Am I Ready For This! Series

AM I READY FOR THIS!

Luke 2:22-35

S: Simeon

C: Seeking Jesus

Th: Holy Responses to God

Pr: THOSE WHO SEEK JESUS WILL FIND HIM.

First person narrative

PA: How is the change to be observed?

• Have eyes of faith.

• Jesus will be found when you are looking for Him.

Version: ESV

RMBC 12 December 04 AM

OUR STUDY:

Here is my spot (on the bench).

This has been what I call my waiting spot.

And I have been waiting for a long time.

(Note: Throughout the monologue, it was important to return to this “waiting spot” on the bench. It was the mark of Simeon’s faithfulness. I came back to it over and over, more than what is mentioned in the text here).

But in Jerusalem, we are used to waiting.

In fact, one could say that it has been in the history of the Jews to wait.

Whether we want to or not, we wait.

For 400 years we waited in Egypt.

For 40 years we wandered in the wilderness waiting to enter the Promised Land.

For years we waited for a king.

For 70 years we waited in exile.

And now for 400 years, we have been waiting to here from God once again – there has been no prophet to warn or encourage us.

This is where I have been waiting.

I have seen Israel wait.

We have been under the oppression of the Babylonians…

…the Persians

…the Greeks

…and now the Romans.

We have been waiting for the One who has been promised…

…for the Anointed One

…the Holy One

…the Messiah

…the Christ to Come.

This is where I have been waiting.

But I am not waiting anymore!

For my dream has come true.

And it is more wonderful than I ever imagined!

Oh…

Perhaps I should tell you who I am.

My name is Simeon.

Simeon is a good name, for it means, “hear and obey.”

It is a name that I have attempted to live up to, especially when it comes to my relationship with the Lord.

I have always attempted to hear Him and obey Him in every way.

Did I tell you this is my waiting place?

I have been sitting here and waiting for a long time.

But not anymore!

You see…

1. I was given a promise.

God promised me that I would meet the One whom God would send as the Savior of Israel.

I was not going to die until I met Him.

You now, I have often wondered how He would come.

I have often wondered what kind of man He would be.

I knew, of course, He would be a descendent of David.

But I was curious…

Could it be that He would come from some family with political connections?

Could it be that He would come as a great and charismatic rabbi?

Or could it be that He would come as a man with tremendous savvy, able to influence others?

This is where I have been waiting…

You are never going to believe this, but yesterday, I met the Messiah.

All these days, months, and years that I have been waiting, I finally saw Him.

I knew as soon as I saw Him…

2. He was revealed to me.

God’s Spirit told me.

You can ask me how I knew, but I can’t really explain it.

I just knew.

I have to admit I was a bit surprised.

For when the Lord promised me that I would meet Him, He never told me how old He would be!

I was expecting some great man to come and make His mark on Jerusalem.

It never occurred to me that He would start out as a baby.

The Messiah has come…not as a man…but as a baby.

It happened this way…

This couple was coming to the temple for the ceremony of purification.

You see, the mother of a male child must come to the temple for the purification ceremony 40 days following the birth,

Until that time, she does not go out; she does not go to the temple, or do anything religious in nature.

Now, they looked like an ordinary couple.

But they were obviously poor, because the offering they were bringing was two pigeons.

They could not afford the lambs that were the usual requirement.

If you are poor, the pigeons are appropriate.

And as I saw them…I knew.

This was the Messiah.

So, I ran to the couple and asked if I could hold Him.

I have to admit that I didn’t really ask.

I asked as I took Him into my arms.

For God has kept His promise.

This little baby was the good news of great joy.

There has been no greater privilege.

I have held Him in my arms.