Scripture Notes: Simeon (Luke 2)

Put yourself in Simeon’s place for a few minutes. You have been waiting a long time for the Messiah to come, but you know He will arrive before God calls you out of this life. The Holy Spirit has implanted that conviction in your heart. So you wait, and you watch. You are not sure what to expect exactly, but you believe that you will know it when you see it.

Then one day the Holy Spirit urges you to go to the Temple. You listen and obey, seating yourself in the outer courtyard and watching the many people who pass by on errands of their own, some for worship, others for profit. Then you see Him, and you know. At that very moment. You know.

He is so tiny. Only six weeks old. And He is sleeping in His mother’s arms as His parents walk through the courtyard on the way to make their sacrifice. Yet this is the One. Every part of your being says so, and the confirmation comes when you take the Baby into your arms and He wakes up and looks into your eyes.

The Holy Spirit opens your mouth, and you speak words of prophecy, declaring that this little One is the salvation of the world, the light of revelation for the Gentiles, the glory of Israel. You rejoice in the very depths of your being as you say this. Yet there is a darker side, too. The Child you are holding, you continue, “is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against.” Not everyone will come to Him. Not everyone will follow Him. Some will rise up against Him, and His mother’s soul will be pierced by a sword. Yet He will bring truth. He will reveal what has been hidden all these centuries. He is the Savior.

As you hand the Baby back to His mother, you are content. You can indeed depart in peace when God calls you, for your own eyes have seen His Messiah, His promise, and you are confident in God’s perfect plan.