Sermon - Christmas 1, 2024, Series C - Luke 2:22-40

The Presentation of the Christ Child in the Temple, Phillippe de Champaigne, 1648

The Lord Redeems by the sacrifice of the firstborn Son

1. The Lord’s wrath passed over the Israelites, but killed the firstborn sons of man and beast, and only spared the Israelites through death of a lamb

2. The firstborn males had to continue to be given to the Lord; beasts were sacrificed, sons were redeemed

3. Jesus is the ultimate firstborn Son of God, set apart to the Lord, and is also the Lamb of God, who is sacrificed for the redemption of all of God’s people, so that we may go in peace.

Merry Christmas! 

The first Sunday of Christmas, today, we hear of perhaps a strange thing happening to Jesus. At forty days old His parents had to take Him to Jerusalem and present Him to the Lord at the temple. For this purification of Mary and presentation of Jesus, a sacrifice had to be made. The requirement was really that a lamb had to be sacrificed, but if the parents couldn’t afford to sacrifice a lamb, then a pair of turtledoves or pigeons could be sacrificed instead.

But when you hear that, you probably wonder ‘why?’ What was the purpose of this? That’s a good question to ask, and this is the right way to read the Bible. It’s expected of every Christian to ask questions about why we do and believe what we do. This is what we learn to do from Exodus 13. “And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him…” We children of God should ask what these things mean. When you’re reading the scriptures and something seems unclear to you, it can be especially helpful to ask why this thing is happening. Children naturally ask these questions to the exhaustion of their parents. But as adults we need to relearn curiosity. I know the Roman Catholics often call their priests ‘father,’ and in some ways I think that’s helpful because if we think of the pastor as our father and ourselves as children it ought to encourage us to become like little children and ask questions.

Almost always when you ask these “why” questions it’s going to lead you to Jesus and His sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. That’s especially true with today’s ‘why?’ question. Thankfully, the answer to the question is provided clearly in the Bible. God knows fathers don’t know all of the answers, and so the Lord provides the answers in the scriptures. So, “when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

Today, the first Sunday of Christmas, we learn that the Lord redeems by the sacrifice of the firstborn Son. So let’s unpack this and dive in! The firstborn son of man or beast needing to be sacrificed or redeemed finds its origin in the first Passover and the Exodus out of Egypt. This is a very familiar story, so I’m sure you’re well acquainted with it, but let’s recount it for a moment and bring it to our attention.

The Israelites landed in Egypt after Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers, and then raised up into second in command of Egypt so as to store up enough grain to endure a terrible famine. Joseph’s family, the Israelites, ended up moving to Egypt in order to be preserved during this famine. Over generations however the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. The Lord raised up Moses, an Israelite, to lead the people out of Egypt. Pharaoh refused to let them go, so the Lord sent ten plagues upon Egypt in order to force the Egyptians to let the Israelites go.

The final plague was that the Lord would send an angel of death to kill the firstborn son of every man and beast. However, the Lord made a provision so that the angel of death would pass over every household that sacrificed a spotless male lamb and spread its blood upon the frame of the door. In this way the firstborn son of each household was redeemed by the sacrifice of the lamb. But for the Egyptians who didn’t have faith in the Lord, and didn’t redeem their sons with the blood of a lamb, the Lord killed their sons.

Indeed, the Israelites understood quite clearly that, “By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” The Lord God is not nice in the way that we think of niceness. He is just, righteous, and good, and that means justice must be carried out upon the wicked in order to preserve God’s people. The Lord is not weak, He does not idly stand by, He has a strong hand, and it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

In order that the Israelites might always remember the strong hand of the Lord that delivered them from slavery, God established the rule: “You shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb.” Not the daughters mind you, but only the firstborn sons. I know this is not politically correct, but it matters because of Jesus; the firstborn sons were set apart to the Lord, not the daughters.

Now, understand that when something is set apart to the Lord, that means that it is sacrificed. However, donkeys and humans were not sacrificed, instead they were redeemed by the sacrifice of a lamb. Donkeys were not sacrificed because they were unclean, and unclean animals could not be sacrificed and pollute the altar of God. However, donkeys were useful to the Israelites, and so this unclean animal was redeemed by the death of a clean animal. Humans were not sacrificed because the Lord strictly forbade sacrificing people, even though this was (and still is) a common practice among pagans. So the firstborn son was also redeemed by the sacrifice of a lamb.

When Jesus was brought to the temple at forty days old, His parents were following this instruction, and so remembering that, “By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.” They were continuing to remember that the Lord’s wrath passes over His people at the sacrifice of an unblemished lamb. Jesus however is different from every other firstborn son presented at the temple. For this Jesus is not only the first born son who opened the womb of Mary, but He is the only-begotten Son of the Heavenly Father. As we will hear at Jesus’ baptism, the Father declares: “This is My beloved Son.” Jesus is set apart in service to the heavenly Father.

On top of that, Jesus is also, as John the Baptist declares of Him: “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus was the Passover Lamb, the sinless, spotless, firstborn, male Lamb who was sacrificed and His blood was shed in order that God’s wrath may pass over us. Jesus is not presented in the temple in order that God’s wrath passes over Him, but in order that He may be the Lamb that redeems all of us. Jesus’ presentation in the temple is the first fulfillment of every other firstborn son being presented in the temple and redeemed by the blood of a lamb, for in Jesus, the Lamb of God, all of those sons were redeemed. Every other lamb sacrificed in the temple was but a sign meant to point the Israelites to Jesus who is the true spotless lamb of God.

Simeon declares this when he holds the infant Jesus in his arms and says: “My eyes have seen Your salvation.” I’m convinced that as Simeon said those words he looked at Jesus, and addressed those words to the Christ child, because Jesus is Simeon’s Lord who now lets Simeon depart in peace. After a lifetime of sacrificing lambs for firstborn sons, here is the true Lamb of God who redeems all of Israel and Simeon himself. 

Where are we in all of this? I love it, we’re the donkeys! We’re the unclean who have been redeemed in the blood of the Lamb of God! We’re Anna, giving thanks to God for we have now received redemption from sin and death. We’re Simeon, who see the salvation of the Lord, who see the Light for revelation and for glory! We’re Joseph and Mary marveling at what the Lord has done for us. For in just a moment you will sing these words after partaking of the sacrament, before you leave this sanctuary, boasting that the Lord is now letting His servants depart in peace, for our eyes have seen under the bread and wine the body and blood of Jesus and the Lord’s salvation for us. Merry Christmas!