From: "Chad L Bird" To: "Historic Preaching" Subject: HP: Presentation of our Lord Date: Friday, February 01, 2002 2:20 PM SERMON ON LUKE 2:22-40 THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD (2/2/02) THE REV. PROF. CHAD L. BIRD KRAMER CHAPEL, CTS, FT. WAYNE As the Church travels forward, she always does so facing backward. Not face-first, but back-first, she marches onward toward the Omega of her existence. This is so not because she stares misty-eyed at years gone by, nor because she lacks the backbone to stare the future in the face. No, the Church has eyes only for past for it is only in the past that she beholds her future. The heavenly Jerusalem toward which she journeys, the slain yet living Lamb, the River and Tree of Life, a new and better Eden – these images of heaven are painted with the colors of the past. The Old Testament, it turns out, is never quite as old as we think. Consider, for example, the Presentation of our Lord. When Israel exited Egypt, she left behind a nation transformed into a morgue. Every unbloodied door had become the unlocked portal for the Destroyer. The first-born sons of Egypt were killed while the first-born sons of YHWH lived. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son. From that time on, the first-born sons of Israel belonged to their God. They were holy to the Lord. And just as the Lord has sacrificed every first-born son in Egypt, so every first-born son in Israel had to be sacrificed to the Lord – not literally but through a substitute. Just as the first-born Israelites had been redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb, so all future generations of first-born sons would be redeemed. When their sons were 40 days old, the mothers of Israel would carry them to the temple, where sacrifices would be offered to purify the mother and redeem the son. And so it came to pass that an Israelite mother named Mary carried her 40-day-old first-born son to the temple. Here, the Mother of Purity Incarnate, who needed no sacrifice for purification, offered the sacrifice for purification anyway. And here, the First-born Son, who needed no redemption, offered the price for redemption anyway. And in so doing, the lips of Moses were forever sewn shut, that his legal tongue may accuse you no more. For the law has been out-lawed, out-done, by the One who was under no compulsion to bow to its demands, but bowed anyway that He might shut up the law forever for you. But there is more, for the First-born of Mary is presented not as one who needs redemption, but as the one who comes to accomplish redemption. He enters the temple to fill it with His greater glory, as Haggai had prophesied, but it is a glory whose shimmer and shine are dulled by the paint of blood. He is the Glory of God’s people, Israel, as Simeon sings, but He is no longer the Cloud of Glory, nor the Angel of Glory, but the Crucified of Glory. He will not dwell between the Cherubim and hear “Holy, holy, holy” chanted into His ears, but will dwell between the thieves and hear “Crucify him, crucify him, crucify him” growled into His ears. His holy of holies will be an unholy, cursed tree. Yahweh will hang naked before the naked eye of man but no one who sees God shall die but God Himself. In His sacrifice, this Son of YHWH becomes a son of Egypt that all you sons of Egypt might become sons of YHWH in Him. The First-born Son of the Father is made to be your substitute. The tenth and final plague falls on His shoulders. And eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son. The Destroyer is destroyed. And you? You are spared, passed over, for His blood is painted on your tongue with the brush of the chalice. Paul calls Christ the First-born among many brethren and Hebrews calls His Body the Church of the First-born. For here is the mystery of God, that packed into the flesh and bones of Jesus are all of you. You are woven into the fabric of His humanity. In this First-born Son of the Father, you are thus also First-born. You are presented to the Father on this 40th day; you are sacrificed on His cross; and you are raised to undying life in Him, the First-born from the dead. He who was made to be like His brethren in all things now makes you, His brethren, to be like Himself in all things, so that it is no longer you who live but the First-born Son who lives in you. His Father is your Father, His Virgin-Mother is your Virgin-Mother, and in His human nature you are made partakers of His divine nature. He who is presented in the temple on this day bids you walk backward toward the future, seeing the Maternal OT pregnant with the future, visibly showing what is to come. For in many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets . . . and still does. Amen. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Rev. Prof. Chad L. Bird Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, IN Study: (219) 452-3214 + Historic Preaching + The Historic Preaching list is devoted to preaching on the Propers of the Historic Lectionary as found in The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH) and Service Book and Hymnal (SBH). Subscribe? Send ANY message to: Unsubscribe? Send ANY message to: Respond? Click 'Reply' or write to For further information about this list, contact the list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski or visit our website: + + + + + +