Simeon was an old man carrying a promise in his heart. God had vowed that he would not see death until he saw the Lord’s Christ. How many days he woke wondering, “Is this the day?” we don’t know.
He was one of the last recorded Old Testament prophets. Here in Luke 2:25-35 Simeon meets his heart’s desire. Taking the 8-day-old Jesus in his arms he proclaimed to all who could hear that this baby was “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” He was a prophet 30 years before his time.
Just nine months earlier, Mary and Joseph’s lives were snatched up into God’s divine plan. They were called to participate in the Father’s mission to save the world through a babe-in-arms. Only eight days earlier this poor carpenter’s wife had given birth under a glorified lean-to. Now here at the Temple, the parents of The Prince of Glory, stood astonished. The last words spoken by this old prophet were of salvation for the nations, but heartbreak for them.
I ask myself, “Could God trust me as he trusted Simeon?” How many years did he wait for that brief encounter? How many people coming and going from Jerusalem, year after year, heard him speak of his meeting-to-be with the Messiah. How many believed?
Simeon was a righteous and devout man. A man full of the Holy Spirit. The kind of man who would have instantly been chosen with the Seven in Acts 6. A man all men should aspire to be.
All of us have an appointment with Jesus. What are we doing with our days before that meeting?
Of this one thing I am certain: Simeon had to be about his Father’s business.
John Staiger
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