Archive for the ‘Anna’ tag
December 28, 2008: The Presentation of Jesus
The text for this lesson is Luke 2:22–40.
Key Points
- In the Divine Service, we join with Simeon and Anna, the angels and archangels, and the great cloud of witnesses in heaven and on earth hailing Christ as the fulfiller of the Law who rescued us from the Low, its accusations, and our sins.
- Law: The Law always accuses. It unceasingly dogs us, never letting us off the hook. Like it or not, all are condemned by it, all “help captive under the law, imprisoned” by sin (Galatians 3:23). In the Old Testament, sacrifices even had to be offered after childbirth, both for mothers and children, as a cleansing for sin. No one can outcrawl or outrun the long arm of the Law.
- Gospel: Jesus out-laws the Law. He does more than enough. He who had no sin for which a sacrifice had to be offered, offered a sacrifice anyway. He gave 110 percent. He let the Law have its way with Him, that He might have His way with us. And, ultimately, what the Law demanded of us—perfection or punishment for imperfection—He took onto Himself.
