“And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
- Luke 2:38
By most accounts, Jesus as a baby and a child was fairly unremarkable. With purely human standpoints, He appeared just like any other. However, this is not the case for those whom God decided to reveal just who this child is. Throughout Luke 2, we see it took the speaking of Angels and the inner working of the Holy Spirit to make known the Good News of the birth of the savior! In our selected verse, we read about a prophetess named Anna. She’s incredibly old but in all her life has lived set apart for God. Spending every day and night in the temple full of worship! When Anna came upon the baby Jesus being presented in the temple, the Holy Spirit goes to work through her, announcing by her mouth the Good News for those who have been waiting for the redeeming of Jerusalem!
Luke 2 sets out to reveal to us just who this Jesus is, and God does so through both supernatural and ordinary ways.
Thy Savior:
On the silent night in which Jesus was born, things became not-so-silent. Nearby in the fields were shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks of sheep and goats while they slept. All of a sudden, these ordinary shepherds experienced the supernatural! An angel appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them! I imagine this was a lot like Moses encountering God on Mt. Sinai and coming down with his face glowing, to the point it terrified the people of Israel. It is no wonder the shepherds would be afraid because, in their minds, they are in God’s direct presence!
The angel though is not here for judgment, but to be the first evangelist on the very night of Christ’s birth. The angel announces in verse 11,
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Thy Savior is born this day! Not announced to kings, or the religious elite, but like David himself experiencing a close relationship with God, these lowly shepherds are the ones first told of the Savior! In the midst of this, the sky opens up with an army of angels erupting in a glorious song of praise. Not-so-silent of a night…
These shepherds leave their post to search after their Savior, laying in a food trough. They search throughout the town, in every version of a stable they can find, and they stumble upon Joseph, Mary, and their Savior. They share with those present what the angels have said about this baby, and in doing so they become the second evangelist, declaring, “Thy Savior is born in this very stable.” Others there were amazed, but Mary, knew this to be true and thus treasured this Gospel in her heart. Nestling her newborn son on this not-so-silent night.
Thy Light and Glory:
A little while later, the time came for an important Purification Ceremony, which helps purify Mary after giving birth, but further helps set apart the firstborn sons as holy before God. To do this Joseph, Mary, and Jesus (still but a baby) went to the temple in Jerusalem. While there, they are met by a man named Simeon. Simeon has been righteous and lived his life for God, so closely that God promised this man that he would see Christ before he would die. No doubt, some people probably thought Simeon was just crazy when he would say such things. Yet, as this chosen family enters the temple the Holy Spirit flows through Simeon and erupts out as worship! He declares that his eyes have seen salvation and in verse 32,
“… a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
This may seem like two separate things, but Israel was always meant to be a light for the world. That the world might be drawn to God through the way that Israel lived. Yet failure ensued throughout Israel’s history. Jesus comes as this little baby to be a beacon to all the world! God in flesh to draw the world into Himself as their Savior! Thus accomplishing the purposes of Israel, becoming their glory whether they realize it or not. The shepherds saw it… Simeon saw it… and Anna announces it, becoming the 3rd evangelist.
The Son of God:
There is one last story to touch on in Luke 2. Flash forward about 12 years, and Jesus and his family are in Jerusalem for the Passover. At the end of Passover, His family leaves for Nazareth, but Jesus stays behind. It took a day of travel for Joseph and Mary to fully realize Jesus isn’t with their traveling party. So they take another day to get back to Jerusalem, and another 3 days to find Him. They find Jesus in the temple. I imagine sitting on some stair steps or a ledge, surrounded by various teachers and priests. In the universal tone of mothers throughout history, Mary asks, “where have you been, you have made us worried sick?” But Jesus responds as the Son of God in verse 49,
“Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
Final Blessing:
Sometimes we read these as simply cute stories from Jesus’ childhood. I still think they are very cute and maybe even funny at points, yet there is a greater significance Luke is pointing out to his reader. Jesus is thy Savior. Jesus is thy Light and Glory. Jesus is the Son of God. This child is the fulfillment of what Israel has longed centuries for. He is the answer that Gentiles didn’t yet know they needed. He came to do His Father’s will on Earth, and bring us to His Father’s house. He is thy Savior, He is thine.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breath, and every heartbeat of your journey.
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