22When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, [Mary and Joseph] brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
The time is up. Your presentation is due. You’ve done your research, you know this person well. The only thing left is to present what you know.
As much as one can prepare for the Super Bowl, the time will still come when you have to actually play and perform and execute what you know.
So now, you don’t have a choice. Your presentation is due. The spotlight is on you.
So in front of everyone, including God, with the heat on and probably with shaking knees, a racing heart and nervous-filled voice, go ahead and start to present, and don’t hide anything you know, start telling what you know about…yourself.
Today is Feb. 2, the day the Church has set aside for us to consider the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of our Lord in the temple.
22When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, [Mary and Joseph] brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
That happened in the temple 40 days after the birth of baby Jesus and Christmas Day, was exactly 40 days ago, so that’s why today could be especially good to consider the presentation of our Lord.
And there could be a lot we could consider. The Old Testament history of the rescue from slavery in Egypt, the Ten plagues and the death of the firstborn male, from the firstborn of the cattle, to the firstborn of the servants, to the firstborn Pharoah and the highest authorities unless your house was marked by the blood of a lamb, along deep theological truths about the sacrificial system and the firstborn son belonging to God until redeemed by blood are all tied up in this day.
But you probably want to get home before the game starts today, so we’ll simply consider these three points:
- How Jesus presented himself. 2. How we are presented before our Lord, and 3. how we should present ourselves to God and the world.
1) How did Jesus present Himself?
One of the reasons we get so nervous about presentations before others is that we might mess up in our presentation. We might appear foolish. We might be judged harshly.
Sometimes there’s a lot riding on a presentation – job offers, promotions, firings, grades, other certain punishments and awards. What certain people think matter, not only for your self-esteem, but for your future.
When presentation times comes due for 40 day old baby Jesus, through Joseph and Mary, Jesus presents Himself according to the Law of the Lord. (4x….Law of Moses, Law of the Lord, custom of the Law)
The Lord and His law matters for Jesus on this day and then for the rest of His life.
Everything in Jesus life is according to the Law of the Lord, everything about faith and prayer and listening to God’s Word,
And everything about love of neighbor and honoring His father and mother and not stealing or murdering or harming his neighbor with His tongue in thoughts, words, or deeds,
Jesus presents Himself and does everything according to the Law of the Lord perfectly.
When presentation time comes due, Jesus has no reason to be judged harshly based on His game plan or His execution. Everything is done according to the Law of the Lord.
Our hymn, “Go to Dark Gethsemane,” gives us a different scene of Jesus presenting Himself before God.
The hymns puts us in a time right before Jesus is about to present Himself to God as He was sent to – not to promote Himself but to be judged, punished and condemned for us.
He didn’t need to live a perfect life for Himself – He is God and was always with the Father.
He didn’t have to present Himself to be judged based on what He did – He was judge of all presentations.
But Jesus presents Himself 40 days after His birth and then Jesus presents Himself in Gethsemane so we might know exactly how we will be presented.
When presentation times comes due, let’s not consider first our nervousness and shaking knees and quivering voice, but let’s go to dark gethsemane and consider Jesus whose knees were bent and whose voice was quivering, “Father, remove this cup from me, yet not my will be done, but your will be done.”
When presentation times comes due for to present yourself before God, and it will be especially evident on the day of our day, but presentation times comes due today, our Lord is here we cannot hide what we’ve done,
what God knows about us,
how we haven’t fulfilled His commands according to the Law of the Lord,
how God sometimes matters and sometimes He doesn’t,
How sometimes our gameplan is wrong and we ought be judged based on our thoughts,
Or how sometimes our gameplan is good and we have the best of intentions, but we still sin our deeds and the good we wanted to do, we didn’t do,
but our hymn and our reading doesn’t have us considering what we deserve, but how Jesus presents Himself for us and how Jesus presents Himself to us.
Today and always, even on the death of your death, when you are presented for your God,
You are presented as holy, redeemed, and saved.
We won’t appear foolish, but wise in Christ. We won’t be judged harshly, for there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 1 says this:
Through Christ, God has reconciled to Himself all things, making peace by the blood of Jesus…in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him. (Col 1:19-23)
Our Lord wants you to know He doesn’t see you as you might see yourself.
He doesn’t see your failures, but the righteousness of Jesus that covers you.
So, if we come with shaking knee’s, we leave with a Lord who says, “Rise up, raise your heads, you’re redeemed.”
If we come with a nervous filled voice and a racing heart, we leave with a Lord who opened up His heart on the cross and gives us access to His grace and help so we can pour out of hearts that are so often filled with sorrow and grief and anxiousness to receive a peace that passes all understanding.
Jesus is here to present Himself to you to prove to you what He thinks of you, how He sees you.
Today in our Readings, the moment that Jesus presents Himself, Simeon sings a song about how he can depart in peace.
Lord, now let your servant depart in peace.
And that’s your song, too.
So, finally, if that’s how we are presented before God, how are we to present ourselves to the world:
St. Paul in Romans 12 says we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Rom. 12),
In 2 Timothy, St. Paul says especially of pastors, but it’s true for all of us. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed.
The Lord and His law matters for us.
As one’s loved, we present ourselves as loving.
As one’s whose sin is covered, we forgive.
We see others differently, because we know how we are seen.
We present ourselves and others differently, because we know how we are presented.