SIMEON - LUKE 2

My mom died back in 2007 at the age of 78.  A stroke five weeks before left her paralyzed on her right side.  She couldn’t swallow and her speech was very difficult to understand unless you spent a lot of time with her.

From the hospital, she spent some time in a rehabilitation, nursing home.  The staff was mostly kind and caring, but because of Mom’s difficulty communicating, they saw her only as the agitated patient in room 203.  It made me sad that the people caring for her knew little about the person Mom had been before the stroke.  Sometimes it felt like she no longer counted.

Hitting the age of 70 myself brings the consequences of aging much closer to home, which is one of the reasons why the passage I’m writing about today is so sweet to me and so full of hope!

In my last blog I wrote about Mary and Joseph’s obedience in fulfilling the Law of Moses with regard to Jesus’ circumcision and dedication.  This blog begins where that one ended, because it was when they entered the temple for Jesus’ dedication, they met a man named Simeon. 

We know nothing about Simeon’s background or vocation, but in this short passage we are given a clear understanding of his faith and trust in the Lord and His promises.  Simeon’s story can be found in Luke’s gospel, chapter two, beginning with verse 25:

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. 

When the text says that Simeon was “waiting for the consolation of Israel”, to what does it refer?

The word consolation means comfort, which ties Simeon’s word to the words of the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 40, verses 1-3.  If you’re familiar with Handel’s “Messiah”, you may recognize the words:

 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God, speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed and that her sin has been paid for.  A voice of one calling: in the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. . .and the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.

Six hundred years before the coming of Jesus, Isaiah used the term “consolation of Israel” to refer to the hope of Israel, the Messiah, who would pay for the sins of mankind.  In Him the glory of the Lord would be revealed and all mankind, Jew and Gentile together, would see it.

Simeon’s righteousness is revealed, not in his goodness, of which we read nothing in this passage.  Rather Simeon’s righteousness, as with all those God considers righteous, is based on faith in God and His promises regarding His Messiah. 

Furthermore, the Holy Spirit had made it known to Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah for himself. 

That day was probably just like every other day of Simeon’s life, except that on THAT day, the Holy Spirit moved Simeon to go to the temple.

How did He do that?  We’re not told, but you may have experienced this kind of movement of the Spirit yourself.  You send a card to the person who was suddenly on your mind and discover later that it came just when she needed it.  Or you have a “chance” encounter with someone in a store or in the cleaners that leads to prayer for them, or a conversation about Jesus. Those things are often the movement of the Spirit directing you.

When Simeon felt the moving of the Spirit, he did what the Spirit led him to do and found his way to the temple.  Luke 2:27b-28:

When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him what the custom of the Lord required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God . . .

Simeon had been waiting long, expectantly and confidently, for God’s Messiah, and it would seem, as we read this, that when Simeon saw Mary and Joseph with their infant child he must have immediately known who the child was and why the Spirit had sent him, because we read nothing else but that he took the child in his arms.  What did Mary and Joseph think when he did this, I wonder?

If we had a photo of Simeon’s face at that very moment, I know what we’d see there – the dawn of the light of understanding, and awe, and joy, all of which resulted in praise to God who kept the promise Simeon longed to see.  His words express how confident his hope had been in God and in God’s promises regarding His Messiah.  There is no fear of the death which would come on the other side of this promise’s fulfillment.  Just unadulterated joy!

Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 

Of all the wonderful names for God that Simeon could have used to address Him in his prayer, SOVEREIGN LORD was not an accident.

The word sovereign, as it relates to God, describes His rulership over all things, in this case, the timing of the coming of His Messiah, and His fulfillment of the very personal promise He had given to Simeon.

How would you react if you knew the time of your death? 

In Simeon’s reaction there is no sadness or shock of realization that Messiah’s arrival means his departure.  His reaction reminds me of that of the Apostle Paul, recorded for us in Philippians 3, verses 1-12.  In that passage, Paul lists the things about which he had boasted before he knew Christ.

He was a good Jew, circumcised on the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, as for following the law, he considered himself to have done so flawlessly.  Yet, when he met Christ, he counted it all loss, for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.

For Simeon, seeing the Lord’s promised Messiah was the culmination of his life’s hope.  Maybe that’s why we know nothing else about him.  Anything else about him is unimportant!  His faith in the coming Messiah is what DEFINED him.

Simeon concludes his prayer in verses 30-31:

For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people,

A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

In his prayer Simeon was quoting the Prophet Isaiah, to prophetic passages which spoke of God’s Messiah.  The ministry of salvation God gave to Jesus would affect both Gentiles and Jews – in different ways. 

To the Gentiles, He would be a light of revelation. 

Isaiah 42:6-7 in speaking of Messiah, says:

I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand, I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

Is. 49:6 (Also speaking of Messiah), the Lord said:

It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore (ONLY) the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept.  I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (parenthesis mine)

Through Israel’s Messiah, Jesus, we Gentiles have been brought into the blessing of God in a way we could never have imagined before His coming.  Simeon saw this when he applied Isaiah’s prophecy to Jesus.

The arrival of Messiah would also be the glory of God’s people Israel.  Israel would finally fulfill God’s purposes for her through the Messiah.  Messiah will be Israel’s glory, He would make Israel great!

What was the reaction of Mary and Joseph to Simeon’s words?

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.

What was it you marveled over when your children were infants? 

I can remember people looking at our oldest daughter and marveling over her long fingers.  Everyone thought she’d be a piano player one day because of those long fingers. She never did play the piano!

This child however, who Simeon cradled in his arms, this child, would fulfill the promises of God believing people had been holding onto from the time of Adam, and of an old man waiting for His Messiah.

No wonder his parents marveled! 

But praise wasn’t all that was on Simeon’s lips.  He also said some things that must have been hard for Mary to hear.  They would have been a puzzle to her at the time – but one day she would see their fulfillment. 

After Simeon had blessed them, he addressed his words to Mary, verses 34-35:

This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel and a sign that will be spoken against so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.

The ministry of Jesus would bless both Gentiles and Jews who embraced Him as Savior and Messiah, but His coming would also divide the nation of Israel, as many turned against Him.  What they believed about Jesus would reveal the true state of each one’s heart. 

Isaiah 8:14

He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel He will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.

The Apostle John, also a Jew, said of Jesus in his gospel, John 11-12:

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

When it comes to Jesus, in that day or in ours, there is no neutral ground.

Simeon’s last words to Mary must have caused her grief:

And sword will pierce your own soul too

What difficult news to hear.

We mothers hurt when other kids make fun of our children or exclude them, or when our shy child has trouble making friends. 

How difficult it would be for Mary to watch the rejection and suffering her son would endure.  When did she believe the truth that Jesus had come to die, to be our substitute for sin, bring us forgiveness and restore our relationship with a holy God?  We’re not told how Mary responded to Simeon’s words, but they must surely have come to mind during the years of Jesus’ ministry.

What do we learn from Simeon that can be applied to our lives today?

WHEN THE FOCUS OF OUR LIVES IS JESUS, DEATH HOLDS NO FEAR – ONLY THE HOPE OF PROMISES FULFILLED

Simeon’s entire life was focused on God and the fulfillment of His promises – not only with regard to the arrival of Messiah – but also God’s own personal promise to Simeon that he would SEE the Messiah for himself before he died.

The fulfillment of God’s promises regarding Messiah meant that Simeon’s own death would be imminent.  He was fearless in the face of this.  Why?  He was caught up in the joy of Messiah’s coming and promises fulfilled! 

Before that February in 2007 when Mom died, I’d never had the experience of walking with someone through the days leading to their death.  The experience would not have been on my bucket list.  However, I will always look back on those weeks I spent with my mom – right up until the moment she breathed her last breath - as a gift from the Lord for they really were a celebration of faith and hope in His promises for the life after this one.

We spent Mom’s last weeks talking about the love of the Lord for her and reading from the Scriptures His promises for her future:

·       The promise of seeing Jesus face to face – I John 3:2

·       The promise of a home in heaven – John 14:1-3

·       The promise that when Mom “walked through the valley of the shadow of death”, the Lord would be with her to escort her safely home to heaven – Psalm 23

Maybe you, like I, have reached the age where death is a lot closer than it ever was!  Does the thought of it make you afraid? 

When the focus of your life is Jesus, as Simeon’s was, death need hold any fear.  The Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Romans that the sting of death has been  swallowed up in the victory won by Jesus at the cross, and in the hope of all the promises yet to be fulfilled for those who trust in Him. 

Believing friend, fear not, be steadfast in hope, for you can trust Jesus to keep you now and see you safely home to glory.

Is. 46:4

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.