The text for this lesson is Luke 2:22–40
Key Point
- God’s Law requires payment for every sin. God’s Son fulfilled the Law and paid for our sin.
- Law: God’s Law demands perfection, but I am not perfect.
- Gospel: As God and man, Jesus lived a perfect life to satisfy the Law in my place.
Discussion Points
- Nearly everyone loves to hold a little baby! What would you do if you actually got to hold an infant who was also the very Son of God? Would you be able to comprehend that the well-being of the whole world rested on that little tyke?
- Read Luke 2:22–24. How does the infant Jesus keep the Law and show us His salvation when He is only forty days old? See Exodus 13:2, 12–15 and Leviticus 12:2–8.
- Read Luke 2:25–35. Who is Simeon? What is he waiting for? See also 1 John 2:1. What had the Holy Spirit revealed to him? What does he do when he finally sees the infant Jesus?
- Look at Luke 2:34–38. What does it mean that Jesus “ is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed”? What is the “sword” that would pierce Mary’s soul? The shepherds told others of Jesus’ birth. How does Anna echo Simeon’s prophecy in what she says to others?
- Read Luke 2:39–40. What does it mean that “the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom”?
- Simeon’s song, the Nunc Dimittis, shows up in different places in our Christian liturgy: after the Lord’s Supper in the Divine Service, at the end of the day in Compline (Prayer at the Close of the Day; LSB, pp. 253–59), and in the Funeral Service (LSB, pp. 278–81). What are we confessing as we sing Simeon’s song at these different times?
