Advent 2018: What Happened Next?

Luke 2:25-35 

25 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; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 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.” 

In the life of the church, sometimes we get to Christmas and the birth of Jesus, and then what? We don’t know what happened to the shepherds after they shared the good news. We don’t know what happened with the wise men after they returned to their homes. We don’t know much about Joseph in the following years, or even a whole lot about Jesus’ upbringing. What we do know is that Mary and Joseph lived out the laws and regulations of a Jewish family. On the eighth day, they brought baby Jesus to Jerusalem to the Temple for circumcision.

When he arrives in Jerusalem, we meet Simeon, a righteous and devout Jew who was waiting for the Messiah. It is interesting that the name Simeon means “Hear” and Simeon had indeed heard from the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he  wouldn’t die until he had seen the Messiah. And so, led by the Holy Spirit, Simeon came to the Temple. Immediately when he saw Jesus, he knew that he was seeing the Messiah. 

As I was studying this passage, I found something interesting. When Simeon pronounces his blessing, he uses an interesting word where our English translations  say, “Lord.” The Greek word that we usually use for the Lord is “kurios.” But Simeon called God “despoteis” instead of “kurios.” “Despoteis” carries the meaning of someone with absolute power over someone else. For Simeon, this means that when he calls himself God’s “servant,” he really means it. Sometimes we can say, “I serve God,” but we want to serve him on our own terms. “If you do this, then I will do that.” “God, I want to do this or that, but only if you agree to do it my way.” Can you imagine if you were working as a servant in someone’s home and you treated your boss in the way we often treat God. The boss says, “Today you need to sweep and wash the floors.” So you respond, “Hey, I showed up today. That’s good enough. Now where’s my pay?” What would happen?

That’s the way a lot of Christians treat God. They show up for Sunday worship and sing songs and say prayers, they listen to a sermon, but they never respond in obedience to God’s word. Then they sit back and wonder, “Where’s my blessing?” 

Simeon lived with total allegiance and total submission to God’s authority. And that’s a model for us to follow. Simeon is not some kind of super-Christian. He is a model for a normal Christian. 

Now Simeon prophesies, inspired by the Holy Spirit, that Jesus is the Messiah, “God’s salvation that He has prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to His people Israel.” (v. 30-32) I want you to notice something about this prophecy. Many modern so-called prophets will say this or that about your future, and then if it doesn’t come true, they will backtrack and say it was a metaphor. I know someone who prophesied to a friend that she would die. Last year. She’s still very much alive. Sometimes they prophesy something vague or generally positive, like “you will have blessings in 2019.”

But Simeon’s prophecy is rooted and grounded in the scripture. Remember God’s promise to Abram? That he would be blessed, and that all nations on earth would be blessed through him? Simeon’s prophecy is that Jesus is the fulfillment of Abram’s blessing! “In the presence of all peoples.” “A light for revelation to the Gentiles.” Jesus is not just a Messiah for the Jews. He has come for all peoples! And the name Jesus literally means salvation. 

But Simeon’s following statement shows something more about Jesus and his mission. Jesus, was ‘appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel.’ He would frequently be called a ‘stumbling-stone’ or a ‘rock of offense’, but others will come to him for strength, to be elevated, to be established, to be set up. The idea here as elsewhere in the New Testament is that with Christ there is no neutrality. You can’t sit on the fence. When we encounter, Christ we are either for him or against him. We either trip over him, or we  are established by him, which fulfills, of course, the prophecy of Simeon.

There is no middle ground with Jesus, and he requires full allegiance and total submission. 

Now, it’s all good to know this, but how can we apply this scripture to our own daily lives? 

I know that there are plenty of people who wonder what God’s plan is for them. They want God’s blessing, but they wonder how to follow God with their whole lives. They want to hear from the Holy Spirit like Simeon did. There are some clues in today’s Scripture that can help us with that. First of all, did you notice how Luke described Simeon? Let’s go back to verse 25, where he is introduced. Notice that he is described as righteous and devout? Righteous means being in right relationship with God. How can we be in right relationship with God? By his mercy and grace. Mercy is when he doesn’t punish us when we deserve punishment. Jesus took upon himself the punishment we deserved for our sins. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. God has given us gifts we did not deserve. He gives the gift of Himself, the Holy Spirit living within us. So you see, this is essential if we want to hear from the Holy Spirit regularly. 

The other aspect of Simeon’s life that Luke mentions is that he is devout. This means he is committed to his religious duties. Notice that Simeon is not simply devout. We can be committed to our religious duties and miss the point of Christianity. But Simeon is first righteous, then devout. So what does it mean as someone who is in right relationship with God in today’s culture to be devout? It means spending time with God. It means meditating on his word. Spending time in prayer. Obeying what God commands. Listening to the Holy Spirit. And when we are led by the Holy Spirit, we will have divine encounters, just like Simeon did when the Spirit led him to the Temple and he met Jesus.