Bible Passage: Luke 2:28-32
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: December 31, 2023

Bulletin December 31, 2023

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

Do you have a “bucket list”?  You know what a “bucket list” is, right?  A “bucket list” are those things a person wants to do before they “kick the bucket.”  Maybe on a person’s list would be seeing a Packers’ game at Lambeau Field or going skydiving or seeing the Grand Canyon.

It’s one thing to make your own bucket list.  It is quite another when God makes your bucket list for you.  What I am getting at is what the Lord God did with the man in our text.  The man is Simeon.  And the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he was not going to die until he had seen the Messiah God was going to send into the world.  Simeon wasn’t going to “kick the bucket” until he saw Jesus!

And that is what is happening in our text.  The Lord, as always, is good to his Word.  Simeon sees the Christ, the Messiah.  And he praises God in the words that are our text.  Simeon’s song of praise has become beloved in the Church.  It is even preserved in the liturgy of the gathered, worshiping Church.  Simeon’s song is short and sweet.  It pretty much sums up Christmas:  Jesus came in flesh so we can depart in peace.

It has been forty days since Jesus was born.  The time for Mary’s purification following childbirth as detailed in God’s Law is now complete.  Now, as required by that Law, Mary and Joseph have made the trip to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer the sacrifices of purification.  They have brought the “sacrifice of the poor.”  Two turtledoves or two pigeons.

While Mary and Joseph are making their way across the Temple courtyard, the Holy Spirit moves Simeon, and he intercepts them.  Pay attention to what Simeon does.  We are told, Simeon took him into his arms. (v. 28)  This may seem insignificant, but it is not!  Jesus was a real little “bundle of joy.”  Jesus was a real little “bundle” of flesh Simeon held.

We say that because in the early history of the Church there was a heresy that arose called docetism.  “Docetism” taught that Jesus just “seemed” to be a human being.  The Son of God didn’t really have flesh and blood.  It seemed like he had a body, but he really had a “phantom” body.

You know, very early in the history of the Church the apostle John warned Christians to beware of those who denied that the Son of God came in flesh.  He wrote in his first letter:  Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God:  Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. (1 John 4:1-3)  The devil attacks the truth of the incarnation of the Son of God.  If the Son of God was not real, he was just a “ghost.”  And a ghost cannot shed blood.  A ghost cannot die.  A ghost cannot rise bodily from the dead because it has no body.  In short, a phantom Savior is no Savior.  And that’s the “savior” the devil wants you to believe in!

Because the devil knows the ramifications of a real, flesh and blood Savior!  This is spelled out beautifully in Hebrews 2.  There it is written, Since the children have flesh and blood, he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity 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. (Hebrews 2:14)

Simeon held the flesh and blood Savior in his arms!  And he was free from his fear of death!  Lord, you now dismiss your servant in peace, according to your word, because my eyes have seen your salvation. (v. 29-30)   Simeon could die in peace.  His eyes were looking at, his arms were wrapped around, salvation.  Rescue from sin and death.  A salvation so big it is for all people!  He was at peace.

Friends, what is about death that is so unsettling to people?  Is not part of it that people know that when they die they are going to meet God?  And people are afraid to meet God!  But in the flesh and blood Jesus, we have already met God.   And in Jesus we meet him as Savior.  This gentle Savior meets us in baptism, and he gives us forgiveness!  This flesh and blood Savior meets us in the Lord’s Supper and gives us his flesh and blood for forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation!  This Savior meets us at the cross and at the empty grave.  He meets us in mercy and grace!  We have already met God in Christ.   We can depart in peace!

Death also frightens people because of the fear of the unknown.  Many have no idea what will happen in death.  But in Jesus, we know!  We know that in the moment of death, our soul will go to be with Jesus in heaven.  We know this because we know that the person Simeon held shed his holy blood to purchase forever our bodies and our souls.  The moment of death is not an unknown to you and me.  Our soul goes to be with Jesus!  So we can depart in peace.

Death also frightens people because the casket and the grave are just, plain scary.  But we know that Jesus rose bodily from the dead, and this is the proof and guarantee that we will rise bodily from the dead too.  The casket and the grave need not frighten us any longer!  They are temporary!  They are defeated!  We can depart in peace!

I don’t know if you have a “bucket list,” but I do know this.  I know that when you hold Christ in your heart through faith, you can “kick the bucket” in peace.  For Jesus came in flesh so we can depart in peace.

Amen.