Simeon And The Savior

Simeon and the Savior

Luke 2:25-35

By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey

INTRODUCTION

“The days were very dark for Israel; no John the Baptist had sounded his trumpet not; everything seemed hopeless for the Jews, and some of the noblest of them had taken refuge in despair.”1

“The times were degenerate. The official clergy [were] mere officials.”2

However, there was a faithful Jewish remnant that eagerly looked for their Messiah. These were known as the Hasidim or Chasidim (pious ones) referred to in Malachi 3:16-17, which says, “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, / And the LORD listened and heard them; / So a book of remembrance was written before Him / For those who fear the LORD / And who meditate on His name. “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, / “On the day that I make them My jewels. / And I will spare them / As a man spares his own son who serves him.”

In Luke 2:25 we read: “And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. / And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. / So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, / he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: / ‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, / According to Your word; / For my eyes have seen Your salvation / Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, / A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, / And the glory of Your people Israel.’ / And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. / Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against / (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed’” (Luke 2:25-35).

I. His Relationship with God (Luke 2:25b, c)

“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel. . .”

A. His Piety (v. 25b) "just and devout"

Stopford Augustus Brooke (1832-1916) explains, “To be devout means to live always with the consciousness of God’s presence; to walk with Him, as the old Scriptures put it, so that all thoughts and acts are thought and done before Him, and ordered so as to be in tune with His character. It means to live in worship of Him, so that honor is paid in everything to that which is God, to truth and mercy, justice and purity.”

Simeon was a "pious one" like those mentioned in Malachi 3:16-17.

B. His Patience (v. 25c) "waiting"

The writer of the book of Hebrews states: “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:36). The word translated “endurance” has also been translated "patience". Simeon was one who demonstrated patience in waiting for the promised Messiah to come.

II. His Revelation from God (Luke 2:25d-27a)

“. . . and the Holy Spirit was upon him. / And the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ had revealed it to him. / So he came by the Spirit into the temple. . .”(Luke 2:25d-27a)

Richard Lovelace says, “Any model of the fullness of the Spirit which attempts to make empowering for service related separate from growth in holiness inevitably collides with the truth represented in the very title Holy Spirit. The principal work of the Spirit in applying redemption lies in making us holy and being filled with the Spirit simply means having all our faculties under his control rather than the control of sin.”3

Dr. B.H. Carroll writes, “The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that his old eyes should not close in death until they had seen the Lord’s Christ. It was like the revelation to Enoch that his son Methuselah should live to the end of the Antediluvian world, and like the revelation to Lamech that his son Noah should give rest from the flood and start a new race in the Postdiluvian world.”4

J. Caughey writes, “Undevout minds are too worldly, too apathetic, too dull to hear the secret whisperings of heaven. ‘Tis the spiritual ear alone that can hear the still small voice that comes across the universe from the spirit-world; ‘tis the spiritual eye alone that reads the secrets of eternity, that sees passing in review before it the realities of the hidden state.