Advent Day 25 Luke 2:25-31

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous 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. And he came in 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; or my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,” (Luke 2:25-31 ESV)

We don’t hear much about the Priest Simeon in the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life. He wasn’t the High Priest of the Temple; he doesn’t appear to be wealthy, and he wasn’t named as one of the great Sadducees of his time. He is described as “righteous and devout and waiting for the coming of the promised Messiah, to rescue Israel.”  Waiting for the coming Messiah was not new for the faithful of Israel; they had been waiting for centuries. However, Simeon’s wait was different. The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he had seen “The Lord’s Christ”.  The word that we translate “Christ” is the Greek word for the Messiah, “the anointed one”. So, after all those years of his service in the Jewish Temple, Simeon knew that God had heard his prayers for Israel's salvation, and that the Christ, the Messiah, would soon be born.

I wonder if every day when he awoke, approaching, he asked, “Is today the Day Lord?”. His heart had to be overwhelmed with the knowledge that this is the generation when God will fulfill His long-awaited promise. Every time new parents brought their child to the Temple for the circumcision ceremony and to provide the required sacrifice, I’m sure he eagerly looked, anticipating “maybe this is the one”. But day after day, he remained faithful to the calling which God had given him. Be ready, the very Son of God, the Messiah, is coming. Then one morning, he got up, got dressed in his priestly robes, and made his way to the Temple to carry out his priestly duties. As he saw this young couple coming up to him with an 8-day-old infant in their arms, he knew this was the fulfillment of God’s promise. Can you just imagine how he felt? Unworthy, absolutely! Privileged, without a doubt! Grateful, how could he not be! Here God had chosen him from all the priests to announce to the world that the Messiah had come, and his salvation was secure.

I'm sure it was similar to how we felt when we finally understood that we had been given the gift of eternal life by this same Messiah. Do you remember when you finally changed your mind about how you can receive God’s forgiveness? For some, it may have been a quiet release of guilt and shame, possibly with tears flowing down their face. For some, they may have jumped up and down, yelling “Hallelujah”, Praise God for what He has done. For some, like me, I just wanted to accept this gift of eternal life and rest in the love of my Jesus. But no matter how you reacted when you first realized that because of the death of Jesus, my sins had been washed away, the price of my sins had been paid, not by me, but by the King of Kings. His death, burial, and resurrection proved that He had control over death. I have nothing to fear. After all, what could the devil or man do to me now? Jesus has bought me for His own; I now belong to Jesus.

Simeon was so overwhelmed that he took Jesus in his arms, blessed God, and said to all, “… for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Simon knew who he was holding in his arms; he realized that God had made a way for him and everyone on earth to have eternal life. He knew all the prophecies about the coming Messiah were now fulfilled and that God had provided the savior of the world, Jesus, just as He had promised.

How about you, my friend? For the past month, you have been reading about God’s promises to provide the Savior. You have heard all the Christmas carols, heard multiple church sermons about what God did some 2,000 years ago. You know all about the “Christmas Story”, you know a lot of facts about Jesus, but have you placed your confidence for eternal life in Him? Can you say, along with the Priest Simeon ‘My eyes have seen your Salvation!” Don’t let another Christmas season come and go without putting your trust and faith in the gift of salvation that Jesus specifically came to this earth to give you. Let today be the day that you enter from eternal death to eternal life.

Believer, remember the excitement and relief you felt when you put your trust and faith in the promised Messiah. Let’s join Simon and proclaim to the world, “My eyes have seen your Salvation!”

Christmas Day Prayer

Father in Heaven, how wonderful is your Name!

Father, we look back over the events of this glorious season, remembering that you proved your love for this world by giving your only Son to suffer and die for all who would call upon His name, and it overwhelms our souls.

Father, you and you alone are the promise keeper; you and you alone are righteous and holy. You and you alone were able to provide the perfect sacrifice, our Lord Jesus, to pay for the sins that He did not commit, so that we, who did commit those sins, could be forgiven, and it overwhelms our souls.

Father, on this day, we rejoice with the angels in glory that you saw fit to provide a way when there was no way for our salvation. You, in your loving kindness, saw a people who were desperately in need, who were wandering around in our own sin, and yet, while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us and provided eternal life with You, and it overwhelms our souls.

Father, for all of this, we could never find enough words of gratitude to express what our overflowing hearts have. But for all that you have done, we humbly praise you, in the name of our loving and faithful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.