Promised and Fulfilled
Grace to you and
peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Joseph and Mary brought
Jesus to the temple to be circumcised and named. While there, they encountered
Simeon and Anna. Jesus was brought to the temple in fulfillment of the Law of
Moses. God prescribed in His Law that the firstborn is to be consecrated to Him,
so His people would remember that He has saved them. He delivered them in a
mighty way from their bondage to the Egyptians. And what’s more, He will
deliver all His people of all time from the bondage of sin and into His
promised heaven.
Jesus certainly
didn't need to be purified; He's without sin. But Joseph and Mary obeyed the
Law of God nonetheless, bringing Jesus into the temple. As He did with
everything else, Jesus perfectly obeyed the Law of God, something we have not
done and cannot do. In this way Jesus came to be our Savior, and even as an
infant, He was doing the work of saving us. Because of His righteousness before
the Father, we are made holy and acceptable in His sight.
While they were at
the temple, the Holy Family encountered Simeon. A prophecy had been given to
Simeon. “It had been revealed to him by
the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's
Christ.” And when Simeon held Jesus in his arms, he sang a song of
thankfulness to God for revealing the salvation of the world to him in the
person of the Christ child. The words he spoke were preserved by the Holy
Spirit for the sake of the Church. Simeon spoke for us, and we will join our
voices to his this very day when, like Simeon, we hold the Savior of the
world—Simeon in his arms, and us in our mouths as we receive the very body and
blood of Christ. After all, this promise given to Simeon is also God's promise
to us. We too may depart in peace according the Word of the Lord, for in
receiving the bread and wine combined with Christ's very Word, our eyes have
seen His salvation. He breaks the bonds which sin and guilt hold on us. He
strikes down our enemy, Satan, in the body and blood that was given and shed at
Calvary—a gift He offers you today.
What does this
mean for us? It means that, as we begin this new year, we can see what lies
ahead of us—not only for this new year, but what God has prepared for us
eternally. We see the love God has shown us in sending His Son for our
salvation. Sinners that we are, we need that continual reminder that God loves
us in Christ, because the old Adam within us is God’s enemy. We need to return
here constantly: this year and in the years to come. We need to return to our
Baptism, where that Old Adam is drowned and dies, and where the new man, the
child of God and heir of heaven, emerges to new life. We need to continue to
receive God's love as He delivers it to us in the Supper Christ prepares for
us.
At the last hour
of our life we will say with Simeon, “Let
your servant depart in peace.” God always fulfills His Word. We don't know
when our last hour will be. It may come in this new year; it may be far off.
But whatever His holy will is, we will depart in peace. The Sacraments, the gifts
of God, have touched our lips. His Word has filled our ears. And because of
those gifts, praises to God spring forth from our lips.
We don't know who we
will run across in the new year—many old faces are likely, and we will also probably
encounter some new ones. All people need to hear. All people need to know what caused
Simeon to rejoice, what caused Mary and Joseph to marvel, what Anna delighted
to share with others. God grant us all the joy in receiving the consolation of
sins forgiven as we receive the Christ, and joy as we tell everyone what He has
done. In the name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
The peace of God which passes all
understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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