Simeon

Luke 2:25-34

My name is Simeon and my life is drawing to a close. Very soon I will go to my fathers. I have no dread of that hour. These last days of my life will be lived with great joy, for today my life’s purpose was fully met.

Few men finish their course with such a sweet sense of completion. All too often I’ve watched death extinguish the light in the eyes of a despairing friend who passed on thinking they had been robbed of something . . . that life wasn’t fair. I’ve seen the struggle – the resistance – the reluctance, as if the time was not right – as if there was some urgent unfinished business. It won’t be that way for me. No, if death calls me this hour, I’ll embrace it gladly.

The peace I feel makes me want to weep and laugh at the same time. On one hand I want to shout the news to the world and on the other, treasure it in my heart like a most precious secret. Just today, in the temple courts, I saw Him . . . I touched Him, and when I took Him in my arms I thought my heart would stop beating. I felt the fire of God in my bones. The Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and the words that flowed in that moment of anointing sealed the purpose of my life. His mother said His name was Jesus . . . I call Him Messiah.

Even as a boy, I believed – and not just because of the teaching of the priests – no, as a child I felt God’s presence and I sought Him earnestly. When my teachers spoke of Messiah, an unanswerable longing filled my heart. I found myself drawn to the temple continually with one prayer on my lips; “Oh Lord, let me live to see Messiah!” The more I prayed, the deeper my longing. Then one day God spoke to me as I was praying. His words were few, but unmistakable. I caused quite a scene in the courtyard of the temple that day, weeping and rejoicing with such abandon that the priests and gatekeepers thought I had lost my mind. I didn’t tell them what Jehovah said – He didn’t tell me to tell anyone – but I’ll tell you now; “Simeon” He said, “I’ve heard your prayer, and I’ve seen the longing of your heart. You shall not taste of death until you have seen the Messiah.”

Years have passed. I’m alone now. My wife and my friends have gone down to the grave. My body is old and my strength is ebbing away. But today I saw Him, just as I knew I would. I knew. . . I knew in that moment I knew that He was the Light of Revelation to the Gentiles, and the Glory of Israel. I knew who He was, this baby in the arms of a Carpenter! And now, I can rest. Though the prophet Isaiah is now seven centuries dead, the great light he prophesied was shining in the temple courts today in the eyes of a baby boy.