage, we see God providing in so many ways — today I want to focus in on three specific ways we see God providing.
- Confirmation — Luke 2:33, Matthew 2
Through the questions that inevitably were popping up in this new couple’s heads, God provided people to confirm His goodness and His plan. God sent an angel to visit Mary and Joseph individually. God sent Zacharias and Elizabeth as friends and mentors. God provided shepherds to worship this new baby. God provided Simeon and Anna at the temple to confirm that Jesus was the Lamb. God sent wise men to bring gifts and worship the new King. God continued to send an angel to Joseph in his dreams.
Mary and Joseph were amazed at the things that were being said about Jesus (Luke 2:33). I imagine these poor, young, new parents just watching Jesus’ life unfold and seeing God provide confirmation after confirmation that they were still in His will and that this Son of theirs was special.
We also see confirmation as God shaped their lives and prophesies were fulfilled. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, fled to Egypt, rescued from Herod’s edict, and taken to Nazareth, fulfilling prophesies from across the Old Testament.
God provides us confirmation in this life as well. He is so faithful to confirm His will and presence to us, especially in the tough times. It is OK to pray for this confirmation.
2. Financially — Matthew 2:11
We saw in Luke 2 that Mary and Joseph were most likely poor and any of us who have kids know that raising them is so expensive. The Wise Men brought gifts to provide for Jesus’ physical needs. They also brought gifts that would symbolize His kingship, deity, death, and burial.
Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Gold, to symbolize kingship on this earth. Frankincense, to symbolize deity. Myrrh, to symbolize death.
God provided more than enough financial resource in these gifts to miraculously provide for the needs of His Son while on this earth. God is so faithful to provide.
3. Protection — Matthew 2:12–13, 20–22
We repeatedly see God providing protection for Joseph and Mary as He sent angels to warn them of coming dangers. God also protected the Wise Men from Herod’s wrath.
I cannot imagine living on the run with a new baby as Mary did, but God protected her and her new little family as the town was ravaged by an angry king.
Before you go…
- Take some time to think about how God has provided for you this year. Where did He provide confirmation for you? Financial provision? Protection? Take time to journal about these things.
It has been a joy studying the Christmas story with you! I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
