Simeon: A Lesson In Waiting & Obedience

Christmas is over and now we have 358 days until Christmas 2024. If I was a child I’d be a little depressed about having to wait so long Christmas to come back around again. As I was growing up there were many things I felt like I waited on; a girl to like me, for me to be taller, for me to get my driver’s license, for me to get married, to find the job I want, to own a home, you get it.

Once you have all of that, you can still find yourself waiting perhaps that’s for kids or grandkids or maybe financial security and/or retirement but I feel like almost all Christ-followers and even a lot of people that are spiritually seeking in this world may be waiting for something we just can’t seem to put our finger on.

I would say that we all start waiting for something real, something worthwhile, for something that will make us feel spiritually alive, for us to feel like we’re making in a difference in a world that doesn’t seem like it’s getting any better. Maybe you’re waiting to an easing of pain or an end to suffering whether that be physical or emotional.

The longer you wait, the easier it is to get disenchanted, discouraged, disillusioned. Waiting for something can make you feel alone in a crowded world, can’t it. It can also make you question your faith. But I’m here to tell you today not only of a story of a man (and also of a woman) that waited most likely decades for the coming of the Messiah but I want to give you encouragement that each of us in this room are not only called to help others in their waiting but I believe that every one of us has someone that God is sending to you to help you in your waiting.

For sometimes its not just that you’re waiting for a certain thing to fall into your lap or even for God to do something, perhaps you waiting on someone like Simeon was.

Simeon’s story is told here in Luke 2. And, generally, the story always seems to focus on him but I’d be remised if I don’t encourage you to also consider why the prophetess Anna is mentioned here, too, for they both had been waiting on the coming of the Son of God.

We don’t know that much at all about Simeon nor Anna. In fact this is the only time either of them are ever mentioned in the Bible. You’ve probably heard that Simeon is a priest but Luke never explicitly tells us that. What tells me otherwise is the fact that verse 27 says that Simeon was moved to come to the Temple courts. If he was a priest, he would be there every day like it was his job.

So here we can get the sense that Simeon is simply a devout believer who is in tune with God and willing to go to the Temple, the place of worship at any time. The fact that he may not be a priest actually speaks volumes about how God can be in contact with the average Joe. That means you and I.

Both Simeon and Anna had been faithfully anticipating the coming of the Savior. While we don’t know how long Simeon had been waiting, we can assume that he’s advanced in age since verse 26 mentions that he had insight that he would see the Messiah before he died.

We have a few more clues to the age of Anna. Not only does verse 36 say she’s “very old,” which isn’t very gentlemen like to say but, if you’re like me, you may think “how old is very old?” The NIV chooses to translate verses 36 and 37 to say that she was married to her husband for 7 years and was a widow until she was 84. Perhaps a better translation of the Hebrew, which a few other translations do say, that she had been a widow for 84 years. Either way, Anna is either 84 years old but she could be in the range of 110! (Assuming she was married around the age of 16.)

So yeah, if you’re in your 80s, there’s a good chance that the Bible wouldn’t call you very old.

So both of these people are elderly and seem to be living for the hope of change that the Messiah would bring. Our Scripture says that Simeon was waiting for the “consolation of Israel.” Don’t think of consolation prize, think of the word “console.” Simeon was literally waiting on the LORD’s comforter, the one that would alleviate fears and give hope.

So that’s basically all that we know about Simeon and Anna. We know that they’re old and faithfully anticipating comfort from the LORD. Its plausible to think that they may not know exactly who or what that actually means. Who are they waiting for? Perhaps they don’t know what their supposed to see when it comes to them.