Two weeks ago, we worked our way through Isaiah 49:1-6. When I taught on it, I said that these are the words of God's exilic prophet. The prophet feels like his ministry has been a waste of his time and energy. It's accomplished nothing. And God responds to him, not by arguing with him, or criticizing him, but by promising the prophet an even greater ministry. I know it's not very nice of me to expect you to remember in detail what I said two weeks ago, so let's start today by rereading these words:
(1) Listen, O coastlands, to me,
and pay attention, O far-off peoples:
Yahweh, from the womb, has called me; ["from the womb" is focused]
from the belly of my mother He has mentioned/made known my name,
(2) and He made my mouth like a sharp sword.
In the shadow of his hand He has hidden me,
and He made me like a sharpened arrow.
In his quiver He has hidden me,
(3) and He said to me,
"My servant, you [are]; ["my servant" is focused]
Israel, whom in/by means of you I will glorified," [same phrase, preposition+verb Isaiah 44:23]
(4) while I said,
"For no reason I have labored; ["for no reason" is focused]
For emptiness (Genesis 1:2)/nothingness (Isa 40:17, 23; 41:29; 44:9; 45:19) and futility (Ecc. 1:2), my strength
I have spent. ["my strength" is focused]
However, my judgment [is] with Yahweh,
while my compensation [is] with my God/Elohim,"
(5) and now He has said-- Yahweh, The One forming me from the womb as a servant for him--
to return Jacob to himself,
while Israel to himself would be gathered,
that I would be honored/"heavied" in the eyes of Yahweh,
while my God has become my strength--
(6) He has said,
"Too light/trivial it is for you to be for me a servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
while the preserved ones of Israel to bring back,
and I hereby give you as a light to the nations, [the qatal is a performative speech act?]
to become my salvation/victory to the end of the earth.
So the exilic prophet is given a ministry that will have a global impact. He will not only bring Israel back to God, but he will also somehow be a light to the nations. And he will somehow become God's salvation, up to the end of the earth.
How exactly God will accomplish this through this prophet isn't explained in these verses. But that's God's response to the prophet.
Now, everything I've just said to you is a highly contested statement within the church, and within the field of biblical studies. Many weeks ago, I talked about a scholar named Bernard Duhm, who ripped four different passages out of Isaiah 40-55, and he called these passages the "Servant Songs." He argued, after ripping them out of their context, that these songs are mysterious, and that they have no context. It's weird, right, how when you take verses out of context, that they seem like they have no context.
The vast majority of biblical scholars, for 100 years after Duhm, went down the wrong path, chasing his bad idea. And many evangelicals accidentally built in part on Duhm's theory, and they tried to say that the servant in all four songs is Jesus. These four passages turn into something that had no relevance to God's exiled people. They are simply a future prediction of a messiah.
Now, when we look back at these six verses, keeping this in mind, we see that parts of them could be said about Jesus. They are open to being understood that way. We can imagine God making Jesus' mouth into a sharp sword, and God making Jesus into his polished arrow. We know that God used Jesus to call Israel to repentance, and to turn Israel back to himself. We know that Jesus was light and salvation, offered not only to Israel, but up to the end of the earth.
Parts of this fit really well. And I'm not trying to be sneaky about it, or bait you. It's all true.
But if we stop to think about the flow of the passage as a whole, we see that Isaiah 49 can't be directly, exclusively, exhaustively, about Jesus. My guess is that for most of you, me saying this isn't a big deal. But a few of you, perhaps, find yourself shaken by this, so let me just explain that a little.
Whoever is speaking in this passage, is describing words he said to God, a ways into his ministry. He's serving God, and it's not going well. Israel is stubborn, and rebellious, and not listening. And so the speaker feels he's poured out his strength for nothing. My guess is that he doesn't feel like he's failed God. He's done exactly what God has told him to do. He's done a good job. He's been a faithful servant (in a way that the servant of Isaiah 42:18-20 was not). But it was an impossible mission.
What happens next? God responds to this speaker, by expanding his ministry. Originally, his calling was restricted to Israel, but in response to these words, God gives the speaker a ministry to both Israel and the nations.
Now, can we imagine Jesus having this conversation with God, halfway through his ministry? Did Jesus say, "I've accomplished nothing. I've poured out my strength for no purpose." And did God respond by saying, "Originally, your calling was to Israel, but I will make you a light and salvation to the nations." Or, should we pick a different historical point in Jesus' ministry, and see if that works better? Can we imagine Jesus, at his lowest possible point, in the Garden of Gethsemane, telling God, "This has been for nothing" (as E.J. Young tries to do). Is Jesus despairing in the garden? Or does Jesus know that it has all been leading up to that moment, when he would have to voluntarily suffer and die for his Father, and Jesus struggles with taking that last step?
So for me, personally, I struggle with the idea that Jesus is directly, exclusively, exhaustively the servant of Isaiah 49 for four main reasons:
(1) All of Isaiah 40-48 builds up to 49. God's people, stuck in exile, have consistently refused to listen to the words of the prophet because they are stubborn, and rebellious, and because they think God has abandoned them (Isaiah 40:27; 49:14). It's a stubbornness based on pain, and sadness, and despair. But it's also a stubbornness that God has a plan to overcome, through his servant. There's a context.
(2) I struggle to imagine Jesus telling God, at any point in his earthly ministry, that he's poured out his strength for nothing, and accomplished nothing.
(3) I struggle to believe that God gave Jesus more, after Jesus talked to God about this.
(4, related to 3) I struggle to believe that Jesus' calling wasn't, from the very beginning, destined to be for both Israel and the nations (Luke 2:32).
So where does that leave me, and where it maybe leave you?
When we read Isaiah 49:1-6, we see a passage that fits Jesus pretty well, but not perfectly. Jesus was God's servant (Isaiah 49:5)-- and is God's servant. Jesus was a light and salvation to the nations, in a way that far surpassed anyone else. We read Isaiah 49, and we feel like it points forward to Jesus, and the church, and the NT. And it does. But I think it does so in a way that's more complicated and nuanced than we'd maybe expect.
Last week, we looked at what the gospel according to Matthew means by saying that Jesus" fulfills" the Mosaic covenant, and "fulfills" parts of the OT. And I argued that the idea of "fulfillment" was complicated-- that Jesus "fills up" what was lacking Israel's story, and in its covenant, and that Jesus "fills up" many of the low spots of Israel's history. Jesus is a second Immanuel, who "fills in" (along with Joseph) a low point in the line of Davidic kings. The relationship between the OT, and Matthew, is not straightforward (and I built that largely off Brandon D. Crowe's article, "Fulfillment in Matthew as Eschatological Reversal" in Westminster Theological Journal 75 (2013): 111-27.
All of that was prep for this week. What'd I'd like to do today is trace the connections between Isaiah 49, and Luke's two-part work in the NT, Luke and Acts. What we will see, I think, is that Isaiah 40-55 is the background, and framework, for much of the story of Jesus and the early church. We will find echoes and direct quotes of Isaiah 49, in particular, in multiple places. Isaiah 49 is all over the place. So what I'd like to do for most of our time today is just kind of slowly work our way through these connections. I'm not sure that what I'm doing will grab you, right away. But I think, pretty quickly, that I'll be able to help shift your thinking about the relationship between the OT and NT, and between God's servant of Isaiah 49, and God's servant Jesus (for this language about Jesus being God's servant, see among other places Acts 4:30).
Let's start off our study of Luke-Acts, in relationship to Isaiah 49, in Luke 2:25. Jesus has just been born. So we can think about Jesus in a manger, and angels appearing to shepherds, and everyone praising God.
Now, Joseph and Mary are righteous, and devout. They are faithful Jews, faithful covenant keepers with God. And part of what that means, is that Mary needs to offer a purification offering at the temple. When a mom gives birth, she's considered ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 12:6-8). And the way you'd be cleansed, is by offering one lamb and one pigeon or turtledove (R. Alan Culpepper, Luke, 69). If you're poor, you'd offer two turtledoves or pigeons. Mary is poor, so that will be her offering. So 40 days have gone by, and Joseph and Mary go to the temple, so that Mary can give her offering. And this is what happens next. Luke 2:25, and I'll just read the whole passage:
(25) and LOOK! A man was in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon,
and this man [was] righteous and devout (on "devout," see Acts 22:12),
looking forward to the comfort/consolation of Israel, [Isaiah 40:1; 51:3; 52:9; 61:2]
and the Holy Spirit was upon him, [same language as Luke 3:22; 4:18; Acts 1:8, 2:17, 19:6 "Holy Spirit 'epi' him]
(26) and it was to him revealed by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn't see death until he saw the Lord's Messiah,
(27) and he came in/by ('en') the Spirit to the temple [same expression Luke 4:1, to describe how Jesus came in/by the Spirit to the wilderness],
and when the parents of the child Jesus brought him in, so that they could act in accordance with what was customary under the law for him, he [Simeon] received him into his arms,
and he praised/blessed God,
and he said,
(29) "Now you are dismissing your slave, O Lord, in accordance with your word, in peace,
because my eyes saw your salvation, [Isaiah 46:13; 49:6; 52:10]
(31) which you prepared in the presence of all the peoples, [Isaiah 52:10]
(32) a light for revelation to the nations/Gentiles, [Isaiah 49:6; 42:6]
and glory for your people Israel," [Isaiah 46:13; 49:3]
(33) and his father and mother were amazed at the things being said about him,
(34) and Simeon praised/blessed them (same word, awkwardly in English, as verse 27),
and he said to Mary, his mother,
"LOOK! This one is appointed/destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and for (=to be) a sign that is contested/opposed (same word Luke 20:27; Acts 13:45; 28:19, 22)--
and your own soul/inner being will be pierced by a sword--
in order that the thoughts/reasoning of many hearts will be revealed" (verbal form of "revelation" from v. 32; this "in order that" seems to build more off "this one is appointed," than it does off Mary's fate).
Let's start thinking about these verses by talking about Simeon. Simeon is the ideal Israelite. He's righteous, which he means he faithfully keeps (Mosaic) covenant relationship with God. He's devout, which seems to mean something like, "someone who fears God, and treats God with respect and reverence" (Micah 7:2 LXX; Acts 2:5; 8:2; 22:12; BDAG). And that's the kind of person who we expect God to give his Holy Spirit to in a special way (Acts 5:32). So the Holy Spirit reveals to this Simeon, that the things he most wanted in life (because he's "devout")-- to see Israel comforted, to see the Savior Messiah-- God would show him, before he died. Would he see the total fulfillment ("filling up")? No. But God showed him enough of what that fulfillment would look like, that he could die in peace. Jesus is God's salvation, and God showed Simeon Jesus.
We read this, and we find ourselves thinking that the kindness God shows Simeon is like an echo of the kindness God showed Moses, when Moses got to see the promised land, and so was able to die in peace (Deuteronomy 3:27; similarly, Genesis 15:8; Genesis 46:30).
What the devout and righteous most want to see before they die, is that God's plan is still on track. They don't need to see its total fulfillment-- and they can't. But they want to see evidence that God is at work, and that his plan continues. They want to leave with everything humming along on a good note. Knowledge of that, is what lets the righteous die peacefully (Genesis 15:8). God, out of kindness to Simeon, gives him the desire of his heart (Psalm 37:4).
So Simeon has a close, deep relationship with the Holy Spirit. And we know that when someone who has this kind of relationship with the Holy Spirit speaks, that those words are worth paying careful attention to.
So what does Simeon say about this baby Jesus?
Simeon talks about Jesus, using language from Isaiah 49, and elsewhere in Isaiah 40-55. Jesus is God's salvation. Jesus is a light for revelation to the nations. Jesus is glory for Israel.
This is who Jesus was destined to be, from the time he was a baby. He didn't receive his ministry to be light and salvation after a long period of failure, and after talking about the failure of his ministry with God. God prepared this (v. 31) for Jesus from the beginning. Jesus has these words-- and this blessing-- pronounced over him, while he's a cute little baby. You see that?
So Jesus is not directly, exclusively, exhaustively, the servant of Isaiah 49. But what Jesus does, runs along a parallel set of tracks. Jesus is like a second servant, who will be a far greater light, and bring a far greater salvation, than the first one.
Now, let's focus down on this idea of "light." Jesus is a light for revelation. What does this mean? What does it look like in the gospel of Luke (and I'm restricting it to Luke-Acts for a reason, but one could legitimately turn at this point to something like John 8:12-13, etc.)?
In Luke, this is in some ways a metaphor. Jesus shines a light on God, and what God wants. Through what Jesus does, in showing compassion to people, and welcoming sinners, and healing people, Jesus shines a light on God's kindness and grace. Through Jesus' teaching, he shines a light on what God really wants (Isaiah 42:4).
But Jesus being a light isn't just a metaphor. It's something literal, as well (Robert Tannehill, The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts, volume 2, was really helpful for what follows). Let's read Luke 9:28-36 (NRSV updated no reason):
28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus[e] took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but as they awoke they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us set up three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not realizing what he was saying. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen;[f] listen to him!” 36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
Jesus literally shines. He's a light, literally. And Simeon had said that Jesus was a light for revelation to the Gentiles, but we see that Jesus is also a light for revelation to God's people, as well (and so scholars who argue that when Simeon says "glory for Israel," that "glory" is used in parallel with light, to approximately mean "light," are probably on the right track. "Glorious" beings in the Bible are shiny, bright beings, and that's probably more the idea here).
The verse I find most interesting here is verse 35. God tells Jesus' disciples to listen to Jesus. Jesus is a light, revealing truths about God, and God's kingdom. But that light of revelation is something that needs to be listened to. Jesus is a literal light, and a metaphorical light who reveals things about God, and this passage brings these two things together.
Now let's turn to Acts 22:6, and read the story about Saul's conversion/calling (a hotly debated scholarly debate just below the surface here about what to call it, lol):
6 “While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth[c] whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 I asked, ‘What am I to do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told everything that has been assigned to you to do.’ 11 Since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, those who were with me took my hand and led me to Damascus.
12 “A certain Ananias, who was a devout man according to the law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there, 13 came to me, and standing beside me, he said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ In that very hour I regained my sight and saw him (cf. Isaiah 42:7). 14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear his own voice, 15 for you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’
Jesus appears to Saul as a blinding, literal light. And, at the same time, Jesus "reveals" to Saul who he is. Ananias then also plays a role, in explaining to Saul what just happened to him. Ananias "reveals" to Saul that he's been chosen to see Jesus, to hear his voice, and to become Jesus' witness to all the world. So Jesus is the Light who literally shines on Saul, and who also at the same time "reveals" to Saul who he is. But we also see that Jesus doesn't reveal all of this to Saul by himself; Ananias plays a role (anticipating Acts 26:18). Jesus is a light, literally and metaphorically. And Ananias also seems a bit like a light.
Now let's turn to Acts 26:12. Here, we find for a third time, that Paul tells the story of when Jesus appeared to him. As I read, listen for the theme of "light":
12 “With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13 when at midday along the road, Your Excellency,[c] I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. 14 When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew[d] language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’ 15 I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me[e] and to those in which I will appear to you. 17 I will rescue you from your people and from the gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Jesus appears as a Light to Paul. He reveals to Paul the truth about who he is. And Jesus commissions Paul to go, and turn people from darkness to light. Just as Paul was blind, until he saw the light, so too are the Jews and Gentiles (linking to Isaiah 42:18-20). All of them need their eyes opened, and Jesus will use Paul to accomplish that. What Jesus and Ananias did for Paul, Paul will do for both Jews and Gentiles.
I have one last really cool passage I want to show you. I saved the best for last. Acts 13:44. Here, we read about a road trip that Paul and Barnabas to tell Jews about Jesus. The first week they talked to people about Jesus, it went well. And this is week 2:
(44) Now, on the coming Sabbath, nearly the whole city was drawn together to hear the word/message of/about the Lord.
(45) Now, the Jews, seeing the crowds, were filled with jealousy,
and they were opposing the things being said by Paul,
criticizing him.
(46) Both Paul and Barnabas, speaking boldly, said,
"To you it was necessary first for the word of/about God to be spoken.
Since you reject it,
and worthy, you don't consider yourselves of eternal life--
LOOK! We are turning toward the nations/Gentiles.
(47) For thus the Lord has commanded us: [Isaiah 49:6, verbatim quoting LXX]
"I have appointed you to be ["eis"] (for?) a light of the nations/Gentiles,
that you would be ["eis"] (for?) salvation up to the end of the earth."
(48) Now, hearing these things, the nations/Gentiles were rejoicing,
and they were glorifying the word/message of/about the Lord,
and they believed/gave allegiance-- all of those who were lined up/meant for/designated for eternal life.
(49) Now, the word/message of/about the Lord was carried through the whole region.
(50) Now, the Jews incited the religious/devout women of high standing,
and the prominent men of the city,
and they stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas,
and they threw them out of their region/district.
In Acts 13:47, Paul and Barnabas quote, word for word, a 12 word chunk from Isaiah 49:6 (LXX). Jesus, the light, has commanded Paul and Barnabas to be a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
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Acts 13:47 ??t?? ??? ??t?ta?ta? ?µ?? ? ??????• ???e??? se e?? f?? ????? t?? e??a? se e?? s?t???a? ??? ?s??t?? t?? ???.
Isaiah 49:6:
6 ?a? e?p? µ??, µ??a s?? ?st? t?? ??????a? se pa?d? µ??, t?? st?sa? t?? f???? ?a??ß, ?a? t?? d?asp???? t?? ?s?a?? ?p?st???a?• ?d?? d?d??? se e?? d?a????? ??????, e?? f?? ?????, t?? e??a? se e?? s?t???a? ??? ?s??t?? t?? ???.
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How did we get from God commissioning an exilic prophet in Babylon to be a light and salvation to the nations, to Jesus commissioning Paul and Barnabas to a light to the nations? How did we get from Isaiah 49, to Acts 13?
It must be a little complicated, right? Isaiah 49 isn't a direct, exclusive, exhaustive prediction of Jesus, or Ananias, or Paul, or Barnabas.
I think the easiest way to explain this, is by thinking about what these passages (and what all of these servants) "reveal" about God.
When I step back and look at Luke-Acts as a whole, and think about how it builds on Isaiah 49, what stands out to me is God's heart for the entire world, Jew and Gentile. God's desire is that all people, up to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), come to Him to be saved.
God's desire for all of this is something that's remained unchanging through the centuries. Somehow, through the exilic prophet in Isaiah, God has this plan to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. And much later, through God's church, God will do the same thing-- He will bring salvation to the ends of the earth.
We don't know how this happens in Isaiah. God hasn't yet revealed his plan, as of Isaiah 49:6, and I don't want to spoil it. But how does this happen in Acts?
In Acts, you come to God to be saved through the good news about Jesus. What's the good news? (basing it off Acts 2, primarily) That Jesus was killed on a cross, and raised from the dead, in accordance with the Scriptures. That Jesus ascended to God's right hand, in accordance with the Scriptures. And that through Jesus, God offers many good gifts: He offers himself, first of all. Through Jesus, you can come to know the One True God (Acts 17:23). It's through Jesus, that God offers freedom-- "release"-- from satan, and sickness, and sins [Luke 4:18; Acts 2:38; 10:43]. He offers to fill people with his Holy Spirit [Acts 2:38]. He offers the chance to join his kingdom. He offers the chance to be part of a community of God's people that enjoys spending time with each other, partnering with each other, and helping each other [Acts 2:42-47]. He offers the hope that death won't be your end; one day, you'll be resurrected from the grave (messing with people, perhaps, and saying things I don't understand, but working along the lines of N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope, cf. Acts 23:6; 24:21; 26:6-8, 22-23; the good news is about two things: (1) Jesus, and (2) the resurrection; Acts 17:18), and you'll have a share in the coming age, on the restored earth.
All of this, I think, is roughly what Luke means by "salvation." [But I'm unsettled on the details still].
And all of this is incredibly good news for the whole world. Some of us maybe take these things for granted, at this point. Good news has become old news, and at some point along the way, we stopped living like Simeon, in righteousness, and constant reverence toward God, and in anticipation that God would one day give comfort and consolation to his people. But all of this is a huge privilege. It's a gift to go through life knowing that you are clean and forgiven-- not a guilty sinner. Knowing that you are chosen to be God's holy servants. And knowing-- if you are filled with God's Holy Spirit-- that you are filled, and learning how to walk in step with the Holy Spirit, guided and led every day, in service to your God. Knowing that if you live obediently toward God (Acts 5:32), and make yourself available to God, that God will be with you, and use you.
But this good news that we experience as part of our normal daily life, and this hope that we live in, is the type of good news that's not supposed to just be for us. It's not a limited quantity kind of deal, where you have rush to the grocery store because it's only available for the first five customers. This good news is for everyone, and God calls us, and empowers us, to be the ones to bring the good news of salvation to the ends of the earth.
So when we read Acts, we can celebrate seeing God calling and empowering his servants, to be lights, who extend God's kingdom all the way up to Rome. We can be encouraged by seeing that there are churches where God's people keep themselves clean from sin, where they all get along with each other, and like each other, and serve well with each other. It's possible!
But we should also feel this strong pull. What God wanted from the early church, God wants from us: to be a light to all peoples, up to the ends of the earth. To be faithful servants in own little circles (like Ananias), and to send out missionaries well-- by commissioning them, praying for them, and supporting them financially.
Acts also holds out a promise to us as well.
God will empower us to do all of this, through the filling of the Holy Spirit. The promise of the filling of the Holy Spirit wasn't just for the first century church, but also for their children, and grandchildren, and for us. The promise remains open. We can be a people of signs and wonders, who shine so brightly, that it's obvious to everyone around us that we are the ones who know God (Acts 17:23), and that we are God's servants.
So, I didn't really explain at all how we got from the exilic prophet of Isaiah 49 to Acts 13. Somehow, mysteriously, that's where everything went. And next week, perhaps, I'll take a crack at that. But for this week, go, and be lights.
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Translation:
(Luke 2:25) and LOOK! A man was in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon,
and this man [was] righteous and devout (on "devout," see Acts 22:12),
looking forward to the comfort/consolation of Israel, [Isaiah 40:1; 51:3; 52:9; 61:2]
and the Holy Spirit was upon him, [same language as Luke 3:22; 4:18; Acts 1:8, 2:17, 19:6 "Holy Spirit 'epi' him]
(26) and it was to him revealed by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn't see death until he saw the Lord's Messiah,
(27) and he came in/by ('en') the Spirit to the temple [same expression Luke 4:1, to describe how Jesus came in/by the Spirit to the wilderness],
and when the parents of the child Jesus brought him in, so that they could act in accordance with what was customary under the law for him, he [Simeon] received him into his arms,
and he praised/blessed God,
and he said,
(29) "Now you are dismissing your slave, O Lord, in accordance with your word, in peace,
because my eyes saw your salvation, [Isaiah 46:13; 49:6; 52:10]
(31) which you prepared in the presence of all the peoples, [Isaiah 52:10]
(32) a light for revelation to the nations/Gentiles, [Isaiah 49:6; 42:6]
and glory for your people Israel," [Isaiah 46:13; 49:3]
(33) and his father and mother were amazed at the things being said about him,
(34) and Simeon praised/blessed them (same word, awkwardly in English, as verse 27),
and he said to Mary, his mother,
"LOOK! This one is appointed/destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and for (=to be) a sign that is contested/opposed (same word Luke 20:27; Acts 13:45; 28:19, 22)--
and your own soul/inner being will be pierced by a sword--
in order that the thoughts/reasoning of many hearts will be revealed" (verbal form of "revelation" from v.
32; this "in order that" builds off the whole verse).
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(Acts 13:44) Now, on the coming Sabbath, nearly the whole city was drawn together to hear the word/message of/about the Lord.
(45) Now, the Jews, seeing the crowds, were filled with jealousy,
and they were opposing the things being said by Paul,
criticizing him.
[the imperfect verb, "they were opposing," raises expectations that something else will happen. That something else is v. 46, Paul and Barnabas respond to this opposing. The participle phrase "criticizing him" explains in greater detail what type of opposition they were giving. An opposition of criticism, rather than straightforward violence or something else.]
(46) Both Paul and Barnabas, speaking boldly, said,
"To you it was necessary first for the word of/about God to be spoken.
Since you reject it,
and worthy, you don't consider yourselves of eternal life--
LOOK! We are turning toward the nations/Gentiles.
(47) For thus the Lord has commanded us: [Isaiah 49:6, verbatim quoting LXX]
"I have appointed you to be ["eis"] (for?) a light of the nations/Gentiles,
that you would be ["eis"] (for?) salvation up to the end of the earth."
(48) Now, hearing these things, the nations/Gentiles were rejoicing,
and they were glorifying the word/message of/about the Lord,
and they believed/gave allegiance-- all of those who were lined up/meant for/designated for eternal life.
(49) Now, the word/message of/about the Lord was carried through the whole region.
(50) Now, the Jews incited the religious/devout women of high standing,
and the prominent men of the city,
and they stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas,
and they threw them out of their region/district.
Acts 13:47:
47 ??t?? ??? ??t?ta?ta? ?µ?? ? ??????• ???e??? se e?? f?? ????? t?? e??a? se e?? s?t???a? ??? ?s??t?? t?? ???
Isaiah 49:6:
?d?? d?d??? se e?? d?a????? ??????, e?? f?? ?????, t?? e??a? se e?? s?t???a? ??? ?s??t?? t?? ???.
