The Sword of Christmas

There, Luke is eager to tell us the facts about the birth of Jesus and the events surrounding the beginnings of his life. Luke is not interested in myths or fables or nursery rhymes, he is interested in history—sacred history—the history of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke gives us the account of Jesus’ dedication in the temple, where he was seen and blessed by Simeon, and where he also prophesied over Mary that she would suffer greatly because Jesus, her Son, was going to suffer and die.
The account reminds us of three important truths about Jesus.
1. Jesus is the centre
2. Jesus is the Saviour
3. Jesus is the Sacrifice
1. Jesus is the centre in three different ways
He's the centre of Mary and Joseph's life as they seek to fulfil the law of Moses and dedicate their Son to the LORD in the temple.
Here we are reminded not only of the piety of Jesus’ parents, but also of their poverty, not being able to even afford the standard offering for the necessary purification. They could only pay with the poor person’s offering "two turtle doves or two pigeons". It reminds us really of how impoverished we all are spiritually speaking. But in truth even all the lambs in the world would not be sufficient to pay for our Saviour Jesus' birth.
We see also in the text that Jesus is the centre for an elderly man named Simeon. He had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he saw the Lord's Christ. And when he finally did see Him, laying beautifully in his arms, he said to the Lord, "now your servant can depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation." How uncommon it is for people to feel this way about their own deaths. It is possible only if we too have seen the Lord's salvation.
So, Jesus is the centre for Mary and Joseph, He's also the centre for Simeon; finally Jesus is also the centre for God the Father. Notice the whole purpose of the dedication was not to bring Jesus to Simeon, or even to the temple, but to bring him to God! There he was presented and dedicated to the Lord. An action that has far more meaning than Mary could have imagined at the time.
2. Secondly Jesus is the Saviour. We see that He is the Saviour for those who place their faith in Him as Simeon did. But Jesus is not just the Saviour of individuals, he's also the Saviour of the nation of Israel, and ultimately of the Gentile world. Jesus is said to be the "Consolation of Israel" and the "Glory of Israel". The greatest consolation and the greatest glory that that nation could even imagine. We must pray that they come to see Jesus Christ as their consolation and glory.
3. Finally, Jesus is also the Sacrifice. Mary is told "Behold this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also) so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." Here Mary is being told that the precious and innocent baby that she has just had was born to suffer and ultimately to die. What an incredible women Mary was! Not only does the Lord use her to clothe His Son in flesh, but Mary also must endure the great hardship of seeing her beloved Son suffer and die for the sin of the world, including her own sin.
We should be just as impacted by this fact as Mary would have been. We too should have the sword pierce our hearts, for Jesus was not just the Son of Mary, he was the Son of Man. He is our King, our representative, our beloved Lord. Let us hate our sin because it put Jesus on the cross, let us love the saviour for he was born to die for us!