In Jesus Holy Name December 29, 2019
Luke 2:25-26 Christmas I
“Simeon’s Story is Our Story”
One of my favorite characters of the Christmas story is Simeon. We meet Simeon on the day Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple for his consecration ceremony, as required by the law of Moses. In another part of town, Simeon felt a nudge in his heart to go to the temple. (see Luke 2:27). He was not told why; he just knew he was to go. Luke writes: “Moved by the Spirit” he went to the Temple.
Ever have a divine prompting like that? It might be mysterious; a voice in your head or perhaps a name you haven’t thought of in years flashes through your mind, and you feel the urgent need to pause and pray for them or give them a call. (devotion Max Lucado)
Whatever the case, Luke tells us this wasn’t the first time God had spoken clearly to Simeon. Once before, when he was younger, maybe in his 30’s or 40’s, we don’t know, but God had assured Simeon, that he would see the Messiah before he died (see Luke 2:26).
Forty days have passed since the birth of Jesus. Mary and Joseph now return to the Temple to “redeem” their firstborn son. There was no halo over the holy family to distinguish them from hundreds of other families, so how would he know which child, which family? There were many young families coming to dedicate their newborn sons.
Aside from what we are told in Luke 2, we know nothing about Simeon. We don’t know his background, his hometown, his education, or even his occupation. Luke tells us that he is an old man—but even that is not a certain fact. He simply appears on the stage of history in the drama surrounding the birth of Christ. After his part is over, he fades from the scene, never to be heard from again.
This was a divine encounter. Luke tells the story this way: Read Luke 2:25-32)
How long had Simeon been waiting to see the Messiah? How many years had passed between the Holy Spirit revealing to him that he would not die until he had seen the Christ. We are not told. Whatever the amount of time that had passed, Simeon was waiting in eager expectation, for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel.
Simeon was waiting. No doubt he was living in Jerusalem and as a righteous man he would have been a regular attender at the Temple for worship and prayer. The Holy Spirit had told him, “You will not die before you see the Messiah.”
Each day Simeon would be at the Temple. Over the years how many questions did he have? How would he know what the Messiah would look like? What or who should he look for? Was he to look for a baby? Or was he looking for a teenager or a strong young man like King David. No one knows the answer to those questions. He didn’t either but he held on to the promise and waited.
Day by day he kept watch over the throngs coming into the Temple. Each time a young couple came in with a baby, he whispered, “Is that the one?” Perhaps he is now 75 or even 80 years old. Perhaps he has a long gray beard, stooped shoulders, wrinkled face, bushy eyebrows, and trembling hands. If so, then he knows it can’t be long. The Lord’s Christ must be coming at any moment.
Into the temple walks Mary holding the baby in her arms with Joseph by her side. Jesus is only forty days old. Nothing unusual about the couple. Joseph is a poor carpenter from Nazareth, she is a peasant girl carrying a little baby boy. They are obviously from the country. They obviously don’t have much money. If you were people-watching, you wouldn’t give them a second glance.
I can see Simeon waiting, watching. Which one? What family? What child? Then suddenly the Spirit, the voice of Jesus points him to Mary and Joseph.
Suddenly Simeon’s heart leaps within him. The long days of waiting are finally over. The Lord’s Messiah is before him. Here is the One for whom the nation has been waiting. He walks over, introduces himself, and says, “Do you mind if I hold your child?” As Mary gives the infant Jesus to Simeon, he praised God. His words became a song that has come down through the centuries to us as the final and climactic song of Christmas. The song is called the Nunc Dimittis.
“Sovereign Lord, as you had promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 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 to the glory of your people Israel.”
Simeon calls this child “the glory of Israel.” In this baby, Simeon sees the fulfillment of all the hopes and dreams of the Jewish people across the centuries. To call Jesus “the glory of Israel” takes us back to the time of Abraham when the Lord said, “I will make your name great, and make of you a great nation, and through you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
Simeon calls him “a light of revelation for the Gentiles.” Simeon explicitly says that this baby will not only be the glory of his own people Israel. He will also be the light of revelation for the Gentiles. He’s not just for Israel. He didn’t come just for their benefit. He came to shine a light of the revelation of God into every nation, every tribe, every kindred and every tongue.
The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Your baptism into the family of God makes you a candidate for hearing the voice of Jesus, especially if there is a task He wants to accomplish through you. Maybe in the past you have heard the voice of Jesus through an encounter with an angel. If an angel shows up, life gets complicated. This is going to scare the pants off of you… but that is why the first words of the angel are: “don’t be afraid”.
Dawn and dusk are when the Last Adam, Jesus walked and talked with His Father in a garden. Dawn and dusk were the times God walked and talked with the first Adam and his wife Eve. Maybe your prayer in the morning or evening is nothing more than talking and walking with God. Maybe your prayer is simply conversation with God about life. Maybe the prompting in your heart to pray was God wanting something to happen in someone’s life.
Since the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is God’s breath, the voice of Jesus made audible by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit that spoke to Simeon, and urged him to visit the temple, on a specific day, is the same voice that told him which child out of the hundreds that day, was the Messiah, he had been waiting to see.
When you hear the Spirit give you a direction, you are hearing the voice of Jesus. If it doesn’t sound like Jesus, it’s not the Spirit. That’s why Paul warns us to be discerning. After His resurrection from death and the grave Jesus told His disciples “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me…” (John 16:16) He was telling them that they should not cling to His physical presence because He knew that soon His Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost would be in given to each of His disciples.
Today the Holy Spirit, the living Voice of Jesus may speak to our heart when you read the scriptures. Jesus reminded the disciples and us. “My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow me.” (John 10:27) Properly understood, the Bible is God’s speech, God’s voice, preserved in written form. So, the Spirit, the voice of Jesus may bring security to your heart when you read a specific verse and immediately you sense a peace in your heart. You will know it is Jesus speaking to you. That is one way you hear the voice of Jesus.
On the day Simeon entered the temple there was no halo on the infant in Mary’s arms. But the Spirit pointed Simoen to the correct family. When he held the child He was assured and the Holy Spirit spoke a work of promise and hope.
Remember the story of Philip after the resurrection of Jesus? The Spirit of Jesus told Philip to walk down the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. He was not told why, just go. Then the Spirit of Jesus told him to stand by a chariot. A man was baptized as a result.
Simeon predicted that a sword would pierce Mary’s heart. When Mary watched her son die, a sword pierced her soul. The Bible does not separate the cradle from the cross. This little baby was born to die. The joy of Christmas leads on to the agony of Good Friday. He was born to end up that way.
This is why the one born in the Cradle of Christmas cannot be separated from the beam of the Cross. So that we might be rescued, redeemed from eternal death and the wrath of a righteous Creator, God resolved to send His only Son, Jesus, into the world. Born true man so that He might take our place, and true God so He might live a perfect life, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The keeping of God’s promise is who the Wise Men came to see, then the Spirit of Jesus in a dream warned them to return home a different way.
Jesus then carried all of our broken commandments to the cross. When He died he left them there, stripping Satan of any possible accusation for those who hold to the cross of Jesus. So completely did Jesus keep God’s promises that three days after he was placed in a borrowed grave He shattered the darkness of death and rose from death with a glorified resurrected body.
On this day I wish you both a “Merry Christmas” and may your New Year be a Happy One. Be prepared to listen for the voice of Jesus to guide you, for His voice is like a voice but not a voice, more of an inclination, an instinct. That will be a burning bush for you.
