We are now on the first track of Luke
2:29-32. It is set within the
context of Jesus presented at the temple as recorded in Luke
2:21-35.
As
we have seen earlier, the Promised Messiah would be named or called even before
He was born. This credential has been
fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in Matthew
1:21. Along the way to the
culmination of the redemption plan, God openly declared Jesus of Nazareth as
His Promised Messiah, the Seed, to more and more people. It was like a crescendo leading to the big
bang of a new creation. The Light of the world was about to get brighter and
brighter.
The
following is the record of the initial revealing of Jesus of Nazareth as the Promised
Messiah:
1. Before Birth
Even before Jesus was born, the angel
Gabriel revealed the identity of the Baby as the Promised Messiah to Mary, the
biological mother. He instructed her to
name the Child Jesus. This account can
be found in Luke
1:26-35. From there,
we see the fulfilment of the Messianic credentials by Jesus of Nazareth as
written in Isaiah
9:6-7 and Daniel
2:44. It was also revealed to Joseph, the biological father, who was likewise
instructed to name Him Jesus. This is
recorded in Matthew
1:18-25 and again, we see from that passage of scriptures the
fulfilment of the Messianic credentials by Jesus of Nazareth as foretold in Isaiah
7:14.
2. As a New born
As a newly born Baby, Jesus was
identified as the Saviour by an angel of the LORD to some shepherds in the
region of Bethlehem. They then went to
the manger to see Baby Jesus and made known what have been told them about the
Child. All who heard it were astounded and wondered at what the shepherds told them. You can find the account in Luke
2:8-20 and therein see the fulfilment of the Messianic credential as
written in Micah
5:2 by Jesus of Nazareth.
3.
At 8 days old
When Jesus was 8 days old, Simeon
identified Jesus as the Saviour as prompted by the Holy Spirit. This is documented in Luke
2:25-35. According to Luke
2:25, it had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would
not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ, that is, the Messiah; the
Anointed One. It was then followed by Anna, a prophetess, who spoke
of Him to all who were looking for the redemption and deliverance of
Jerusalem. The account of this event can be found in Luke
2:36-38.
Simeon
was among the first people to whom God has revealed the Promised Messiah.
Simeon means “obedient” or “listening”
in Hebrew. The Hebrew equivalent
of Anna is channah, signifying 'grace‘.
Therefore,
obedience or listening to grace will lead to the seeing of Jesus. This is just my take.
The beloved Son of God crucified in
the flesh as Jesus of Nazareth to redeem us from destruction when we were still
treating God as our enemy is the grace of God.
Christ crucified is the unearned, unmerited, and undeserved favor of God. As stated in Romans
8:32, “Since God did not spare His
beloved Son but gave Him up for us, how shall He not also together with Him
freely and graciously give us all things?”
4.
As a Child
Later, the magi or wise men followed
the star and saw Jesus the Child as stated in Matthew
2:1-12. We can infer that the
Child Jesus was at that time about two years of age. This is because when Herod found out that he
had been tricked by the magi, he issued an order to kill all male children who
were two years old and under.
5. As a Boy
At 12 years old, Jesus the Boy was at
the temple listening and asking questions.
All who heard Him were amazed by His
intelligence and His understanding and His answers. In Luke
2:49, the Boy Jesus revealed that he had to occupy Himself with His
Father’s business. What business? From hindsight, it is the business of
redemption.
Jesus
grew up like a tender plant that was nurtured by God Himself as He kept
increasing in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men as written
in Luke
2:52. This brings to mind Isaiah
53:2 where it is stated that the Promised Messiah will grow up before
God like a tender shoot; a root out of dry ground.
6.
At 30 years old
At 30 years of age, Jesus was
identified by John the Baptist as the Promised Messiah in accordance to the
sign that God has revealed to him. The
sign was that the Holy Spirit would descend and remain on Jesus of
Nazareth. John the Baptist was an eye
witness and he testified that Jesus of Nazareth is the beloved Son of God. This account is located at John
1:29-34. The reason John the Baptist
baptized in water was to publicly reveal Jesus of Nazareth as the Promised
Messiah to Israel. This is documented in
John
1:31.
Do
these six events not look like the menorah, with each branch pointing to Jesus
of Nazareth as the Promised Messiah?
With
all these in view, the thrust of Luke 2:29-32 is:
“God revealed Jesus of Nazareth as Saviour to
Simeon”.
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