2 minute read
and 17 July
The light has come!
Major Mal Davies explores the words and joy of Simeon
LUKE 2:21–35
ARE you a patient person? While I consider myself to be patient, I have been known to stop the microwave a few seconds before it has completed warming something through, thinking ‘that’s close enough’. If you think you are patient, here’s a test: time yourself and do absolutely nothing for one minute. Just sit. That’s all.
QUESTIONS
How did it feel? Did your mind wander? Did you fidget in your seat? Did it get harder the more time passed?
The story of Jesus’ birth doesn’t end at the stable in Bethlehem. There’s a lovely follow-up recorded in Luke’s Gospel when Joseph and Mary went to the Temple to present Jesus back to the Lord (as stipulated in Exodus 13:2 and Leviticus 12:3). There they encountered Simeon and Anna, who were both thrilled to recognise Jesus as the promised Messiah.
Simeon was an incredibly patient man. He was righteous, devout and filled with the Spirit and, as our study passage notes, had been ‘waiting for the consolation of Israel’ (v25). That is, waiting for the one who would ‘console’ the Israelites in their suffering. Instead of ‘waiting’, the Common English Bible translation says Simeon had ‘eagerly anticipated’, while the JB Phillips New Testament says that he had been ‘living in expectation’.
The Holy Spirit had told Simeon that ‘he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah’ (v26), so while we’re not told how long Simeon had waited, we get the impression it was more likely years or even decades than mere weeks or months.
I love verse 27. It says that the Spirit impelled Simeon to go to the Temple at the very time Joseph and Mary arrived with Jesus. That was a reward for Simeon’s patience, as if God thought: ‘They’re going to the Temple. Better get Simeon. He deserves to see this.’
QUESTIONS
Has the Holy Spirit ever given you a nudge to do something? Were you, like Simeon, obedient and reactive? How can you get better at perceiving these whispers from the Spirit?
Simeon was greatly blessed because of the Spirit’s promise that he would get to ‘see’ the Messiah, but verse 28 says he ‘took him in his arms’. Simeon –
Through the week with Salvationist
– a devotional thought for each day
by Major Howard Webber
SUNDAY
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
(Isaiah 9:2)
MONDAY
A Light came out of darkness;/ No light, no hope had we,/ Till Jesus came from Heaven/ Our light and hope to be./ Oh, as I read the story/ From birth to dying cry,/ A longing fills my bosom/ To meet him by and by.
(SASB 528)
TUESDAY
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’
(John 8:12)
