The Insiders: Simeon
The year is done and the milestone of another year is here. What do you expect from the year to come, what are your fears and aspirations? What if this is the year of Christ’s return, will we be ready? Is there anything more important than being ready for His return? Simeon shows us how ordering our priorities will make us ready for Christ’s return, he also shows us God’s faithful loving nature and that all our efforts to be ready will be worth it, and will be richly rewarded.
Scripture
Luke 2:25-35 ESV Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” 33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 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 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
Bible Study Notes
Righteous, committed watching and waiting
A handful of people were actually ready for the birth of the Messiah. Like Zechariah, Joseph and Mary, Simeon was righteous, someone who knew God’s commandments and obeyed them. He was also committed to God to serve Himand He was waiting on God. What was Simeon waiting for?
Luke 2:25 ESV Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
Isaiah 40:1-3 ESV Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Seek and you will find
Simeon was looking for the fulfilment of God’s promises, not just waiting around, he was actively looking. Actively looking means paying attention, asking, and making an effort. What does God promise to do when we are committed to finding Him?
Luke 2:26 ESV And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
Matthew 7:7-8 ESV “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Jeremiah 29:13 ESV You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Being led by the Spirit
Simeon came and went, in the Spirit. He could have been anywhere the day that Joseph and Mary took Jesus into the Temple. How did he manage to be in the right place at the right time in order for God to show him what he had committed to look for?
Luke 2:27-28 ESV And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
Romans 8:3-6 ESV For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Departing in Peace
A bucket list is a list of things we want to see, do or experience while we’re alive. The number one item on Simeon’s list was to see God’s promise to Israel fulfilled, the Messiah. He makes it clear that he is now content, that he had experienced everything that he needed to in this life. In what other way does Simeon have peace? A deep knowledge that he can die in peace?
Luke 2:29-30 ESV “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
Romans 5:1-2 ESV Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
The light of God’s Glory
God reveals that when we are left to our own desires and seeking only our own good, we stumble around in spiritual darkness. He promised to deal with that darkness and bring us back to the light, to a right relationship with Him. God fulfils His promises to Israel and to everyone else by the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ. What do we learn about God from this?
Luke 2:31-33 ESV that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” 33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him
Romans 1:21-22 ESV For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
Isaiah 9:1-2 ESV But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
Isaiah 57:17-19 ESV Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. 18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, 19 creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal him.
Accept that some will rise and some will fall
Jesus Christ is called the prince of peace because He is the one who restores peace with God to all who believe in Him. This bringing of peace raises people up, but Simeon prophesies a falling, what is this falling, and who will fall because of Jesus?
Luke 2:34-35 ESV 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 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
1 Peter 2:7-8 ESV So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
Matthew 10:34-36 ESV “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.
Who’s holding who?
Simeon’s deepest desire was to see the Messiah. He got more than that he got to hold Him in his arms, to love and comfort and appreciate Him. What is the great irony for those who seek to hold Jesus in their arms as Simeon did? Who ended up holding who?
John 10:27-30 ESV My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”