“Lord, now you are letting your
servant depart in peace, according to your word; 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.” And Simeon
blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for
the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a
sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many
hearts may be revealed.”
Luke 2:29-32, 34-35
Jesus
was born to a good traditional, orthodox Jewish family. They would have
observed the Jewish holidays and feasts. They would have upheld the command of
atonement and sacrifice. And they would have obeyed the religious rules
concerning the Sabbath each week. Because of this it was expected and very
natural for his mother Mary and his father Joseph to take him to the temple to
be dedicated and consecrated to the Lord (today both Jews and Gentiles do
this). If he were any other infant boy this would have been just any other day
for the man named Simeon who was performing the dedication. But this was Jesus.
Jesus, being the Son of the Most High God cannot enter into seemingly ordinary
situations and not make them remarkably different and divine.
Simeon
had been going about his daily life trusting and living in the promises of the
Lord as spoken by the Old Testament prophets, namely that the Messiah would
come. On this day, when Mary and Joseph came to the temple with the infant
God-child, Simeon's life became be complete. This change was a change so
dramatic and so integral to the pieces of Simeon’s soul that he was perfectly
peaceful about leaving the earth at that moment. Simeon was a just (righteous) and devout (reverent) man. Similar remarks
are made of Zachariah in chapter one of Luke (1:6). Both Zachariah and Simeon
were working tirelessly in the temple of God (1:8-9). In many ways Simeon and
Zachariah were in the same position and in many ways are parallel. Being an
orthodox Jewish culture it makes sense that both Simeon and Zachariah would be
priests and they would both dedicate infants in the temple; John the prophet of
God and Jesus the Messiah.
Like
every other person on earth, Simeon's life was blessed with relationships. Jesus
enters in and gives purpose to these
relationships. It is quite literally all about the person of Jesus Christ. In
verses 29 and 30 Simeon makes one of the most profound statements in the entire
Bible. He says, "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation." The life of Simeon, Mary, Joseph, me, you,
and every other person on this planet and every relationship that is participated
in become markedly changed when the salvation found in the person of Christ
becomes central. It cannot happen any other way. What a spectacular and
peaceful statement Simeon makes when he lays his old, faithful eyes on the
infant Christ.
In
relationships, which are designed to create growth in each other and to build
one another up in some way, we must be careful that the center of these
relationships is Jesus totally. By doing this, divinity and purpose will enter
into and become the forefront of the relationship. If Simeon can make the
statement that he is ready to die because he has seen Jesus how much do you
think He would affect a relationship intended for to build each other up.
Christ has no other option than to change situation for the better. Let him
change yours.
It
is so easy to go about our daily lives and interact in our relationships on a
moment by moment basis and simply forget to insert Jesus into the relationship.
How easy it is to go about our lives and simply hang out with friends, or sit
down to dinner with family and don’t even have a passing thought about the
divinity of the Lord. How would Simeon respond to this type of lifestyle based
on the statement he makes in the book of Luke? I’m sure he would think it
utterly ridiculous to have access to the eternal Savior and just . . . not.
Simeon quite literally said that he was ready to go into the everlasting sleep
and pass away from the world because he witnessed the infant Jesus, prior to
any type of salvific events on the cross, the tomb, resurrection, etc. In essence,
Simeon’s theology of salvation was not Pauline from Romans or 1 Corinthians; it
was entirely and wholly from Isaiah. We today have access to the entirety of
the Scriptures which give witness to the whole events of Christ both in
prophecy and in earthly ministry. We have more
information about the Lord, do we not? So the question is begged here as we
think deeply about our relationships does more information equate to more focus
towards?
The
answer is logically and biblically a resounding no! Obviously in the case of
Simeon there was not a lack of, but only less information about the Messiah yet
there was an undying passion which equated to the willingness to die. This
being said and clearly heard what is it that affects relationships with the
life changing power of the person of Jesus?
In
Luke We see a few things that can lead us to have a renewed focus on the Lord
as Simeon did. Though the text does not say it explicitly it according to
Jewish tradition Simeon was functioning in a manner reserved for a priest in
the temple. This implies that his life was inundated with the Law of the Lord
as a basis for holy living. In addition to this, in verse 25 on Luke two,
several characteristic of Simeon are listed. He was righteous, devout, waiting, and Spirit
filled. Let’s re state these in a different way to shed light on who Simeon
was as an individual. He was in a good relationship with the Lord (righteous),
passionate about the things of God (devout), hopeful for the things to come
(waiting), and empowered by the Holy Spirit (Spirit filled).
So,
the end of the matter for our lives and our relationships is relatively simply
by looking at the life of Simeon in Luke two. We must be entirely inundated by
the Scriptures of the Lord, we must be a good relationship with God
passionately waiting for the future glory living life with the filled and
empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is through these character traits that our
lives and our relationships are changed for the better through the divine power
of the Lord Jesus. Let us always be seeking for these in our relationships with
all people, building one another up and encouraging one another to love and
good works.
Jesus alone,
Andrew J. Belcher
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