Luke 2:36-38

The Witness of Anna

Would you open your Bibles to...

Luke 2:36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity;

Luke 2:37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

Luke 2:38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

Pray

Intro

√ Witnessing of Christ

Up to the time of my parents divorce when I was 10 my family practiced a nominal Roman Catholic faith.

I was baptized as an infant

Attended church on Christmas & Easter

Participated in Catechism & 1^st Communion

I distinctly remember believing in God as a child, but my concept of Him was of some distant and easily angered Superhero more akin to the false gods of the Romans than the God revealed in Scripture.

So I prayed every night because I was scared that God would take my life or that of my family if I didn’t beg Him to keep us safe.

I think that fear and misunderstanding of God’s nature came in part from a prayer my nana taught us kids to pray…

“Now I lay me down to sleep,
 I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
 Should I die before I wake,
 I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

Die! I was only a kid ~ why were we even thinking about death!

That prayer convinced me that it was probably best not to go to sleep because I just might die if I did!

So, I really didn’t know God or even want to know Him until I was a senior in high school when my girlfriend and one of her buddies started telling me about Jesus…

…their witness led me to faith in Christ.

√ The witness of Anna

Well, our text this morning introduces us to woman by the name of Anna who was one of the first to be a witness for Jesus.

Luke only writes three verses about who she was and what she did on the day of Jesus’ dedication at the Temple…

…but I’m grateful for the part she played that 1^st Christmas because she reminds me of those who introduced me to Jesus.

May her life both remind us to be thankful for those who led us to Christ…

…and be an encouragement to follow her example to be a witness for Jesus to a world lost in sin.

Her Name & Family (vs. 36a)

Luke 2:36a Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.

√ Her name & family

It might help us better understand Anna’s part in that 1^st Christmas season to do a little sleuthing so that we might know something about her, note that our text tells us that…

1. Her name was Anna

Anna is the New Testament transliteration of the Hebrew “Hannah” which means “favor” or “grace”.

Which seems contradictory when we read of her tragic life.

Married only 7 years before her husband’s death, never remarried, apparently left with no children, both social stigmas in 1^st Century Judaism.

Yet, after a lifetime that many might have considered void of God’s favor we read here in Luke’s Gospel that God showed her great favor as she was one to whom God revealed the child Messiah.

2. Daughter of Phanuel

Anna’s father’s name was Phanuel, which means…

“The face of God”

A derivative of the Hebrew word “Peniel”, the name given by Jacob to the place where he wrestled all night with God.

The name calls to mind an intimate relationship with God (like Jacob’s encounter)…

…and speaks of the beautiful fellowship every child of God has through Jesus Christ.

The intimacy, the immanence, the nearness and the accessibility of God, all those extraordinary ideas reside in the name of Anna’s father…

…Phanuel, “the face of God.”

3) Tribe of Asher

Asher was the 8^th son of Jacob and the father of the Tribe named after him.

His name means “happy” ~ so named by his mother Leah who was happy that God had provided her another son in her baby race with her sister Rachel.

While Anna was not blessed with a son we find that she was thankful to God for granting her the opportunity to see His Son!

Ex. Extra credit

The mention of Anna’s tribe, Asher, is significant because there are a number of false doctrines that trace the so-called “lost tribes” of Israel to the people of Europe and England.

Here we have a gal from one of the so-called “lost tribes” proving that they weren’t lost…

…there were some still living in Israel who knew their heritage and family tree.

So, Anna’s name and that of her father speak of God’s favor and nearness…

…reminding us that at Christmas we celebrate the fact that God came close to us and showered us with His favor through the birth of His Son.

Her Station in Life (vs. 36b-37)

Luke 2:36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity;

Luke 2:37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

√ Her station in life

Psychologists tell us that we are the sum total of all that has been past on to us by our parents (genetics) and our life experience (environment).

While there is certainly some truth in that philosophy, I believe that each of us chose to be the type of person we become.

That is, while some may claim that the reason they are an angry and bitter person today is because of how they were treated by their parents, or spouse, or that they were born that way, etc.,…

…ultimately we’re each responsible for how we respond to the situations and traumas we experience in life.

Ex. Sin in the Garden

Eve tried to blame the Devil, Adam tried to blame his wife, but God didn’t buy any of their excuses and held each responsible for the choices they made.

So, as much as I’d like to blame someone else, or my genetics, for my poor attitude in life, and my sinful choices…

…the reality is that I am who I am because of how I’ve chosen to respond to what life has thrown my way!

Well, if there was ever a person who had reason to be bitterly disappointed in life it was Anna! Look at verses 36 & 37 again…

“She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years.”

The language is a little unclear in the original text leaving scholars to debate Anna’s actual age…

Did Luke mean that she was 84 years old when she came into the Temple and saw baby Jesus?

Or, does he mean that she was married for 7 years and widowed for 84 years, making her something like 105 (assuming she married at the typical age of 14)!

Regardless, the point is that she lost the love of her life after only 7 years of marriage, was apparently not blessed with any children, nor did she ever remarry.

So, she had lived alone without a husband or family for decades!

Many of us would probably have responded to those tragedies by retreating from life, being angry with God, and descending into a lifestyle of self-destructive bitterness and self-pity.

But not Anna! She chose to live a life dedicated to the service of God through prayer, praise, and prophecy as she looked forward God’s grace!

She understood that God had a plan for her life and chose to interpret the tragedies in her life not as disappointments…

…but as His appointments for the work to which He had called her.

Of her life William Barclay wrote…

“She had known sorrow, but she had not grown bitter;

She was old, but she never ceased to hope.

She never ceased to worship. She never ceased to pray.”

In a life situation that could easily have driven her from God, Anna allowed her heart to be drawn to Him.

Ap. The cure for depression and bitterness of soul

It’s a twelve-step program…

Step one, do something for someone else.

Then do it eleven more times.

The quickest way out of depression, bitterness and anger is to die to yourself and serve God by making yourself His hands and His feet to express His love to others.

Her Priorities in Life (vs. 37b)

Luke 2:37b who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

√ Her priorities in life

As a pastor I hear a lot of interesting, and often lame, excuses for why Christians don’t pray, read the Bible, care for their spouse, or attend church.

By the way I’m not asking for any of that information, rather people who have messed up priorities in life feel driven to tell me why they haven’t been in church for months.

Or why their life is so much busier than everyone else on earth as justification for their wrong choices.

Then they look at me with kind of a “caught with their hand in the cookie jar” look waiting for me to offer some deep Biblical truth.

So, in recent years I’ve chosen to respond with an observation I’ve made…

“People do what they want to do”

It’s really that simple.

Bottom line is that all of us chose to do those things we want to do, or think are important…

…and we don’t do what we don’t want to do, or think is less important.

So, you can tell where a person’s heart is and what they value in life by where they invest their time, talent and treasure.

Note the priorities in Anna’s life…

“who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.” ~ vs. 37b

Her goal in life was simple, to please God through her service to Him and His people.

Anna understood that the first priority in her life was the Lord!

That wasn’t just talk, her life was a testimony of her devotion to God as she prioritized her life around God and His will.

Perhaps that why she along with Simeon were honored by God to get to see with their own eyes the fulfillment of God’s promise to send us a Savior.

Ap. God honors right priorities

If you want God’s blessing in your life, to experience Him in a real and intimate way, then make Him the priority in your life.

Don’t hide behind excuses for why you don’t have time…

…remember, we do what we want to do.

The Lord’s word to little Samuel is still true today…

“But I will honor only those who honor me, and I will despise those who despise me.” ~ 1 Sam. 2:30 NLT

Her Witness for Messiah (vs. 38)

Luke 2:38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

√ Her witness of Messiah

All of her life Anna had been a faithful worshipper of God and a prophetess, but now her role shifted and she became an evangelist!

Note that having now seen the Messiah she began giving thanks to God and telling anyone who would listen about Jesus…

…the One sent to redeem us from sin!

Anna’s witness of the newborn Messiah reminds us that the Good News of Christmas isn’t to be hidden…

…it has to be shared with any who will listen!

Ap. Use the Christmas season as an opportunity to witness!

Perhaps share a brief testimony in your Christmas cards, or select a gift that communicates the Gospel.

√ Her message

Luke simply records that Anna…

“spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” ~ vs. 38

Her message was simple, that God had sent the Messiah to redeem us!

In the New Testament there are a number of words that can be translated as “redemption”, and “redeemed”…

…but all of them have to do with the freeing of a slave.

For example…

agorzao ~ speaks of a slave purchased at the market (agora).

Exagorazo ~ refers to a slave who has been brought out (ex) of the market place never to be sold again.

Luo ~ is the word for “cut loose” as in, a slave that was set free!

Anna’s message of Redemption was that…

Jesus came to the slave market of this broken world and purchased His Bride with a redemption price sufficient to free all of us from our sins!

She reminds us that Christmas isn’t just a story of helpless baby in a manger…

It is the story of how God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever would put their trust in Him would not perish but gain eternal life!

That’s important because in the midst of all the traditions, snowman, Santa’s, and reindeer, it’s far too easy to forget that the first Christmas came because our sin demanded payment!

Only Jesus could pay the debt owed by the human race.

Christmas then isn’t just all about lights and gifts, ornaments, candles and parties, it is really about rescue and redemption…

…that’s the message that Anna shared.

Close

√ The witness of Anna

So, may Anna serve as an example to us of how we can best celebrate Christmas by telling our world what they so desperately need to know that Jesus came to save us from our sins…

…and an opportunity to thank the person, or people, who like Anna told you about Jesus.