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
Simeon is mentioned nowhere else in all of Scripture. But we get a glimpse of what his character is like, justand devout.Waiting for the Consolation of Israel—The Bible does not say how long this man had waited, but it is clear that he knew Who he was waiting for; The ” Consolation of Israel ” is the Messianic title of Christ. And it will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; We waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”(Isaiah 25:9) Simeon ultimately knew, that to wait for God entails an ultimate trust in Him, and not becoming impatient when His timetable for final salvation differs from ours. Again, the character of Simeon, for it is significant that with so many messianic prophesies that spoke of His coming, yet, still only a handful of people realized the significance of Christ’s birth. Most of them, including Simeon, received some sort of angelic message or other special revelation to make the fulfillment of these O.T. prophecies clear. Simeon’s psalm is known as the Nunc Dimittis,from the first two words of the Latin translation, and is the fourth of 5 psalms of praise Luke, the author of this gospel, includes in his narrative of the birth of Christ. It is quite a touching expression of Simeon’s extraordinary faith. We can learn a great deal from Simeon’s life, first of all, God is not confined to our world’s timetable. He is outside of time constraints and thus if He has made a promise to do something, we can rest assure that He will fulfill His promise to do exactly what He said He would do. Our response is to simply believe what God has said, and to trust in Him to work out all those things (which I don’t always understand) pertaining to my life, and rest knowing that as I wait for Him to fulfill His will for my life, I don’t have to fuss or fret over when all of this is going to take place, but just know that He has made a promise to receive me unto Himself, and I too will see His salvation. This is the life of faith and expectation that everyone who professes faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is to have. I can rejoice in my salvation everyday! Especially now, at this Christmas season.
Beloved Friend, The rise and fall of many in Israel—Has significant meaning also. To those who reject Him, He is a stone of stumbling(1 Peter 2:8); and those who receive Him are raised up: But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ(by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.(Ephesians 2:4-7) This my friend is our destiny. To be sitting together with other believers in the heavenly places! We haven’t received this promise from God yet, but rest assured it is coming. Like Simeon, let us wait for it in faith, rejoicing in our ” Consolation of Israel”and be witnesses of God’s exceeding riches of grace through His kindness toward us in the One in whom He is well pleased, Christ Jesus the Lord!
May the Lord bless your walk today!
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