Luke 2:36-40 — Worth the Wait!

READ THIS: Luke 2:36-40

36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. 

39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

Prophets are unbelievably important people throughout the Bible. Their job, beginning long before Jesus’s birth, was to speak on behalf of God to His people (and even to His enemies). Sometimes, prophets would deliver messages of hope and rescue, but oftentimes, prophets had to deliver difficult messages that would leave them hated or even killed by the people who received them. Many prophets in the Bible happen to be men, so lots of people can make the mistake of thinking prophets are only men… but in this case, we learn about a prophetess named Anna!

We don’t know a whole lot about Anna, but what we do know shows us that she was a faithful follower of God! Despite being widowed less than ten years after her marriage, she remained faithful to God throughout her whole life, praising God daily in the temple, fasting and praying constantly. It even says she never left the temple… Talk about some dedication!

Well, this story shows us that God didn’t forget the faithfulness, dedication, and patience of His prophet, and she gets to come face to face with God’s Son! As Mary and Joseph present Jesus in the temple, she comes to them and thanks God. Then, she starts speaking about Jesus as the one who would redeem Jerusalem… so cool! Anna waited her whole life for this moment, and it finally came!

This story shows us that God loves His faithful followers and promises to take care of them. Sometimes, like we see here with Anna, God is gracious enough to give us incredible moments where we can see God working in an up close and personal way. But at a bare minimum, we know that anyone who believes in Jesus is given the greatest gift we could ever have: life forever in heaven with our King, Jesus! Talk about an awesome minimum!

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Anna was certainly dedicated to serving God… what are different ways you can grow in dedication to the Lord?

2. Does the gift of heaven with Jesus seem worth it to you? Would it even be worth it if the life ahead of you would be hard and exhausting?

TRY THIS:

Wanna learn more about the different prophetesses in the Bible? Check out this article!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galatians 2:1-5 — Marathon Training

R EAD THIS:  Galatians 2:1-5 1 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.   WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Yesterday, we learned about how Paul went to Jerusalem and shared the incredible things Jesus did, but today, we are hearing about Paul's second time visiting Jerusalem... 14 years later. Paul talks about a bunch of things that happened ...
Read more

Luke 8:19-21 — Jesus's Fam!

R EAD THIS:  Luke 8:19-21 19 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Ummmm, hold up, is Jesus dissing on His family here? I mean, I know He is God's Son and all, but at first glance, this passage makes it seem like He is kind of hating on His family! However, if we really look into this passage, it's actually a lot more about us than it is about the family of Jesus.  In case you forgot, the last few passages have features Jesus telling and explaining different parables to a large crowd as well as His disciples. Clearly, the crowd has gotten so large that Mary and Jesus's brothers (yes... Jesus had brothers!) couldn't even reach Him. When someone told Jesus "hey dude, your fam is here an...
Read more

WELCOME BACK! Hebrews Introduction

WELCOME BACK TO DEEPLY ROOTED!!! Greetings fellow Bible readers and Jesus journey-ers! We're stoked to get back in the swing of things with y'all. For any new readers, this section would usually be where our handful of Bible verses will be. The section below would break down what in the world the verses mean. Then, there are some debrief questions for you to dive deeper and an application point. A new addition this year is the Song of the Week! We'll share a song that ties into the theme of the next few verses...if you gaze ahead and have song suggestions, comment below or text! HEBREWS INTRODUCTION: As with any book of the Bible, different Biblical scholars say different things about this letter, but we'll tell you the most probable take. So here it is: Hebrews is a letter written to a group of Jews who were being persecuted for deciding to follow Jesus. It is a letter to encourage them and to show that Jesus truly is the best person to follow despite how hard it was g...
Read more