Unlike Zechariah, whom the last thought was written about,
this person lived his life believing that God had something special for him to
do. Day in and day out Simeon lived a
life of faith anticipating what the Lord was going to do for him before he
died.
Christmas for Simeon brought the fulfillment of a
promise. A promise that God had made to
him years ago that he would see the “Lord’s Christ” before he died. As Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple after the time of
their ritual purification Simeon recognized the fulfilled promise and held the
Christ child and received his blessing.
Simeon is not usually one of the “heroes” of the Christmas
story. His character is introduced
somewhat after the birth and only Luke sees the need to tell this story while
not mentioning the Magi of Matthew. But
it is with Simeon (and Anna) that we get the validation from the religious
community of that day. Without a mistake
this was the awaited messiah.
Simeon’s joy had been made complete. His life long dream to see the long awaited
“Consolation of Israel” was now reality.
How we can only hope that at the end of our days we will be filled with
such completion and such joy. But in
order for that to happen we have to have been “awaiting” something
special. What is it in your life that
you believe that God will reveal? What
is it that you are waiting for?
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