Happy New Year! It’s a joy and privilege to be alive and to have another year to glorify God and enjoy Him with you all. To be one of your pastors is a genuine privilege. So, do you have any big goals for the year? Any bucket list items that you really want to check off this year? Do you have any “lifelong bucket list” items—something you really want to do, see, or accomplish in this life? Perhaps you want to start a business, start an evangelistic Bible study at work, write a book, raise children to love the Lord, go on an international missions trip, run a marathon, lead someone to faith in Christ—something. What’s on your bucket list? What do you long to experience?

In our passage this morning, we are introduced to two old, godly people: a man named Simeon and a woman named Anna. One thing that was on both of their bucket lists—one thing that they both longed to experience in their lifetime—was the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. They had longing hearts. Our passage says that Anna did not depart from the temple, but fasted and prayed night and day for the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come. Similarly, our passage says that Simeon was waiting with eager longing for the consolation, the Comforter, of God’s people. In Simeon’s case, the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he wouldn’t see death until he saw the Lord Christ.

Simeon and Anna are examples of longing hearts. They longed to see God’s promise to send the Consolation of Israel, the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. And when they finally held and beheld the One their hearts longed for, their old hearts burst with joy. And their joy is an invitation to all of us. And that brings us to the big idea of our passage: Jesus is the joy of every longing heart. Jesus is the joy of every longing heart. In 2026, joy won’t ultimately be found in anything that can change, be gained, or be lost. Only Jesus is the joy of every longing heart.

Why is Jesus, and only Jesus, the joy of every longing heart?

1. He consoles the longing heart (22–32)
2. He reveals the longing heart (33–35)
3. He redeems the longing heart (36–40)

HE CONSOLES THE LONGING HEART (vv. 22–32)

I’m slowly reading The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. It’s a wonderful allegory and the second best-selling book in history, behind the Bible. The main character is a man named Christian. He lives in the City of Destruction with his wife and children. He has a book in his hand and a burden on his back. The book is the Bible, and the burden is his sin and guilty conscience that will cause him to sink lower than death if he doesn’t get rid of it.

So Christian runs from the City of Destruction, though his wife, children, and friends try to stop him. He runs toward the narrow gate because the narrow gate is the way to the cross. He knows that the cross—not the town of morality—is the only place where his burden can be removed and where he can begin the narrow path of faith to the celestial city. Christian has a longing heart—a heart that longs for his burden, his sin and guilt, to be removed and to journey by faith to the celestial city.

If that’s the longing of your heart, then Jesus will be the joy of your heart, because only Jesus consoles—only He comforts—the heart that longs to be saved, washed clean from a guilty conscience, and to know true peace. Let’s see it together.

If you’re somewhat new to Citylight Church, we are on a journey through the Gospel of Luke. We began near the end of 2025, and we’ll conclude, Lord-willing, on Easter 2027. So we’re still at the beginning. Our passage this morning picks up the life of Jesus Christ when He was only forty days old, when His parents made a pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem.

In the Old Testament, God’s law required that all couples dedicate their firstborn son to the Lord, as it says in Exodus 13:2. And when they dedicated their firstborn, they were to offer a lamb as a sacrifice. However, God made a special provision for poor families, like Jesus’. Leviticus 12:8: “And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.” Since our Lord’s family was very poor, they could not afford a lamb but only offered two pigeons.

Now, I want to linger on this point for a moment. The One who came to be the sacrificial Lamb who takes away the sinful burden of the world chose to be born into a family that could not even afford to offer a lamb at His dedication. Do you see the incredible lengths that Jesus went to in order to console and comfort your longing heart?

Next, our passage introduces us to Simeon. Simeon had a longing heart, much like Christian—the kind that Jesus is the joy of. Luke 2:25–26: “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”

Verse 25 says that Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. The ESV Study Bible says that consolation is the hope that God would come to rescue and comfort His people, which includes the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life. Jesus Christ is that Comforter; that’s why He is the joy of every longing heart.

How did Simeon know that he should be waiting and longing for Him? Like Christian from The Pilgrim’s Progress, Simeon read about Him in his book. For example, seven hundred years before Jesus was born, in Isaiah 61:1–3 we read:

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to
those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

Friends, Jesus Christ is the “me” speaking in this passage. If you will receive and rest in Him each day for the forgiveness of sins, then He will be good news to your spiritually bankrupt soul. If you receive and rest in Him, He will bind up your broken heart, He will set you free from captivity to sin and hell, He will comfort you and grant you the oil of gladness instead of mourning over your sin, He will place on you the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, and your life will increasingly shine for His glory. Jesus is the joy of every longing heart because He consoles the longing heart.

Listen to what it sounds like when Jesus consoles your longing heart. Luke 2:28–32: “He took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.’”

When Jesus consoles your guilty heart with the mercy He purchased for you at the cross, the burden of the fear of death is lifted. J. C. Ryle, the nineteenth-century Bishop of Liverpool, writes:

“We see in the song of Simeon how completely a believer can be delivered from the fear of death… He speaks like one for whom the grave has lost its terrors and the world its charms… What is it that can enable a mortal man to use such language as this? What can deliver us from that fear of death to which so many are in bondage? What can take the sting of death away? There is but one answer to such questions. Nothing but strong faith can do it. Faith laying firm hold on an unseen Savior—faith resting on the promises of an unseen God—faith, and faith alone, can enable a man to look death in the face and say, ‘Now let your servant depart in peace.’”

Do you have a heart that longs for the forgiveness of sins, a clean conscience, and eternal life with God? Good news! Jesus is the joy of every longing heart because He consoles the longing heart.

HE REVEALS THE LONGING HEART

If you’re a parent, what have been some of your proudest parenting moments? What moments have brought you the most joy? Maybe when your child was baptized, maybe when they chose the high cost of discipleship over worldliness, or maybe when they accomplished something of true significance.

You’d have to think the scene described in our passage is a truly proud moment for Joseph and Mary. Simeon holds up their son and says, “This boy is the Lord’s Christ, the eternal Comforter for Jews and Gentiles who bow the knee to Him.” It’s a proud parenting moment when a godly man recognizes that your Son is the joy of every longing heart.

But what Simeon says next would have been much more difficult to hear. Not only is Jesus the joy of every longing heart, Jesus also reveals the true longings of the heart. Luke 2:33–35: “And His father and His mother marveled at what was said about Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, ‘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.’”

What does it mean that Jesus will be for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed, so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed? New Testament scholar Darrell Bock explains, “Jesus will split the nation in two. Some will see Him as someone to be opposed (‘a sign to be spoken against’). But His ministry reveals where the thoughts of one’s heart are. As the salvation of God and the expression of God’s will, the reaction to Him reveals one’s reaction to God.”

Your reaction to Jesus reveals whether your heart longs for God and is for God, or is opposed to Him. Jesus consoles the longing heart, but He also reveals whether your heart truly longs for God. Your reaction to Jesus reveals the true longings of your heart. Luke 20:17–18, Jesus Christ said: “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

I love and respect you all, so I’m going to cut to the chase. Jesus will not be the joy of your heart—He will not be the consolation of your heart—if He isn’t the longing of your heart. Honest question: What are you longing for in 2026? What are you longing for?

I fear that some of you don’t experience Jesus as the joy of your longing heart because you don’t long for Jesus; you long for Jesus to help you get what you really long for. You long for a godly wife or husband. You long to grow your family. You long to get your schedule and life rhythms under control. You long to experience healing. You long for reconciliation. You long to be popular and get good grades. You long for independence from your parents. You long for a richly romantic marriage. You long for godly and obedient kids—and you’re really hoping that Jesus will help you with that.

You’re happy to go to church, small group, and even read the Bible from time to time, but if you’re honest, you’re not experiencing Jesus as the joy of your longing heart because you’ve fallen into worldliness. Your response to Jesus is revealing that the true longings of your heart are for the things of this world.

If that’s you, then turn back to Jesus Christ today. What will it profit you to gain the whole world in 2026, but forfeit your soul? Put Christ before you and the world behind you in 2026.

And why should you do that? Because Mary’s soul was pierced through. Did you notice in verse 35 that Simeon said a sword would pierce through Mary’s soul? Yes, the dear woman had to watch her Son be pierced through for our transgressions, and it pierced her through with a broken heart. There is nothing in all this world worth gaining if it causes you to put Jesus in second place.

Jesus will either be the joy of your longing heart or reveal that the true longings of your heart are not really for Him. Jesus was appointed for the rise and fall of many. You cannot be neutral toward Him. You cannot have Him and the world. So choose today to put Christ before you, the world behind you, and do not look back.

HE REDEEMS THE LONGING HEART

What is redemption? Theologian Ligon Duncan writes, “Redemption means to secure the release or recovery of persons or things by the payment of a price.” The most beautiful illustration of redemption was when God redeemed—when He purchased—His people back from slavery in Egypt. God redeemed them from the grip of Pharaoh by the price of the Passover lamb’s blood.

But at the time of our passage, God’s people were waiting and longing for an even greater redemption than release from slavery in Egypt. They were waiting and longing for the One who would redeem them from their sins and their enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil. That’s what Anna was waiting for, longing for, and praying for.

Luke 2:36–37: “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.”

Anna was longing for the One who would bring a redemption greater than release from slavery in Egypt. And listen to the way she reacted when she finally saw His arrival. Luke 2:38: “And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

At the very hour when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple, at the very hour when Simeon held Jesus in his arms, the prophetess Anna—this incredibly old woman—broke out in thanks to God and told everyone about Him because Mary and Joseph’s son is the Redeemer of every longing heart.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the true and greater Passover Lamb who released us from the hands of sin, death, and eternal condemnation. The price He paid was Himself. As the old song goes, “He paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay.”

And that’s why Jesus is the joy of every longing heart. The Christ—the true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world—the One she prayed and fasted for—had finally come. And that’s why Jesus can be the joy of your longing heart: He is your salvation. With Christ, there is no guilt in life and no fear in death. Jesus redeems every longing heart.

That’s why Anna gave thanks to God and told everyone about Him. If you’re a Christian, you have been redeemed. Your sin earned you a debt you deserve to be condemned to hell for—an eternal debt. But the Lord Jesus Christ paid your sin-debt in full on the cross. He bought you back from hell by the shedding of His own blood.

So why not make 2026 a year of giving thanks to God and telling everyone about the Redeemer? Jesus is the joy of every longing heart. And joy in Jesus is one of the few things you experience more of when you give it away. So give thanks to God and tell everyone about your Redeemer—He is the joy of your longing heart. Who can you, like Anna, speak of the Redeemer to this year?

And Christ alone can redeem the longing heart because He is God who became man. The final verses of our passage provide clear proof that Jesus Christ was truly human, as well as truly God. Luke 2:39–40: “And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon Him.”

Luke 2:40 reminds us that the Lord of glory took on human flesh and had to mature like the rest of us. And how wonderful is that? Because of His true humanity, our Lord can uniquely sympathize with you. Kids and students, our Lord knows the temptations you’re facing. He faced them as well, yet never sinned. So He can forgive you, sympathize with you, and help you. He really is the joy of every longing heart because He redeems the longing heart.

CONCLUSION

So where are you looking this year? What’s first place on your list? Jesus Christ is the joy of every longing heart. So come to Him, all who are weary and heavy laden, and He will give you rest. Take His yoke upon you and learn from Him, because His yoke is easy and His burden is light. If you will bring your longing heart to Him and no other, then He will be the joy of your longing heart.