Series: Luke: Following the World Changer (Week 1 of 3)
Dr. Woodrow Kroll
November 4, 2009

Woodrow Kroll: Jesus' life was both ordinary and extraordinary. We're going to see that today in His visits to the temple, right here on Back to the Bible. Hi, I'm Woodrow Kroll.                

Tami Weissert: And I'm Tami Weissert, welcome. Now we're in the second chapter of Luke, Dr. Kroll, and I'm really starting to appreciate this perspective of Luke as a physician because he gives us so much detail. But I'm kind of wondering, the detail stems from, I think, the fact that he wasn't Jewish and so he's kind of laying out the customs. Is that right?

Woodrow Kroll: Yes, and that's a good thing for us. He is a Gentile, and he is explaining to his Gentile audience a lot of things Jewish people would already know. He takes the time to explain them and we're really pretty happy about that because most of us are not part of the Jewish audience.

Tami Weissert: Now when we look at customs, when Jesus kind of got involved in those ordinary Jewish customs, things went from ordinary to extraordinary.

Woodrow Kroll: Yes, they really did, and we're going to see that today in the two presentations of Jesus at the temple: one when He was still a baby; the other, 12 years later when His mother and father lost Him on the way back from the temple.

Tami Weissert: And we see how both of those visits kind of left people in awe of the Lord. Even His parents and the funny thing is, they knew Him!

Woodrow Kroll: Yes, and I think that means for us today, we have to kind of take an assessment of just how often we are left in awe of who this World Changer is, who this Jesus is. If you're not feeling so much that awe today, stick around. I think looking into the life of the Lord Jesus will change everything for you and me. We'll do that today here on Back to the Bible.

Well, the Messiah of Israel was to be Jewish. He would be born of Jewish parents, mother and father, and you would anticipate of course, that the Jewish parents of the Messiah would do everything that the Jewish law would require of Jewish parents. You would expect that, you are not at all disappointed.

If you have your Bible and want to follow along, we're still in Luke 2 today. We've just been through the birth narrative and we're actually looking at Mary, pondering all these things in her heart, verse 19. The shepherds returned, glorifying God, praising Him.

And then it says in chapter 2, verse 21, "And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. Now when the days of her [that's Mary's] purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him [Jesus] to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, 'Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD'), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, 'A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons'" (Luke 2:21-24, NKJV).

Makes sense to you? Nah, probably not at all, because again, these are Jewish customs and Luke is a Gentile writing to a Gentile audience so he says, "All right, let me back up and explain a little bit about what's going on here." Quite frankly, I'm very happy to have him do that because these would foreign customs to my thinking too.

First of all, there's this presentation at the temple. According to the levitical law, Leviticus 12, when the days of the purification of a newborn mother were ended, she would go to the temple and make a sacrifice to the Lord. And if it was a male baby born, the days would be 40 days. She had to wait 40 days. If it was a female baby born, she had to wait 80 days.

Well, Jesus, as a male, 40 days after His birth, Mary, Joseph and the Baby come to the temple. She could not enter the temple prior to that because, having given birth, she would be considered ceremonially unclean.

The end of her days have now come. Mother, father and Baby show up, and they come there for a two-fold reason. I hope you picked up on this there in verses 23 and 24. The two-fold reasons are these: 1) The mother's sacrifice would mark the end of her own purification period. In other words, when she made this sacrifice it could only be at the time after which she had been 40 days separate from the temple. She was required to offer a lamb for a burnt offering and a turtledove or a young pigeon for a sin offering.

Now, if she couldn't afford a lamb--the law is pretty clear here--if she couldn't afford a lamb, she could bring another turtledove or another pigeon. And even if a cheap bird was beyond her means, she could bring an offering of fine flour, just the flour part, none of the usual fragrances, the frankincense and other things that would go along with the sin offering.

But Luke, in his penchant for details, gives us an insight into the monetary capabilities of Mary and Joseph. See what he says? Luke indicates the poverty of Joseph and Mary in a very subtle way by saying, chapter 2 verse 24, that they offered birds rather than a lamb and a pigeon. So we're talking about a poor family here, but a poor family that does the duty of a Jewish family nonetheless. The issue is not economy; the issue is obedience.

And there's the second reason why this is important. It says there that, in addition to the purification offering, there was another ceremony that took place at this time. It tells us there that the firstborn son, verse 23, "'Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD.'"

Let me take your mind back to the Old Testament. The book is Numbers, Numbers 18:15-16 (NKJV), let me read it to you. "'Everything that first opens the womb of all flesh, which they bring to the LORD, whether man or beast, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old, according to your valuation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.'"

Now, the levitical law said, "Anything born to you is yours; you keep it. Any sheep born to you, your sheep, keep it. Any goats, your goats, keep them. Any children, your children, you want them, keep them." However, the firstborn to you--firstborn sheep, firstborn goat, firstborn child--belongs to the Lord.

Now the Lord doesn't want us to actually give that child and say, "Here, take him off My hands." What the Lord wants us to do is redeem that child and buy him back. And that's exactly what they're doing here. This ceremony included a redeeming of Jesus, a buying back of the Child of God, and that meant paying an offering.

So the offering that they bring here, the pair of turtledoves and two pigeons, that offering is not just because of Mary's need for cleansing, it's also to redeem Jesus back. And to say to God, through the purchase price of this redemption, "This boy actually belongs to You. We're buying Him back. Thank You for the opportunity of giving us the chance to raise Him, and we want to do it the way You want us to do it."

At this point, there's a very interesting character that's introduced to the story. You see him at verse 25. "And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said . . . " (Luke 2:25-28, NKJV). And then you have what he says there; I'll get to that in just a minute.

Notice first of all that Simeon was led to the temple by the Holy Spirit of God. Now my guess is he was there almost every day anyway; he was there every day. But he was specifically led there this day because God knew this was the day Mary and Joseph would bring Jesus to the temple.

The Holy Spirit leads him to the temple. The Holy Spirit reveals to him, "Simeon, you're an old man, you can't live forever." But the Spirit says, "I want you to know you will not die until you, with your own eyes, see the Lord's Christ, the Anointed One of Yahweh, the Messiah. You'll see Him with your own eyes."

Now the promise the Messiah was coming was something every Jew believed. The promise that they would see the Messiah during their lifetime? Not a promise. Messiah was coming; they just didn't know when. [To] this man, God says, "You're going to see Him before you die." So this is a very, very rare thing.

Mary and Joseph go to the temple. They take Jesus. He's approximately 40 days old; He's an infant! He's wrapped up like a tiny little baby. And Mary, the mother of Jesus, walks in, in the company of Joseph, and this old man runs over to her, grabs her 40-day old baby out of her arms and takes Him from her.

OK, moms, how would you feel? Let's read what happens.

"He took Him up," verse 28, "he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

'Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel'" (Luke 2:28-32, NKJV).

Now look, Simeon does three things in these passages. Notice in verse 28-32 that I just read, he blesses God out loud, publicly. I mean, he's praising God because God kept His promise to him. He isn't keeping this to himself.

Notice in verse 33 and 34, "And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, 'Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against'" (Luke 2:33-34, NKJV).

So first of all, he blesses God. Secondly, he blesses Mary and Joseph, and then specifically, verses 34 and 35, he makes this very dire prediction. He says, verse 34, "'This child Jesus is for the fall and rising of many.'" Verse 35, "'(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed'" (Luke 2:35, NKJV).

This is really strange. What he is saying here is that Mary would experience great pain in the death of her Son. But it also means that Mary would outlive her Son to experience that great pain. It means that Jesus would make a difference; it would be for the fall and rising of many. This little Baby, so he is saying to mother and father, this little Baby is not just your ordinarily 8-lb, 9-oz baby boy. This is a World Changer. This Baby is destined by God to cause people to fall and cause people to rise. This person is going to make a difference.

But I think the key message here, the key message is seeing Jesus, not just as a baby from Mary and Joseph, not just one that was brought to the temple to do what the temple law required to do. I think the key message here is in Simeon's statement, "My eyes have seen your salvation."

See, back in verse 30, Simeon knows, having looked at this Baby, he saw the Savior of the world.

Now, some thirty years later, John the Baptist would look at this Baby, now all grown up as a man, and say, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." But this old man, Simeon, he has first crack at telling the world this Jesus is indeed the World Changer.

Well, Simeon isn't alone. There's another person here. And there's another event here that we want to look at today before we finish. I'll be right back to take a look at Anna.

Tami Weissert: You're listening to Back to the Bible with Bible teacher, Woodrow Kroll.

Hi, Tami Weissert here. Now isn't Luke's orderly account amazing? His detailed writings tell us so much about Christ. So keep listening. And to help you soak in this study even more, why not order Dr. Kroll's new study guide. It's called Luke: Glory to God in the Highest.

Now it's just a great addition to all we are learning in this series. Let me tell you a little more about it. First of all, Dr. Kroll wanted this study guide to be convenient. That's why we've included the Scripture passages in the lessons. That way you can just grab it and go.

Now each lesson starts with a Bible passage followed by background details and biblical insight, then questions, important questions--the type that help you consider and then apply God's Word to your life. So remember, Luke: Glory to God in the Highest, Dr. Kroll's latest study guide. To order it right now, you can go to backtothebible.org. Or we'd love it if you'd call us. The number is 1-800-759-2425. Now, let's get back to our study.

Woodrow Kroll: Well, the presentation of Jesus as an infant to the temple, to the priests there, a sacrifice made for Him, purchasing Him back, Simeon picking Him up and saying, "I have now seen the Savior of the world"--all that is great stuff.

At this point, a woman kind of interrupts all this. Notice at verse 36: "Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem" (Luke 2:36-38, NKJV).

Now Anna, faithful woman, 84 years old, been a widow a long time. Anna is just one of those remarkable women. As I said the other day, Luke is really the gospel of women because you've got Mary in here, you've got Mary and Martha in this gospel, you've got Joanna, you've got Philip's daughters who prophesied you have Lydia and Phoebe and certainly this woman Anna.

Twice in the Gospel of Luke here, a reference in made to the growth of Jesus. You see one of them right here in verses 39-40. It says, "So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him" (Luke 2:39-40, NKJV).

Simeon recognizes the uniqueness of this Baby. Anna also recognizes the uniqueness of this Baby, and serves the Lord God and prays for the Baby. Now, Mary and Joseph go back home, Jesus grows; in fact the last verse of Luke 2 tells us "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52, NKJV).

But between the event that day when they took this infant Jesus to the temple to do what they were required to do by the levitical law, between the day that both Simeon and Anna saw Jesus and the last part of this chapter, 12 whole years expired.

So now what we're going to see is other amazed people. Simeon is amazed, Anna is amazed, but look at this.

Skip down with me at verse 41, Luke 2:41, "His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus [not the child now, the boy, Jesus] lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions" (Luke 2:41-46, NKJV).

Now watch this: "And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers" (Luke 2:47, NKJV).

Well, you know, if you're a 12-year-old boy you look at this story one way. "I gave Mom and Dad the slip, hung out in Jerusalem for a few more days, scared them out of their wits. They finally found me, everything worked out all right."

We're not looking at this from the perspective of a 12-year old boy. We're thinking about just how amazing this World Changer is. So much so that when you read in this passage that He is asking questions of the great teachers of the Law in the temple, and He is answering questions for the great teachers of the Law in the temple, and He is not one of the great teachers of the Law in the temple . . . He is 12-years old!

Now as an adult, I am convinced 12-year olds know nothing. (laughter) Now you know, I have grandchildren who have been 12-years old and are 12-years old, and I know that isn't true. They know a lot of things. If my 12-year old asks questions of me (my grandchildren) and I answer those questions, that's one thing. But when I ask questions of them and they amaze me with their answers, that's something else.

And I think the thing you want to look at here is it says, "When they saw Him they were amazed"--that's the very verse after everybody was astonished, pick up on those words--"and His mother said to Him, 'Son, why have You done this to us? [That's a typical mother's approach, isn't it?] Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.'"

He is now 12; Joseph recognized as His father because Joseph has raised Him now for 12 years. So we know that Joseph is at least alive at Jesus' second visit to the temple.

"And He said to them, 'Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?'"

"Your father and I sought You anxiously"--look at the juxtaposition here.

Mary said to Jesus, "Your father, Joseph, and I sought you anxiously."

Jesus says to Mary, "Didn't you know that I had to be about my Father's business?"

He's not talking about carpentry. He's not talking about Joseph. He's talking about bigger things. He's talking about Him being the Son of God, the unique Savior of the world, the only there ever is and ever will be. He's talking about Himself being the World Changer.

And here, at this second visit to the temple, at least the second one we have recorded, at His visit to the temple 12 years after He amazed Anna and 12 years after He amazed Simeon, He is amazing the teachers of the Law and His mother and father still 12 years later.

Now if you aren't amazed at this Person, Jesus, that simply means probably you haven't taken enough note of this person Jesus. Spend some time between today and our time tomorrow reading through these early chapters of Luke and just let yourself be amazed, because you're reading about the World Changer.

Well, we'll be back to wrap up our study in just a minute.

Tami Weissert: You're listening to Bible teacher, Woodrow Kroll, here on Back to the Bible.

Hi, this is Tami Weissert. I hope you are excited and inspired by our study today. This series in Luke lasts three weeks. That's 15 complete studies and I hope you'll be able to catch all of them. But if that's just not possible, we have the complete series on CD or DVD; you just need to order it. That way, you can take it in and review it whenever and wherever you want.

I'll give you our 800 number in a moment, but first, I want to remind you that the printed study guide for Luke is also available. This is a great stand-alone study, but it's also a good companion to the Luke series.

So give us a call and ask about our current Luke series on CD or DVD and about Dr. Kroll's printed study guide called Luke: Glory to God in the Highest. Now get your pen; here's the phone number to call. Again, this is for our Luke series on CD or DVD and for the Luke study guide. Here's the phone number: It's 1-800-759-2425.

Well, Dr. Kroll, you just really hit on that amazing part, being amazed by Jesus. And just a couple minutes ago you said, "You know, if you're not amazed, go back and read, let yourself be amazed." But as I thought about that, I have a tendency when I read sometimes just to "read". I'm just taking it in and I'm not necessarily able to let it amaze me because I'm reading it more "informationally." So how do we maybe switch gears from just reading, and not necessarily letting that emotion set in and doing that?

Woodrow Kroll: You know, Tami, we're always talking about the connection between the head and the heart. And quite often in evangelical circles, we say you don't want to have a head knowledge, you want a heart knowledge. The fact of the matter is you need both. You need to take this in with your head but it needs to transform the way you think about things and that's done generally through the heart.

So when I read these passages, I don't want to just pick up pieces of information. I want to process those pieces of information. And I want to process them in such a way that it changes the way I live. It changes the way I view Jesus. It changes the way I view Mary and Joseph. I have a great [deal] more sympathy for Mary and Joseph with Jesus at age 12 probably than I did with Jesus at age 40 days.

So we need to let it really transform the way we live and think, not just intellectually inform the way we live.

Tami Weissert: So if we're reading, let's say we read these first couple of chapters and we get to the end, and we are sitting there thinking, I'm not feeling amazed yet, what do we do?

Woodrow Kroll: Read it again! And if you're not amazed yet, read it again! You know, I think part of the problem is the way we read. We kind of zip through it and say, "I've got eight more verses. Let me get through those." If we read a phrase or a sentence and we stop and think and say, "Ooh, look at that!" and we just pause and kind of mull that over, you know, we internalize that, we make it a part of us, and then we go on, then I think we're more likely to be amazed than if we just rush through to the end of the chapter.

Tami Weissert: Good words, I like that. Now tomorrow, we're . . . another history lesson coming.

Woodrow Kroll: Yes, we're going to get back to some of those dead people in history, but very important people, certainly at the time of the Lord Jesus. But in chapter 3 of Luke, we are going to see without a question now, Jesus is the Savior. No question about it! If you ever wondered for sure, you need to join us tomorrow here on Back to the Bible.

Thanks to all of you for being here as a part of our study group today, and thanks to you at home as well. God bless you. I'm Woodrow Kroll, have a good and godly day.