The announcement of the arrival of Jesus as Messiah invites us to announce the arrival of Jesus as the Messiah...

This week we have been looking at a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible Called the gospel of Luke, which records for us the announcement of the arrival of Jesus as Messiah. Tuesday, we discovered that for Mary and Joseph, their response to the birth of Jesus and what God was calling them to that first Christmas was to respond in worship to God through their obedience to God with whatever resources they had.

However, as Mary and Joseph worshipped the Lord for their firstborn son who just happened to be the arrival of the Messiah, they were not the only ones who were aware of the announcement of the arrival of the Messiah. We see Luke reveal for us how another man responded to  the presence of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in the Temple in Luke 2:25:

And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking 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.

Here we see Luke introduce us to a man named Simeon, who is described as a man who was righteous and devout. In other words, Simeon was a reverent, God fearing man, who strove to do what was right in God’s sight. The reason why Simeon was a righteous and devout man was because the Holy Spirit was upon him. Simeon was a man who God was active and present in his life and who lived a life that was led by the Holy Spirit.

Luke also tells us that Simeon was looking for the consolation of Israel.  When Luke uses the phrase the consolation of Israel, he is referring to God’s promise of a Messiah or rescuer, who would bring the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world. Simeon was looking forward and counting the days until God would fulfill His promise to humanity.

And Simeon was looking forward because the Holy Spirit had let Simeon know that he would see the Messiah enter into humanity before he died. So Simeon’s head was on a swivel. Simeon was looking forward to the day when he would be face to face with the one who God would send to provide humanity an opportunity to be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God. Luke then tells us what happens next in verse 27:

And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, "Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel."

Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph’s response to the birth of Jesus by following and fulfilling God’s commandments resulted in Simeon experiencing an encounter with the Lord. The Holy Spirit led Simeon to Mary and Joseph and opened his eyes to see that God had fulfilled His promise. And Luke tells us that Simeon responded to the announcement of the arrival of the Messiah by embracing Jesus and worshipping.

As part of his worship, Simeon quotes from a section of a letter in the Old Testament of our Bibles called the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah 49:6, the prophet Isaiah predicted and proclaimed that God would send a rescuer and deliverer who would bring salvation to all of fallen humanity. Isaiah proclaimed that this rescuer, the Messiah would make fully known God’s message of rescue and would provide rescue to individuals from all of the nations of the world. And this rescuer, this Messiah would receive honor and would enhance the reputation of God among the Jewish people.

And now Simeon was holding God in a bod in his arms. Simeon responded to this reality by stating “you are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word”.   You see, Simeon recognized that his task had been completed; his role in God’s story was now complete. Simeon recognized that he could leave this earth because God had fulfilled His promise to send a rescuer that would bring peace on earth.

God had announced the arrival of the Messiah to bring a state of well being with God that comes as a result of one’s rescue from selfishness and rebellion through the life, death, and resurrection, of the baby in his arms. The baby that Joseph and Mary obediently named Jesus. And it is here, in this event from history that we see the Lord reveal for us a timeless truth as we approach Christmas. And that timeless truth is this: The announcement of the arrival of Jesus as Messiah invites us to announce the arrival of Jesus as the Messiah. Just as it was for Mary and Joseph, just as it was for Simeon, just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, the announcement of the arrival of Jesus as Messiah invites us to announce the arrival of Jesus as the Messiah.

 Just like Mary and Joseph, the announcement of the arrival invites us to faithfully follow Jesus in a way that reveals and reflects Jesus to those around us. Just like Simeon, the announcement of the arrival of Jesus as Messiah invites us to respond to the evidence of the Lord's activity in our lives by sharing the evidence of that activity with others. You see, while God does not need us to do anything to advance His Kingdom, God chooses to invite us to join in His kingdom mission by announcing the arrival of Jesus as the Messiah by our attitudes, our actions, and our words.

God invites us to be the vehicle that He uses to reveal His Son Jesus and His message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, so that those around us who are far from God can experience the forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that they were created for by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

So here is a question to consider: Are you responding to the announcement of the arrival of Jesus as Messiah by announcing Jesus arrival to those around you that are far from God? Are you investing and inviting those who are far from God to an environment where they can explore faith?