Luke 2:27-32 - Nunc Dimittis

2:27

“Moved by the Spirit ..” Sometimes people mock Christians if they say they were moved by the Holy Spirit to do a simple action, and undoubtedly we can sometimes be spiritual nutcases, but the Spirit does sometimes move us to do the most mundane things. Here the Spirit urged Simeon to move to the temple courts at the time when Jesus would be there. It was vital that this happened, otherwise Simeon would never have seen the Messiah. “To do for Him what the custom of the Law required”. So again we see Law and Spirit in operation together.

2:28-32

It doesn’t actually say that the Spirit inspired Simeon to say this hymn of praise, but we are probably safe to assume that it was the Spirit’s unction. As with the other songs, there is a Latin name for this one, Nunc Dimittis, meaning “now dismiss”. Simeon had been holding on to the promise of God. Simeon had been looking for the consolation of Israel. God might have said to him that he just had to trust God, but He didn’t. God said he would see a concrete sign, and indeed he did. Several times in the gospels we read of the Pharisees asking for a sign and they got a frosty reception from Jesus. Simeon here receives a sign. Why the difference? The Pharisees (and others) asked out of doubt, Simeon believed. If we have faith, simple trust in God, then we will receive far more than if we have a doubting/demanding attitude. 

Simeon also knew what the salvation was, that is glory for Israel and salvation for the Gentiles, for all people. He was not narrowly focused on Israel, nor was he neglectful of Israel. Right from the first promise to Abraham the global reach of God’s salvation was made clear, and this theme occurs several times in the Old Testament, especially in the book of Isaiah.

Luke 2:22-26 - At the temple

2:22-24

Luke has been careful to show how Jesus came from a “good Jewish” background, a background that involved faithfully observing the Law. This was important because most of the early opposition to the gospel came from the Jewish religion. A key question was whether the gospel was the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets, or opposed to them. Luke is clearly presenting the case that Jesus and the gospel are the fulfilment of the Law and Prophets, entirely consistent with them, and he is doing this by describing the early life of Jesus. Lev 12:1-8 describe the purification rites after childbirth. This took place forty days after the birth. Jesus was also dedicated to the Lord (Ex 13:2,12). Again in keeping with the Law, a sacrifice was offered (Lev 12:8).

2:25,26

Now although Mary and Joseph were going through the time honoured practice of following the Law something unusual was going to happen. There was a man called Simeon there, he was “righteous and devout”, ie another good Jewish man. Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel, ie the salvation that the Messiah would bring. The Holy Spirit was also upon him.

“It had been revealed to him ...” We are not told when this happened, presumably some considerable time before the event we are reading of now. Throughout the Bible we read of the Holy Spirit communicating to people, and this still happens today. Now there are some, called cessationists, who claim the gifts of the spirit, in particular tongues and prophecy, ceased and are no longer necessary since we have the full canon of Scripture. These arguments are both nonsensical and unbiblical. Now there are plenty of “prophets” who are nothing of the sort and who babble a load of nonsense, but the teaching of Scripture is clear. God speaks to His people. He does this primarily through the Bible, but that is not the only means. Every other communication must be measured against the Bible and in no way supersedes it, but from Genesis to Revelation God has communicated with His people as individuals and as a body on a personal level, and there is no reason whatsoever to believe He has stopped doing so.

So God had spoken to Simeon personally, revealed to him that he would see the Messiah. God spoke to him, and God had a purpose in doing so.

Luke 2:16-21 - Amazed

2:16-18

So the shepherds hurried off and went to see Mary, Joseph and the baby. Note that very few details are given. After that they went and spread the news about what they had been told. So there are one or two important points here, mostly related to parallels with the spread of the gospel. First, they spread the word, just as the apostles and others were doing with the gospel itself. Secondly they spread the word about what they had been told. In one sense seeing the baby Jesus was secondary to what the angels had told them, and it really couldn’t be any other way. What had they seen? They had seen a baby in a manger, so what? Without the words of the angel telling them who this child was they could not have worked out the true significance of the event. So it is with the gospel. The facts of the gospel are clearly important, Jesus did die on the cross, and He did rise again, but we need the words of the gospel to reveal the true significance of these events. At the time of writing there is a big debate about some words of Andy Stanley, an American mega-church pastor, saying that we should tell people just about the cross before introducing them to the Bible (this is a very brief and inadequate summary, Google it and you will find much more detail). The key point is that we need the Word to reveal the significance of the events.

2:19-21

Imagine what Mary was thinking. She had indeed become pregnant by means of a supernatural conception. She had given birth to a boy. At one level the baby was just a normal baby, He wasn’t born with a halo over His head. But then these shepherds arrive saying they had seen angels and that the baby was the Messiah, confirming what the angel had said to her. So she pondered these things in her heart. We should dwell on the words that God speaks, and the things He does in our life. The shepherds, meanwhile, were just full of joy.

“On the eighth day ..” Circumcision on the eighth day was part of the Law, Jesus was brought up a Jew and was born to good Jewish parents. Note that He was not born to a priestly family. John was, and he pointed the way to Jesus. Jesus was a priest, but of a different order, not of the Levitical order, as the letter to the Hebrews explains. So the Levitical priesthood was not “it”, but was pointing to the true priesthood, that of Jesus Christ.

Luke 2:13-15 - A heavenly host

2:13,14

A great company of the heavenly host appeared. We are not told exactly what the heavenly host is, though in Revelation we perhaps get a glimpse of what it is. Anyway, the praise of God that occurs in heaven has come to earth. In Revelation 21:3 we read that the dwelling of God is with man. In Christ God came to dwell with man, and this brings with it the praise of God. At Christ’s first coming He came to deal with the problem of sin, to bring us back to Himself. At the second coming He will come in all His glory. We are in the inbetween time. Our sin has been paid for on the cross, and Christ is still calling people back to Himself, and we who already believe are experiencing the continuing work of sanctification. But we can also get a glimpse of the heavenly praise.

The “hymn” (albeit rather short) is called Gloria in Excelsis Deo, again after the Latin. The letters in the New Testament usually start with “grace and peace”. Here peace is part of the exultation. Knowing God and peace go together.

2:15

After the angels had left (implying that the heavenly host consisted of angels) and returned to heaven, the shepherds set off to Bethlehem. They had just witnessed an amazing sight, and one that was at first terrifying. However, they did not dwell on the experience for its own sake, but instead acted on the words of the angel and went to Bethlehem. They accepted the words as the word of the Lord and obeyed it. In our lives we may have times of special experiences of the presence of God. This is good, but we need to appreciate these times in the proper way. We are not to dwell on them nostalgically, but are to act on the Word of God.

Luke 2:8-12 - Lying in a manger

2:8-10

The King of Kings and Lord or Lords had come to visit earth, but He had little interest in kings of the earth. He was born in a manger, and some of the first people to be given an audience with the King were shepherds. The shepherds were just going about their business when an angel of the Lord appeared, this angel is not named. The glory of the Lord appeared as well, not surprisingly the shepherds were afraid. The angel tells them not to fear because they were bringing good news that would bring great joy for all people. So many people fight against the Lord, resisting the gospel. If only they would repent and believe they would discover indescribable joy. 

2:11,12

Jesus is described as Saviour, Messiah and Lord. His whole personage is more or less summed up in these three words. Jesus is the one who saves us from our sins. He is the Messiah, the chosen one of God. He is God’s chosen instrument to bring about His plans on earth. The salvation is personal, but it is not just personal, it applies to the whole of mankind, and to the whole of creation. Then He is Lord. Any idea of Christ that omits or neglects His Lordship is a false idea. Jesus is Lord was perhaps the earliest credal affirmation. 

So how would they know that this was happening? What would they see? They would see a baby lying in a manger, wrapped in cloths. Unusual things were happening, and in an unusual way.

Luke 2:3-7 - Placed in a Manger

2:3,4

So everyone went to their home town. Joseph was of the house of David and lineage of David, so he went to Bethlehem. Micah 5:2 says: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” 2:5-7 We are very familiar with nativity plays, we need to be aware that nativity plays embroider the Biblical accounts somewhat. For instance you will look in vain for mention of a donkey. Also the innkeeper is sometimes made out to be rather mean in refusing to give them a room. Again, that is not part of the Biblical account. It is simply that the town was busy and there were no rooms left. What is Biblical is that Mary was pregnant and gave birth while they were in Bethlehem. A manger was a feeding trough for the animals. It would have been quite natural for Joseph and Mary to feel rather embarrassed about the whole situation, though the angel’s visiting of both Mary and Joseph may have reassured them somewhat.

Luke 2:1,2 - Census

2:1

Caesar Augustus reigned 31BC to 14 AD. “In those days” might indicate that Luke did not know the exact date of the decree. “All the world” clearly means the Roman world, not the whole earth. This is worth bearing in mind as when talking about Noah and the flood there is sometimes a heated debate over whether or not the flood was a regional flood or did actually cover the whole earth. It really would seem that it is not worth getting overly excited about the point, and those who think it was a regional flood are not necessarily doubting the word of God! Like all governments, the Romans wanted to know exactly what was going on so they could better control and tax the people. As empires increase in size they find it progressively harder to govern, and eventually lose control altogether.

2:2

Josephus says that Quirinius was governor of Syria AD 6-7, and conducted a census in 6 AD. Luke mentions this in Acts 5:37. Sceptics love to say that this proves Luke didn’t know what he was talking about but the Acts reference indicates that Luke most definitely did not mean AD 6 census. Moreover, the 6AD census occurred after the death of Herod. Various “solutions” have been proposed, including:

• Quirinius was the “governor” of the census, ie in charge of it, but not the governor of Syria at the time.
• The text could be translated “this was the registration before Quirinius was governor of Syria” (see footnote in NIV or ESV)
• Another proposal is that Quirinius had two periods of office, though there is no historical evidence to support this hypothesis.

Currently there isn’t a completely satisfactory answer, probably because we have incomplete knowledge. I suspect that eventually evidence will be found that there was indeed a census around 5 BC, but at present there is no such evidence. At the same time there is insufficient evidence to prove that Luke “got it wrong”. The correct approach to these sorts of things is simply to accept the current situation as it is.

A very useful discussion of the matter can be found here.