PT-1 “The Incident At Twelve” (Luke 2:41-51)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/15/2026 9:48 AM

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-1 “The Incident At Twelve”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 2:41-51

            Message of the verses:  “⁴¹ His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when He was twelve years old, they went up there according to the custom of the feast; ⁴³ and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days required, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Instead, they thought that He was somewhere in the caravan, and they went a day’s journey; and then they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ And when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for Him. ⁴⁶ Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. ⁴⁸ When Joseph and Mary saw Him, they were bewildered; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You!” ⁴⁹ And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ And yet they on their part did not understand the statement which He had ^[made to them. ⁵¹ And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued to be subject to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.”

            This morning I begin, what will be a rather long time looking at these verses, perhaps 3-4 days.

            This incident that comprises the bulk of the passage finds Jesus, who at this time is on the brink of adulthood, as twelve years after His presentation in the temple seen in 2:22-38.  It is a powerful and poignant story, and also a profound testimony by Jesus to His true identity as God the Son (v. 49); yet there is nothing miraculous or supernatural about it.

            This incident began at the Passover during Jesus’ 12^th year.  I would think that He would have been around 12 years and a few months old at this time.  Joseph and Mary, as a devout couple, went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover in order to celebrate with the Nation God’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt which can be seen in Exodus 12:1-51.  Passover was one of the three major annual feasts in Israel, along with Pentecost and Tabernacles.  Now right after the Passover day was the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread.  So this entire eight-day period eventually became known as collectively as Passover.

            MacArthur writes “According to Exodus 23:17; 34:22-23 and Deuteronomy  16:16, all Jewish men were required to attend the three major feasts.  But by the first century, the dispersion of many Jewish people outside of Palestine had made that impractical.  Consequently, many Jewish men came to Jerusalem only for Passover.  Women were not required by the law to attend (though some rabbis strongly encouraged them to do so); for a woman to attend the feast was considered a sign of unusual spiritual devotion.”  This last statement about women being “unusual spiritual devotion” certainly fits Mary.

            “As they did every year, the year that Jesus became twelve Joseph and Mary went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the Feast.  The trip from Nazareth was an arduous one of about eighty miles, lasting three or four days.  They did not travel alone, but with a large company of people in a caravan (v. 44).  To journey to Jerusalem in a group offered both the opportunity for fellowship and protection from the threat of highway robbers.  Such caravans would also include children, since the rabbis taught that Passover should be a family celebration (cf. Ex. 12:26-27).” I want to look at these two verses at this time.

(cf. Ex. 12:26-27)

“26  And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27  you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’" And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.”

            MacArthur goes on to write “When they arrived in Jerusalem, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus would have found the city teeming with hundreds of thousands of fellow pilgrims, who would have been trying to find lodging and a place to celebrate the Passover meal, along with purchasing their sacrificial animals.  The city would have been filled with the noise of hundreds of thousands of sheep, which the priests would have been busy butchering.  Beggars, no doubt decked out in their most ragged clothes, would have been out in force.  Roman soldiers would have been on patrol, jostling with the crowds and trying to keep some semblance of order.  Joseph would have taken the family’s lamb to be sacrificed, and one can only imagine what went through Jesus’ mind, knowing that He was the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29).  The whole frenetic scene in Jerusalem must have made a profound impression on Him.”  By this time in Jesus’ age, being twelve years old which meant that He was a man, a young man, but a man who in His case may have been thinking of 21 years down the road that He would be dying on the cross for He was “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

            MacArthur explains “This particular Passover was especially significant for Jesus.  Jewish boys became accountable to the law of God at thirteen, a transition later marked by the ceremony known as Bar Mitzvah (‘son of the law’ or ‘covenant’).  The last couple of Passovers before a boy turned thirteen were particularly important in preparing him for his responsibility to the law.

            “Luke did not describe any features of that Passover but picked up the story afterward, when Joseph, Mary and Jesus were retuning to Nazareth.  The seeming aside that Joseph and Mary lift Jerusalem after spending the full number of days there is actually another affirmation of their devotion to the things of God.  In contrast to most people, who stayed for only part of the eight-day celebration, Joseph and Mary stayed the entire time.”

            Now here is one of the key portions of this section, perhaps the greatest key to it, as MacArthur explains: “Instead of returning with the others, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.  Nothing was said to His parents, who were unaware of it, but supposed Him to be in the caravan.  It was not until the end of the first day’s journey that Joseph and Mary realized that Jesus was missing and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.  But their worst fears were confirmed; Jesus was not with the caravan.  When they did not find Him, Joseph and Mary spent an anxious night before they returned the next morning to Jerusalem looking for Him.”  I will end now and Lord willing will pick up this evening to write more about this very important story that Luke includes in his writing, a story that is found nowhere else in the different Gospels.

Spiritual Meaning for My life today:  Jesus was in control of what needed to be done, and He is in control of what is needed to be done in my life as well.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord for the things going on in my life and in the life of my wife as she continues to fight against the cancer that has invaded her body.

4/15/2026 10:40 AM

“The Silent Years of Childhood” (Luke 2:40)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/14/2026 10:41 PM

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  “The Silent Years of Childhood”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 2:40

            Message of the verse: The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” (NASB)

            We begin this evening’s SD with a rather short Spiritual Diary, but the next section will probably take more than one SD as we will be looking at 11 verses in that SD.

            This verse is just to say that after what we looked at in the birth of Jesus along with His time in the temple with His parents and Siemon and Anna, however if you look at the Gospel of Matthew you will see that after the “three kings” who came to visit them sometime after this time period we looked at that they had to go to Egypt until the death of Herod the king which is all seen in the second chapter of Matthew’s gospel.

            Now the statement that the Child continued to grow demonstrates that Jesus was fully human, which is a very important statement.  Jesus developed as all children develop, though unaffected by sin.  The phrase become strong really should be take grammatically with the following phrase, increasing in wisdom.  Now to be sure, Jesus possessed a unique physical strength because of His sinlessness, which is unlike all other’s born after the fall.  But Luke’s primary emphasis is on Jesus’ spiritual development, as He matured in wisdom until, as the Greek text literally reads, He was “filled with wisdom,” the profound wisdom of the mind of God.  “Jesus did not possess all of that knowledge as an infant, toddler, or young child,” writes John MacArthur.  “But by the time He was twelve, the fullness of divine wisdom had come to fruition in His mind.  A feature of Christ’s incarnation was that He relinquished control of His use of His divine prerogatives to the Holy Spirit, who mediated between His deity and His humanity.  By the time He reached twelve, the Spirt had disclosed the understanding of His identity and mission.

            “Hebrews 5:8 reveals that much of His increase in wisdom came as Jesus ‘learned obedience from the things which He suffered.’ At every stage of His development, Jesus faced the full, unabated onslaught of temptation, so that He was ‘tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin’ (Heb. 4:15).” 

            Now not only was Jesus filled with the wisdom of God, but also the grace of God was upon Him.  Now John described Him as “full of grace” grace that God grants to undeserving sinners, since Jesus was sinless.  Instead, it was the favor of God granted to His “beloved Son, in whom God was well-pleased” (Luke 3:22).  “He was both the recipient of grace as favor deserved and the giver of grace as favor underserved” writes MacArthur.

            He goes on:  “By the time Jesus turned twelve, He had a complete grasp of His true identity.  He fully understood the wisdom of God and its application to the mission for which God had sent Him into the world.  William Hendriksen writes, ‘The development of this child was therefore perfect, and this along every line: physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual; for from beginning to end progress was unimpaired and unimpeded by sin, whether inherited or acquired.  Between the child Jesus and His Father…there was perfect harmony, limitless love’ (The Gospel of Luke, New Testament Commentary [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978], 180).”

            I remember a rather long time ago when I was listening to a sermon and the preacher who was giving the sermon stated that it was the Holy Spirit of God who was the One who filled the Lord Jesus Christ after His baptism in order to do the things that He did while on planet earth.  His preaching and His miracles were done in the power of the Holy Spirit, and I have thought about this and believe that what this man was talking about is true.

4/14/2026 11:13 PM

 

“The Amazing Child Who Was God” (Luke 2:39-52)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/14/2026 9:49 AM

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  “The Amazing Child Who Was God”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 2:39-52

            Message of the verses: “Return to Nazareth”

³⁹ And when His parents had completed everything in accordance with the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ Now the Child continued to grow and to become strong, ^[a]increasing in wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him.

“Visit to Jerusalem”

^“41 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when He was twelve years old, they went up there according to the custom of the feast; ⁴³ and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days required, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Instead, they thought that He was somewhere in the caravan, and they went a day’s journey; and then they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ And when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for Him. ⁴⁶ Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. ⁴⁸ When Joseph and Mary saw Him, they were bewildered; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You!” ⁴⁹ And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s ^[b]house?” ⁵⁰ And yet they on their part did not understand the statement which He had ^[c]made to them. ⁵¹ And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued to be subject to them; and His mother treasured all these ^[d]things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and ^[e]stature, and in favor with God and people.”  (NASB)

            I will now quote from the introduction to this chapter from John MacArthur’s commentary, something that I usually do when I get to a new chapter so that I know where the chapter is about.

            “History has recorded some truly amazing children, child prodigies who performed astonishing feats.  Eary in the eighteenth century Jean Louis Cardiac, known as the ‘wonder child,’ was said to have recited the alphabet at the age of three months.  By the age of four, he read Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and translated Latin into English and French.  Christian Friedrick Heinecken, known as the ‘infant of Lubeck,’ was a contemporary of Cardiac.  He reportedly knew the major events recorded in the Bible by the time he was a year old.  At the age of three, he was familiar with world history and geography, as well as Latin and Frence.  No doubt the most famous child prodigy of the time was the composer Wolfgang Amadeu Mozart.  The young Mozart began playing the keyboard by ear at the age of three.  By the time he was six, he had begun composing his own pieces.  At that same age Mozart, along with his older sister, began touring Europe, giving both private concerts for the nobility, and also public concerts.  At eight, he composed his first symphony.

            “The noted nineteenth-century philosopher John Stuart Mill was also a child prodigy.  Under the rigorous tutelage of his father, John learned Greek at the age of three.  At the age of eight, he began learning Latin, geometry, and algebra.  Another nineteenth-century child phenomenon was Truman Henry Safford, noted for his remarkable powers of calculation.  When the ten-year-old Safford was challenged to calculate the square of 365, 365, 365, 365, 365 in his head, he did so in less than a minute.  At about that same age Safford devised a new method for calculating the moon’s rising and settings that was significantly faster than the existing one.

            “William James Sidis (1898-1944) was the son of a Harvad-trained psychologist.  He is regarded as one of the most intelligent persons who ever lived, with an IQ estimated to have been well over 200.  According to his biographer, Sidis was reading the New York Times at the age of eighteen months, and had taught himself Latin, Greek, French, Russian, German, Hebrew, Turkish, and Armenian by the time he was eight.  At eleven he entered Harvard, where he lectured the Harvard Mathematical Society on four-dimensional bodies.

            “One of the most noted contemporary child prodigies is Kim Ung-Yong, born in South Korea in 1963.  By the time he as four, he was able to read Korean, Japanese, German, and English, and at that same age solved complicated calculus problems on Japanese television.  Kim came to the United States at the age of seven at the invitation of NASA, and earned a PhD in physics before he turned sixteen.

            “But the accomplishments of these and all other child prodigies combined pale into insignificance compared to one twelve-year-old boy named Jesus.  No human genius, no IQ in excess of 200, no precocious feats of learning can compare with the infinite mind and capabilities of the child who was God incarnate.  In a dramatic and moving account of the only recorded incident of Jesus’ childhood, Luke revealed from His own words that the Child was God.

            “Luke has already presented compelling testimony that Jesus Christ was the Son of God (1:35), the One through whom God would redeem and save His people (1:68-69, 78-79; 2:10-11, 27-32, 34, 38).  But in this passage he turned from the testimony of others to the testimony of the child Himself.  Luke’s account reveals plainly that at the age of twelve, Jesus already possessed a complete understanding of His nature and mission; He was God the Son, come to do the Father’s will.

            “In this the only recorded incident from Jesus’ childhood, we have the only words He is recorded to have said before the start of His public ministry.  Luke’s inclusion of it signifies its monumental importance.  Jesus’ identity as Son of God incarnate was not something thrust upon Him by Jewish messianic expectations, or invented by His followers.  Nor was it something He assumed for Himself when He began His public ministry.  It was His true identity, which He had become aware of by the age of twelve—eighteen years before His public ministry began.

            “After presenting the testimonies of Simeon and Anna (2:25-38), Luke noted that when they (Joseph and Mary) had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord (cf. vv. 22-24) they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.  But between verses 38 and 39 a very important part of the birth narrative took place.  It was after their encounter with Simeon and Anna in the temple and before their return to Nazareth that the wise men visited Joseph, Mary, and Jesus (Matt. 2:1-12) and they fled to Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous rage (vv. 13-15), which culminated in his brutal slaughter of the male infants in the vicinity of Bethlehem (vv. 16-18).  It was only after Herod’s death that Joseph, Mry, and Jesus returned to Nazareth (vv. 19-23).

            “This one brief passage contains everything that is known about the life of Jesus Christ from His infancy to the outset of His public ministry.  Two statements summarizing the silent years of His childhood and His adult years at Nazareth bracket the incident at Jerusalem when He was twelve, which is the main thrust of this passage.”

Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:  I never really thought too much about this incident in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the way Luke presents it and how MacArthur brings light to it, I realize the importance of it better.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to oversee the upcoming tests that my wife has to undergo for a pain in her side.

4/14/2026 10:38 AM

 

“Anna” (Luke 2:36-38)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/13/2026 8:56 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                                   Focus:  “Anna”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 2:36-38

            Message of the verses:  “36  And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37  and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38  And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

            This evening we will look at the last section from John MacArthur’s 15^th chapter from his first commentary on the gospel of Luke, and as seen in the “focus” it is about Anna.

            The next testimony to Jesus was given by the prophetess whose name is Anna.  Now in the Greek from the Hebrew name Hannah, which means “grace.”  Now like the Old Testament Hannah, Anna was characterized by prayer and fasting.  This can be seen of the OT Hanna in  1 Samuel 1:7, 10-16.  That she was a prophetess does not actually mean that she predicted the future, but that God had used her to speak His word.

            MacArthur writes “The Old Testament mentions five women who are called prophetesses.  But neither Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron (Ex. 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4), or Huldah (2 Kings 22:14) had an ongoing prophetic ministry as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the other male prophets did.”  Now I want to look at 2 Kings 22:14 “14  So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her.” “A fourth, Noadiah (Neh. 6:14), was a false prophetess.  Isaiah’s wife was described as a prophetess (Isa. 8:3) because she gave birth to a son who was given a prophetic name.  Among the New Testament women, only the daughters of Philip are called ‘prophetesses’ (Acts 21:9), with no explanation beyond that.  Anna may have been called a prophetess because, as noted above, she was a teacher of the Word.  Or she may have been a prophetess more like Isaiah’s wife because she testified that this Child was the Messiah.

“That Anna was a member of the tribe of Asher is noteworthy.  Asher was one of the ten tribes that formed the northern kingdom and were taken captive by Assyria in 722 B.C. But the so-called ten lost tribes were in fact not lost.  Before the fall of the northern kingdom, in response to letters from King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Chronicles 30:6), ‘some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem (v. 11).  Their descendants would be among those who were carried away captive to Babylon, and returned to Israel after the exile.

            “While Simoen’s old age is inferred, the text explicitly states that Anna was advanced in years.  Luke explained that she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four.  Some interpret the last phrase to mean that Anna lived as a widow for eighty-four years after the death of her husband, which would mean that when she was more than one hundred years old.  Both translations are possible and both support Luke’s statement that she was advanced in years.  That she never left the temple suggests that Anna lived in the temple complex, perhaps in one of the apartments in the outer court normally occupied by priests doing their two weeks of annual service.  She was not idle, but spent her time at the temple serving night and day with fastings and prayers.  Prayer is often associated with fasting in Scripture (cf.5:33; 2 Sam. 12:16; Ezra 8:23; Neh. 1:4; Ps. 35:13; Acts 13:3; 14:23); fasting is the self-denial that accompanies passionate prayer.  Anna was singularly and completely devoted to the service and worship of God; such a devout, godly woman was a fitting witness to Jesus.

            “In God’s providential timing , at that very moment—while Simeon was uttering his prophetic hymn of praise—when came up  to the little group. In his typical understated way, Luke gave no details of the meeting or of what transpired between the time Anna arrived and when she began giving thanks.  Certainly Simeon, whom she most likely knew, along with Joseph and Mary, must have told her who the Child was.  But Luke merely noted that Anna began giving thanks to God for the baby Jesus.  All the long years of passionately petitioning God gave way to an outburst of joyous praise.  Hers, though the words were not recorded, is the final hymn of praise in Luke’s account of Christ’s birth, along with those of Elizabeth (1:41-45), Mary (1:46-55), Zacharias 1:67-79), the angels (2:13-14), and Simeon.

            “Anna’s testimony to Jesus did not end with this incident.  Instead, from her place inside the temple, she continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem; that is, the believing remnant, everyone who anticipated that the Lord would visit His people with salvation, who believed that the promises given through the prophets would be fulfilled, and looked for the blessings of the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New covenants to be realized.”

4/13/2026 9:31 PM

“Simeon’s Warning” (Luke 2:34-35)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/13/2026 8:36 AM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  “Simeon’s Warning”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 2:34-35

            Message of the verses:  “And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

            We have been looking at a hymn of praise from Simeon earlier and not he turns to this young couple and blesses them.  But the euphoria Joseph and Mary were experience was very quickly was tempered by a shocking warning given by Simeon—the first negative found in Luke’s gospel.  It foreshadows the opposition Jesus would face, culminating in His rejection by the nation and crucifixion.

            We see that Simeon’s address was to Mary.  As we read in all of the gospels that Joseph was not around when Jesus was crucified, only Mary was there and so this is perhaps why he was speaking to Mary.  Now after the incident at Passover when Jesus was twelve seen in Luke 2:41-51, Joseph disappears from the Gospel’s account of Jesus’ life and ministry.  Whenever Mary appears (e.g., John 2:1-11), she is without Joseph.  Further, when Jesus was rejected by the people of His hometown of Nazareth, they mentioned His mother, brothers, and sisters, but not his father.  (Matthew 13:55-56).  The presumption, then, is that Joseph had died before Jesus’ public ministry had begun.

            MacArthur writes “Simeon spoke first of separation, declaring that this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel.”  Now this statement was not only true during the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, but has been true ever since, as this still goes on in Jewish homes even today, and accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord can split a Jewish home perhaps faster than any other thing that could happen in a Jewish home.  Now back to MacArthur’s quote: “He is destined to be the determiner of people’s destiny (cf. John 1:9-13).”

(cf. John 1:9-13)

“9  The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10  He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12  But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

“As He solemnly warned, ‘Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth?  I tell you, no, but rather division’ (Luke 12:51; cf. John 3:36; 8:24; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Cor. 3:11; 1 Tim. 2:5:11-12). Not only would some Gentiles be saved, but also some Jews would stumble over Him and fall into judgment and perdition, thus fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy:

“13  But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14  And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15  And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.’” (Isa. 8:13-15; cf. Matt. 21:42-44; Rom. 9:32-33; 1 Peter 2:7-8)

“Only the believing remnant would rise to eternal life in heaven:

6  [God] raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” (Eph. 2:6-8).

“Not only would Jesus bring separation, but He would also be a sign to be opposed.  As in Matthew 25:31, the sign is the Son of Man—signaling the arrival of kingdom presence, power, and person.  Opposed translates a form of the verb antilego, which means ‘to speak against,’ ‘to reject,’ ‘to deny,’ or ‘to contradict’—all of which aptly describe the insults, abuse, mockery, and hatred, culminating in His crucifixion, that Jesus faced from unbelieving Israel.  Israel’s rejection of Jesus Christ is an important theme of Luke’s gospel (4:28-30; 13:31-35; 19:47; 20:14-20).

            “The nation’s violent rejection of her Son would cause Mary to suffer.  Simeon graphically pictured the pain and grief she would endure when he said to her, ‘a sword will pierce even your own soul.’  Mary’s suffering began when her Son began to distance Himself rom her.  When His worried parents finally found Him after three days of searching, Jesus ‘said to them, ‘Why is it that your were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?’’’(Luke 2:49).  At the wedding in Cana, He did not address her as ‘mother,’ but with the polite but formal term ‘woman’ (John 2:4).  When told that Mary and His brothers wanted to see Him, Jesus replied, ‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’  And stretching out His hand toward His disciples He said, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.’’’ (Matthew 12:48-50).  Mary’s suffering culminated at the cross, as she watched her Son suffer and die (John 19:25).

            “The end result of Israel’s rejection of Jesus was that the evil thoughts from many hearts would be revealed.  ‘This is the judgment,’ Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘that Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil (John 3:19). Jesus was the light shining in the darkness (cf. John 1:5), who exposed the evil of men’s hearts.

            “In contrast to those who rejected Jesus when they saw His works, Simeon knew, when He had done none of them, that He was the Messiah and testified to that glorious truth.”

            Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:  If not for the grace of God when He invaded my life on the 26^th of January 1974, I too would be one of those who were lost and going to a Christless eternity.

            My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord for guidance in order to find different doctors to help with my wife’s cancer.

4/13/2026 9:22 AM

“Simeon’s Proclamation” (Luke 2:28-33)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/12/2026 7:49 AM

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  “Simeon’s Proclamation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 2:28-33

            Message of the verses:  “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.”  And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.”

            Having meet Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, Simeon then took the baby Jesus into his arms.  It is really hard to imagine how thrilled Simeon must have been as he realized that the promise that God had given him came true.  Salvation had come to Israel, and he was holding the consolation of Israel, the Messiah, in his arms which certainly was overwhelming with joy and gratitude, that Simeon then blessed God.

            MacArthur writes that “His song of praise (cf. 1:41-45; 46-55, 67-79; 2:13-14, 38) is known as the Nunc Dimittis (Now Lord), from the first two words of the hymn in Latin.  God was releasing His bond-servant to depart (die) in peace, according to His word of promise revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit.  His hope fulfilled, his joy complete, his heart at peace, Simeon was content to die.  With his own eyes he had seen God’s salvation, personified in the infant Jesus (cf. 1:69; 2:11).  He understood that salvation for Israel involved much more than the national deliverance promised by the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants, whose blessings will not be fully realized until the millennial kingdom.  In the incarnation, Jesus came not to save His people from their enemies, but from their sins (Matt. 1:21; cf. Acts 4:12).”

(Matt. 1:21; cf. Acts 4:12)

“21  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’”

“12  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’”

            Now the next statement that Simeon would give would shock Jewish sensibilities.  Fiercely proud of their status as God’s chosen, covenant people, the Jews believed Messiah was their deliverer.  The problem was that they assumed He would establish their kingdom, which would then rule over the infidel Gentiles.  However the truth that God had prepared salvation in the presence of all peoples, and that Messiah would be a light of revelation to the Gentiles (Acts 26:24), as well as the glory of God’s people Israel (cf. Isa. 46:13; 45:25), ran counter to all their preconceptions.  Even after the resurrection, the apostles still did not truly understand this.  It was shortly before the Lord ascended to heaven that “they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).

(Acts 26:24)

“23  that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.’”

(cf. Isa. 46:13; 45:25)

“13  I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory."

25  In the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory."

            John MacArthur writes that “Centuries of animosity toward the idolatrous Gentiles, whose corrupting influence had contributed to Israel’s downfall, was not easily set aside.  The Jewish believers in Jerusalem were horrified that Peter ‘went to uncircumcised men and ate with them’ (Acts 11:3) because, as Peter reminded the Gentiles gathered in Cornelius’s house, ‘You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him’ (Acts 10:28).  But salvation is offered to all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, since Christ ‘made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of dividing wall’ (Eph. 2:14) and ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for [believers] are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Gal. 3:28).  Thus the Lord directed that ‘repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Luke 24:47; cf. Matt. 28:19-20).

            “Speaking prophetically of Messiah’s ministry Isaiah wrote:

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.  The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. (Isa. 9:1-2; cf. Matt. 4:12-16)

“According to Isaiah 42:6, Messiah would be ‘a light to the nations,’ while in 49:6, the Lord said to Him, ‘it is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation my reach to the end of the earth.’ In Isaiah 51:4-5, God declared, ‘A law will go forth from Me, and I will set My justice for a light of the peoples My righteousness in ear, My salvation has gone forth, and My arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands will wait for Me, and My arm they will wait expectantly.’ Isaiah 52:10 notes that ‘the Lord has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God.’  In Isaiah 60, God once again addressed His Servant, the Messiah;

‘Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.  For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you.  Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. (60:1-2)

            “With each confirmation of their Son’s true identity, Joseph and Mary’s astonishment grew.  After hearing Simeon’s song of praise they were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.  Their son, in every sense a normal human baby, was the Divine Savior of the world, the Messiah who would fulfill as the Old Testament promises of salvation and blessing.”

4/12/2026 8:45 AM

 

“Simeon’s Anointing” (Luke 2:25c-27)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/11/2026 8:03 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus: “Simeon’s Anointing”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference: Luke 2:25c-27

            Message of the verse: “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.  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,

            MacArthur brings out a great point as he begins this SD:  “A common misconception about the Holy Spirit is that His ministry in the lives of God’s people began on the day of Pentecost.  That is not the case, however.  All those who were saved before the cross and Pentecost were saved in the same way as those who were saved afterward-by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9).  And no sinner, ‘dead in…trespasses and sins’ (Eph. 2:1), can come to repentance and faith apart from the work of the Holy Spirit.  ‘The heart is more deceitful than all else, ‘ wrote Jeremiah, ‘and is desperately sick; who can understand it?(Jer. 17:9)’”  That is a wonderful question to ask yourself, for as mentioned in earlier SD’s a person has to realize that they are lost before they can come to Christ for salvation, realize you, as Jeremiah states “desperately sick.”  “Sinners can no more change their hearts by their own efforts than people can change their skin color, or animals the pattern of their fur (Jer. 12:23).  ‘Who can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my son?’ Solomon asked rhetorically (Prov. 20:9).  The obvious answer is no one, since ‘there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one’ (Rom. 3:10-12; cf. Job 15:14; 1 Kings 8:46; Ecc. 7:20; Rom. 3:23).

            “The Holy Spirit convicted people in the Old Testament of their sin, prompted repentance, gave life, elicited faith, and drew them to God.  Apart from His work, no person in any age can ever be justified, sanctified, empowered for service and witness, understand Scripture, or pray in the will of God.  There is, however, a new dimension to the Spirit’s work in the lives of believers after Pentecost.  As Jesus told the disciples in John 14:17 concerning the increased degree of the Spirit’s ministry to them, ‘He abides with you and will be in you.’  Under the old covenant, the Spirit was present in power and person with believers.  But under the New Covenant, His presence with in those who believed and expressed in an unprecedented way (cf. Ezek. 36:26-27).  There was to come for believers a giving of the Spirit which unique power would be provided for ministry and evangelism.  That happened on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was given to believers in a new fullness that became normative for all believers since (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13).”

(Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13)

“9  You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

“13  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

            “Luke’s note that the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon reflects the Spirit’s pre-Pentecost empowering of people to serve and speak for God (cf. Ex. 31:2-3; Num. 11:25; 27:18; Judg. 3:9-10; 11:29; 13:24-25; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Sam. 16:13; 2 Chron. 15:1;  20:14-17; 24:20; Mic. 3:8; Zech. 7:12).  He has already recorded the Holy Spirit’s filling of John the Baptist (1:15), Elizabeth 1:41), and Zacharias (1:67).  As a result of the Spirit’s coming upon 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 (i.e., the Messiah).  A revelation from God had granted a very unusual privilege to this noble saint.  That revelation must have heightened Simeon’s messianic hope to a fever pitch, since he knew that it would be realized in his lifetime. He must have lived in a constant state of joyous expectation, knowing that each new day might bring the Messiah he longed to see.  The knowledge must also have had a sobering effect on him, motivating him to lead a godly life.

            “On the divinely appointed day, forty days after Jesus’ birth, Simeon came in the Spirit (that is, under the Spirit’s leading; cf. Rev. 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10) into the temple.  Unlike naos, which refers to the inner sanctuary, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies (cf. its use in 1:9, 21, 22), hieron (temple) refers to the temple complex as a whole.  It was there, most likely in the Court of the women, that Simeon met Joseph and Mary when they brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law (cf. the exposition of 2:22-24 in the previous chapter of this volume).  Luke does not give the details of how they met, since neither party was looking for or knew the other. The temple, where God met with His people, was a fitting location for Him to providentially arrange for Simeon to meet the God-man, Jesus Christ.”

4/11/2026 8:39 PM