"The Piercing Sword" First Sunday after Christmas Commemoration of David December 29, 2013 Luke 2:33–40
Jesus was still a baby when aged Simeon got his look at Him. Holding Jesus in his arms, Simeon spoke astonishing things about Him. Luke says as much, “And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.” Simeon had held the baby Jesus in his arms and had spoken of Jesus in this way, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” His prayer was that God’s promise to him came true, He held God’s Son in his arms. He held salvation in his arms. No wonder Joseph and Mary marveled at what was spoken of Jesus. And yet it was after this that Simeon then said, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed.” Luke doesn’t tell us Joseph and Mary’s reaction to this. What could this mean? What was in store for this baby God had given them to raise? What kind of opposition would come about through this little child as He grew to adulthood? And then there was the kicker. Simeon, speaking directly to the Mother of our Lord, said, “and a sword will pierce through your own soul also.” What was Mary to think of this prophecy of a sword piercing her soul? She was simply trying to raise her firstborn child. After giving birth to Jesus in less than ideal conditions, and after shepherds coming to see the birth of the Savior, Luke says that Mary “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” I imagine she had some pondering to do after this day as well, with all that Simeon had spoken of her Son. The good news of the birth of the Savior would give way to opposition. The joy of the birth of her Son would give way to a sword piercing her own soul. As she raised her precious little baby she would ponder much and continue to pray to her Heavenly Father for the wisdom, the courage, the strength to carry on; to be faithful as a mother, to be faithful as a servant of her Son, her Lord. All that would come with it, the joy, worries, and the coming piercing sword—she would need her Lord’s strength to carry on through it all. Do you think Mary thought back to the first birth? Her mother in the faith, Eve, was promised a child as well. The mother of all the living was given a baby, and Eve actually thought her baby was the one that God ended up sending in the pregnancy of Mary. Eve ended up finding out the promise of the birth of the Son, of the Savior from God, would not come from her womb, but through her lineage. Mary was the one who would give birth to the Savior God had promised through the lineage of Eve. This is what the angel Gabriel had said to Mary: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” How could Mary not have thought back to that promise made to Eve? Of all the women down through the ages God had chosen her. To receive such grace, Mary could only marvel and rejoice, as she said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” When Adam and Eve fell into sin God cursed them. He began with the serpent: “The LORD God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.’” This was the first promise of the Savior, almost immediately after Adam and Eve fell into sin. It came in the form of a curse upon Satan. Satan is the great enemy, always at enmity with God. He will now be at enmity with the woman’s offspring. Eve heard this and took it to heart, giving thanks to God when she gave birth, believing that her son was the one God had promised to defeat Satan. Since Mary was the one God showed His favor on for this marvelous blessing of giving birth to this Savior, Mary had a connection with the first mother, Eve. But this would come at a cost. For Mary it went far beyond the curse God laid upon Eve and every mother from then on, as it says in Genesis: “To the woman he said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.’” No, for Mary, the blessed mother of God, there would be a sword. Giving birth to Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the world, would mean the fulfillment of the promise given in the curse upon Satan: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” God would defeat Satan, He would crush Satan’s head. But it would come at a cost. Satan would bruise Jesus’ heal. The offspring of Eve, the son of Mary, would pay this cost with His life. Satan would inflict a wound on Jesus that would be as a sword piercing through the soul of Mary. Watching her Son die on the cross, Mary would not be able to help but think if there were some other way Jesus saving people from their sin could come about. The agony Jesus experienced on the cross cannot be comprehended. He knew also that this was bringing to fulfillment the words of dear old Simeon, that Jesus’ own suffering and death for the sin of the world was piercing a sword through His own mother’s soul. Even as He was being forsaken by His Heavenly Father His own heart was going out to His dear Mother’s heart. That a sword pierced Mary's heart gives us an inkling of the sorrow experienced when Jesus was suffering on the cross. We can't imagine the suffering Jesus went through. Nor can we understand what His Father went through. God smote His Son. He forsook Him. He never ceased being His eternal Father but nor did He refuse to act in salvation in pouring out His wrath on His Son in order to save us. The pain this caused Him to do this to His very own Son is unimaginable. So we don't try to imagine it. We simply marvel in it, that God would love us so much that He would do this in order to save us. The pain Mary experienced is much more understandable to us. We can grieve along with her as she sees her Son suffering in such a way. We can never comprehend it fully since only she was the mother of our Lord. But we know what it feels like to see our loved ones suffer as we stand by helplessly. We know the pain of witnessing our loved ones go through something excruciating and wish we could go through it in their place. This is what dear Mary was going through. Jesus knew this. His agony at knowing what His mother was going through exceeded what she was experiencing. But He also knew that the path to love is sacrifice and she was called upon to make this sacrifice of giving birth to the Savior and raising Him so that He could suffer in just such a way. She knew what was coming, Simeon had prepared her for it. A sword will pierce your own soul also. The sword that pierces the soul is obviously painful. It has to be. It is a sword. It pierces. It penetrates to the very core of your being. And yet what pierced Mary was not an actual sword. Simeon was speaking metaphorically. What she would experience would be as if an actual sword pierced her soul. It was a wrenching experience. And it must have only gotten worse as she witnessed the soldier pierce her Son with an actual sword. Right through the side, blood and water flowing out. It made no difference that He was at this point already dead. It might have made it more painful to watch. Couldn't they have just left Him alone now? No, they couldn't. They were there to make sure He died. If He wasn't dead at this point they would have to break His legs so that He could no longer push up and take the pressure off His lungs so that He could continue to breathe. The soldiers saw that He was already dead, so there was no need to break His legs. They had to be sure though. They had a job to do and they were going to carry it out. One of the soldiers took a sword and pierced the side of Jesus to see if He was in fact dead. Blood and water flowed out. His life had left Him. But what this means for you and me is that His life is poured out into you and me. The soldier was just doing His job but in so doing brought about the picture of what Jesus' suffering and death accomplished. Sins were paid for, forgiveness was won. Forgiveness and salvation are poured out into the Baptismal font and into the chalice of Christ's Holy Supper. The piercing of Jesus' side was agony for Mary to witness but she was witnessing the very lifeblood of her Son being poured out for her and Christ's holy Church. The piercing sword is painful. But it is necessary. You and I need our hearts to be pierced through. The sword is a double-edged sword. God's slicing through your sinful flesh is painful but necessary to bring you to repentance. His healing word of the Gospel gives you forgiveness, life, and salvation. As Mary was strengthened through the experience of being pierced with God's sword, so are you and I. Mary served her Lord by raising Him as her Son. In so doing she served His Holy Church. That's you and me. Since we have been served in such a way, how much more do we serve. The blood and water that has flowed from the pierced side of Jesus into our lives in Baptism and the Lord's Supper flows from us into others' lives as we serve them and forgive them and sacrifice for them. Some people may never know the love of Christ in His suffering and death except through our selfless acts of love and sacrifice for them. When they experience this kind of love, they are experiencing Christ's love through us and there is opportunity to show them where our love has come from—that we are simply loving as Christ has loved us. That we could never love in such a self-sacrificing way on our own but through Christ we can love them and forgive them and make sacrifices for them. We of course need continual forgiveness for when we fail to love others in such a way. But the blood and water that streamed from the side of Jesus is an ever-flowing stream. We daily live in Baptism. We eat and drink often of our Lord's body and blood. We need to continue to be loved and forgiven by our Lord in these ways. Only then are we able to love and serve others. Only then are we able to see the joy in sacrificing for others. Only then do we finally come to see what Mary saw. The piercing sword is painful, but in it comes the vision of the most glorious love: the suffering of our lord on the cross for the sin of the world. Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
