Monday, December 18, 2017

When Your Time on Earth is Over, Will You Depart in Peace?


           
           
            THERE’S A SCRIPTURE PASSAGE THAT OFTEN GETS OVERLOOKED at Christmas time, but it’s part of Luke’s Christmas story, and it occurs forty days after Jesus’ birth.
           


           
            It was required of new parents to present their firstborn male baby and make a sacrifice after her purification time was over, which was forty days after the birth. The “Highway to Holiness” blog says this is “basically a ceremonial purification from the blood of birth, life, and death.”1 In this case Mary and Joseph sacrificed two turtle doves, which was the sacrifice allowed for middle-class or poorer parents if they could not afford a lamb. Offering the two birds was her purification ritual, not a sacrifice for Jesus.
           
            The male baby that opened the mother’s womb was to be presented to the Lord in order to fulfill the law of the Lord: “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD” (Exodus 2, 12 and 15).
           
            When Mary and Joseph make their sojourn to the temple to offer Jesus (symbolically) and their turtledoves, they are met by a man named Simeon who is described as just and devout. A man “waiting for the Consolation of Israel.” Luke says that the Holy Spirit was upon him.
           
            Luke also points out that God had revealed to Simeon that he would not die before he’d seen the Lord’s Christ.
           
            So in Luke 2:25 – 35, we find Simeon in the temple when Mary and Joseph arrive, and Simeon knows immediately that this baby Jesus is the One, the Lord’s Christ.
           
            Simeon takes Jesus up in his arms, blesses God and says,
           
            “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.” (NKJV)

           
A happy man, ready to die

            Simeon is fulfilled, satisfied. Happy. God has fulfilled His promise to him, and he is ready to die, in peace. And what kind of peace is it that Simeon refers to? It’s a prosperous type of peace that implies quietness or rest. Simeon’s heart has been quieted. He won’t go to the grave wondering, with a questioning heart.
           
           
            How wonderful that must have been for Simeon, how full his heart must have been after seeing and holding Jesus! How grateful to God he was!


Ready to depart, in peace
           
            And shouldn’t it be that way for all followers of Christ? While we may have a plan sheet a mile long of all of the good things we can do, of all the ways we can and want to serve—all of the things we want to accomplish—shouldn’t we be ready to depart in peace? Without hesitation, without remorse or question.
           
            If the Prince of Peace dwells in our hearts, peace should dwell in our spirits. And we should be ready for the end. Whenever it comes.

            At the completion of this passage, Simeon’s words to Mary and Joseph give us insight as to why you may not have peace.
           
            Verse 34 - 35 says, “…Behold this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against…that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”


Causing a heart crisis
           
            Evidently the Prince of Peace doesn’t bring peace to everyone, or they don’t accept the kind of peace He brings. Just as He did during his short life on earth, he does now. He is a lightning rod that divides. He divides families and friends. Some men were raised up while others were brought down.
           
            Jesus caused a crisis in Israel that ended up causing a crisis in the world, and that crisis has avalanched down to us today.
           
            Nothing has changed. He continues to divide. And He was spoken against two thousand years ago just as He is now.
           
            And the reason?
           
            Because He is a revealer of hearts. A heart surgeon.
           
            And if your heart is sick, you really have no peace.
           
            Jesus reveals in the light what has been hidden in the darkness.
           
            He causes us to examine our own thoughts and attitudes. We all undergo turmoil when we are confronted with Jesus and His truth.


How about you?
           
            Everyone at some point in his life has to decide what to do with Jesus. So the question is: Who do you say Jesus is?
           
            Your answer will reveal the thoughts and beliefs of your heart. Your answer will reveal whether or not your heart is a purveyor of real, soul-quieting peace, or is a heart double-minded and troubled.

            I pray it is overflowing with peace!

            If it isn’t, or you’re unsure, now is the time to find out. Jesus came over two thousand years ago so you might claim and have peace. He’s ready to give it to you today. What a Christmas present!




 Until next week.

Blessings,
           
Andrea
May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photos courtesy of Google Images
http://www.crivoice.org/luke2c.html

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