(The following text is adapted from a sermon I delivered in a seminary class recently.)
I’m currently waiting for the arrival of our baby. While I get to “talk†to the baby now, there’s no baby to hold in my arms. I want to be able to hold and touch and cuddle my child. And like me, most of us who have had or are about to have a child look forward to the day when we can embrace the one we love.
A man in Scripture, in the Gospel of Luke, was awaiting the arrival of someone special.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. ¨For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
The Aching of the People of God
Ever since the exile, the people of Israel had been longing for a messiah, somebody to rescue them from their current plight. Even in their own land, they weren’t yet out of exile. The Romans ruled the land, and they were not free to be the nation they wanted to be. Even had they been free, we know from reading the prophets that Israel did a pretty lousy job at being who she was called to be. This is the historical stage: the people were aching in expectation of a messiah who would come and solve their problems––politically, nationally, and theologically. They wanted somebody to save them.
Luke was writing his biography of Jesus several decades after Jesus’ life events actually took place. He was crafting a story of Jesus’ coming into the world. He sets the literary stage by telling us stories about different individuals who experienced the coming of the messiah: Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, the shepherds, and those unnamed persons who were undoubtedly part of that story (household servants, spouses, etc). After the story of the birth of Jesus, Luke tells of another two persons who experienced Jesus: Simeon and Anna.
I’m going to tell you my agenda ahead of time: Luke’s telling of this story can be seen as a paradigm of the story of Israel, and of our own stories. Israel was longing for a return from exile, was expecting somebody to rescue them, and was painstakingly awaiting the arrival of that someone. Many, I believe, did not even know what to look for, and had developed their own theories and assumptions about what this “messiah†would look like. Some even formed their own agendas and sought to begin a revolution themselves. We could observce that the hearts of God’s people had grown weary of waiting.
Like them, we are all longing and searching and hoping for something or someone. Our hearts ache for a better job, a better marriage, a better life. We look forward to being rescued to better things. And even if we feel as though we have a pretty good life, there is always “something” left within us that knows, “things could be better.”
Luke says Simeon was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,” and the Holy Spirit was upon him. If we had the time, we’d be able to see how Luke uses the phrase “Holy Spirit was upon” and
Holy Spirit came on” and “rested on” throughout Luke and Acts, but suffice it to say that this phraseology meant that there was something supernatural happening. Luke tells us what it is: “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen YHWH’s messiah.” Not a shabby promise, would you say? So moved by the Spirit he went to the temple. Guess who was there?
The Arrival of the Messiah
I’m not sure if at this time Simeon knew that Jesus was going to be a baby when he met him. Perhaps Simeon assumed he would meet a man. Perhaps he knew didn’t know much, and left his heart open to whatever God’s Spirit led him to. In any case, he got to hold the baby Jesus in his arms.
It is often that we have expectations of a person when we are about to meet them. If they are a famous person, we tend to idolize them and assume they are as good as we imagined them. We even create expectations for people we already know, assuming they will act in or be a certain way about something. And oftentimes we are caught by surprise at what we experience.
In many ways, that is how we experience Jesus. While Simeon may have known Jesus would be a baby in the temple, he may not have understood this before the Holy Spirit revealed it to him. His thoughts were probably on some great leader, some great teacher, some great revolutionary. And so at the very least, Simeon’s understanding of the messiah was different. And his experience with Jesus was very different.
In our world, we don’t get quite the experience today of meeting Jesus like Simeon did, at least not literally. While we may have a “strong sense†of Jesus’ presence at our salvation, it isn’t quite like holding Jesus in our arms. But nevertheless, we still experience Jesus. He arrives in our world, and we must choose to do something with him.
How does Jesus arrive in our world? He arrives in the small voices of your children doing loving things for each other. He arrives in the beauty of the world around you on a bright sunny day (and believe it or not, he’s still there on the cloudy days). However you imagine one could experience Jesus, this is how he arrives, or enters our world.
The Action of the Hearer
Let’s talk about Simeon’s reaction as he held the baby Jesus in his arms. Keep in mind Jesus had nothing to say to Simeon, didn’t heal him, and since it was only 40 days after his birth, may not have even purposefully smiled at Simeon.
In Simeon’s world, Israel was God’s focus of attention, God’s special people. So to focus on Gentiles is to be, for their nation, and outward focus. But as God’s people, Israel was to be outwardly blessing those around them.
As Jesus entered Simeon’s world, he knew that he had seen God’s salvation (v. 30), and he declared that this salvation would be two things: (1) a light for the Gentiles, and (2) glory to God’s people. God’s salvation, Jesus, is to be a light for those outside his people. For God’s people, Jesus is to be glory. He is our worshiped One, our focus, the “weight” of our hearts.
When some people “meet” Jesus, they have already chosen how they want to respond to him. Some choose to write him off as a man, but just a man. Some choose to revere him as good, but probably say that simply to be politically correct or “popular” in their opinion. Let’s face it: not many folks believe Jesus taught awful things or was a “bad man.” He certainly is revered on a popular level. So many people “do something” with Jesus when he is introduced into their world. The problem, sometimes, is they don’t do with Jesus what needs to be done. They don’t find satisfaction in him.
How do you act when Jesus enters your world each day? Are you putting him off as that well-known person in your life, who is important but gets little attention after a while? Or have you decided, like Simeon, to attribute to Jesus who he rightfully is: “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel”?
Simeon then blessed Jesus’ parents by telling them that this child would be the center of controversy. In some ways, he was destined for celebrity status (we must keep in mind that a celebrity is not always popular). He tells Jesus’ parents that Jesus would be the cause of rising and falling of many in Israel. In fact, Mary and Joseph would be affected by him, too, by saying that their own souls would be pierced. He could be speaking of Mary having to watch her son die, or perhaps he was speaking in spiritual terms. In any case, Simeon’s declaration made his parents marvel.
Leading up to this time, the arrival of the messiah was supposed to be a great and sweeping victory over God’s enemies. It was assumed to be God’s political and theological victory of the forces of darkness, namely the Roman rule. The injustice of the Gentiles, Samaritans, and the unjust Jewish leaders were to be eradicated, and this leader would be a great leader. But he comes in an unexpected manner, even while everyone was looking for him.
But the story of Jesus’ parents in the temple that day doesn’t end here. There is another character, Anna, whom Luke wants us to consider if we understand this story in its fullness. Otherwise he would have gone on to say other things about Jesus’ life.
Anna was an 84 year-old widow who spent much of, if not all of, her time in the temple, worshiping and fasting and praying. At a critical moment in the story, Anna comes up to meet the family and Simeon, and she gets to meet the baby Jesus!
I wonder how Anna knew that this child was “the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” I wonder if she knew how this would end up. I wonder if any of them knew that Jesus wouldn’t be quite the leader and revolutionary that they all had expected to come on the scene. Nonetheless, Anna was clear about what she was looking forward to, and she understood who this baby was.
Luke wraps this unique story of what might appear to be chance encounter of the baby Jesus by with a nice “fond farewell” of Jesus and his family. The “happily ever after” part of the story is that Jesus grew in wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. The only “loose ends” to this story are the mysterious things spoken of by Simeon, those things described about Jesus concerning what he would be to the people of Israel.
While Simeon and Anna did not know exactly who they were encountering, while they did not know all about Jesus, and while they did not know exactly how he would affect their nation, they both understood that he would be the consolation of the nation. Just as Jesus would later tell the woman at the well that her thirst would be quenched with living water, even as a baby these two people were satisfied. Were all of their questions answered? No. Nothing leads us to believe this. Were their experiences as they had hoped? Probably not. But it appears from Luke’s account they were satisfied with the savior whom they met.
I can’t help but cast this story against my own story, against our story. It is a story of a personal, but also national, struggle for peace. It is a story of a personal, but also national, waiting for hope. It is, in short, the story of finding satisfaction in the Jesus who came to rescue the world, who came to produce harmony in the world.
But he did not come as expected. And he will not be as expected.
Our problem in life is not that we search for something that will satisfy us. The problem is that we do not search for that which will satisfy us most. If Jesus is the “light” and “glory”and “redemption” for the world, then it is only he who can be this ultimate satisfaction. It is our response to Jesus, when we encounter him, that makes the difference in our satisfaction. As a believer, it is also how we allow other people to encounter Jesus, showing them that He can be and would be that which satisfies them fully, even if they don’t quite know how that plays out.
Doug Stuart is a committed follower of Jesus and passionate about building for the Kingdom of God through education and mobilization. He is a regular writer at LibertarianChristians.com as well as the founder of Living Loud.
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