The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2015Sample

I Need a Saviour

“Lecrae” (Moore), is a rapper, entrepreneur, record-producer and actor. He speaks for many of us when he says, ‘I’m not a Christian because I’m strong and have it all together. I’m a Christian because I’m weak and admit I need a saviour’.

The world is looking for a saviour. The Canadian musician, Lights, expresses this in the lyrics of her song, ‘Saviour’:

The amazing truth of Christianity is that in Jesus we do have a saviour. Each of today’s passages shows us how we should respond to this extraordinary good news.

Psalm 35:1-10

1. Call out to God your Saviour

At any time, you can call out to God for help.

Life is a battle. If we fly God’s flag there are bound to be those who will be out to get us. David prays that God would contend with those who contend against him (v.1a).

He prays, ‘Fight against those who fight against me … arise and come to my aid … Say to me, “I am your salvation” ’ (vv.1b–3). Or as The Message puts it, ‘Reassure me; let me hear you say, “I’ll save you” ’ (v.3, MSG).

When you are under attack it is easy to feel that it must be your fault. But twice David repeats that their desire to trap him is ‘without cause’ (v.7). He prays to God to rescue him: ‘then my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in his salvation’ (v.9).

Your enemies may be stronger than you. David faced ‘hecklers’, ‘bullies’ and ‘thugs try[ing] to knife [him] in the back’ (v.1,4, MSG). But God is the Saviour who rescues and ‘protects the unprotected’ (v.10b, MSG).

God’s ultimate rescue is the salvation that is in Jesus. I love the song written by Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan that celebrates this salvation. Let’s use these words as prayer and worship:

Luke 2:21-40

2. Look to Jesus as your Saviour

Jesus is the Saviour of the world. The angel had announced the birth of a ‘Saviour’ (v.11). In this passage we see how on the eighth day he was named ‘Jesus’ which means ‘the Lord saves’.

His parents take him to Jerusalem ‘to present him to the Lord’ and ‘to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord’ (vv.22–24). Jesus is the ultimate fulfilment of all the offerings and sacrifices we read about in the Old Testament.

• Look to Jesus to receive peace
  Simeon takes Jesus in his arms and says to the Lord, ‘My eyes have seen your salvation’ (v.30). To see Jesus is to see salvation. Seeing Jesus gives Simeon ‘peace’ (v.29b).
• Look to Jesus to see what God is like
  Jesus is a light that reveals God. He is ‘a light for revelation to the Gentiles’ (v.32a). It is impossible to know God unless he reveals himself to us. Yet God has done just that in Jesus. Jesus shows us what God is like. Jesus said, ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the father’ (John 14:9). Jesus fully reveals God for everyone.
• Look to Jesus for grace and truth
  Jesus is a light who brings glory: ‘the glory of your people Israel’ (Luke 2:32b). The word ‘glory’ speaks of God’s excellence, beauty, greatness and perfection. God is glorious. Israel had glory because God had lived among them, first in the tabernacle in the desert (as written about in today’s Old Testament passage), and then in the temple in Jerusalem.

With Jesus, Israel came to see God’s glory in its truest and fullest sense. As John writes of Jesus, ‘We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14b). Jesus brings glory to Israel and to us, because Jesus is God coming to live among us.

Tragically though, many people reject the revelation and glory of God that we see in Jesus. Simeon prophesies about this, ‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed’ (Luke 2:34–35).

Being so closely associated with Jesus brings great blessing but also suffering. When we see people reject Jesus we get a tiny glimpse of what Mary must have experienced, ‘And a sword will pierce your own soul too’ (v.35).

This great suffering of Mary lay in the future. In the meantime she had the joy of seeing Jesus growing up and becoming ‘strong’. ‘He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him’ (v.40). ‘Wisdom’ and ‘grace’ are characteristics of the Saviour.

Lord, give me eyes like Simeon to see your salvation in the world today. Thank you that looking to Jesus brings me peace. Give me grace and wisdom today for all my decisions, meetings and conversations.

Numbers 7:1-65

3. Worship the Saviour of the world

Most new parents have a deep sense that God has given them their baby, but it must have been even more so for Mary and Joseph that day in the temple as they gave back to God the miracle baby he had given them.

The birth of Jesus the Saviour was the most momentous event in history. Simeon takes Jesus in his arms and says, ‘For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations’ (Luke 2:30–31). Perhaps it is not surprising that the prophecies and preparations for the coming of Jesus were so extraordinarily detailed and elaborate.

In this section of the book of Numbers we discover how the Tabernacle service was inaugurated (Numbers 7:1–10:10). In this chapter we read of each of the tribes making a voluntary offering. Each gave an equal share. They were given to God (through his servant Moses). The whole people of God were involved in the inauguration of the tabernacle.

At first this passage might seem like needless technicalities for the modern reader. Yet, the presentation of extravagant gifts to God in the Tabernacle (Numbers 7) is so beautifully mirrored by the presentation of Jesus in the temple (Luke 2:22). This Old Testament passage is not merely a bit of ancient accountancy.

The occasion for these extravagant gifts is the completion and dedication of the tabernacle. The tabernacle was the symbolic place of God’s presence with his people. The people give as a response to God’s grace and presence among them. Their gifts are an expression of worship and thanksgiving to the saviour.

At the same time though, these gifts are also part of the preparations for the final dedication of the tabernacle. They are making it fit for the presence of God. The elaborate preparations, the extravagance of the gifts, and the detail with which the writer records them, all point to what an amazing thing it was for the Israelites to have the presence of God in their midst.

All the offerings and sacrifice in the Law of Moses were but preparation and a foreshadowing of the birth and death of the Saviour. The tabernacle pointed forward to something even greater. No longer does God dwell in a tent in our midst, he has come to live among us as one of us. Jesus is consecrated according to the Law, but he would go on to fulfil the Law’s very purpose (Luke 2:22–24a) … ‘When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord’ (v.39a).

Many years later, Jesus the Saviour abolished the need for all the sacrifices and offerings of the Old Testament through the sacrifice of his body ‘once for all’ (see Hebrews 10:1–10).

No wonder that when Simeon realised the baby in his arms was the Saviour of the world he ‘praised God’ (Luke 2:28). Anna likewise ‘gave thanks to God’ (v.38). Jesus the Saviour is the focus of all our praise and thanksgiving.

I love the words of another song, this one written by Ben Cantelon, which are an appropriate response in prayer and worship to everything we have read today about Jesus the Saviour:

Pippa Adds

Luke 2:21–40

There is nothing a parent likes more than to hear their child being praised. They must have been so thrilled, and maybe a little amazed, by the extraordinary prophecies given by Simeon and Anna. But, there is also nothing more painful than to see your child suffer; ‘a sword will pierce your own soul too’ (v.35b). They were going to go through so much, but when the big picture was revealed it would all have been worthwhile.

Notes:

Lights, ‘Saviour’, from The Listening, Songwriters Salter, Thomas / Poxleitner, Valerie. Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.