“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. 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. 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, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘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.’ And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 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 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.’”

Hope to Eternity

1.      Hope Given to God’s People

Out of all four gospels – out of the entirety of scripture for that matter, this is the one time we see Simeon of Jerusalem mentioned. He’s a unique individual, who gives us a clear picture of the hope that God provides to those who seek His face. One of the things used to describe Simeon would have been exceptionally common, applying to essentially every Jew, in that he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Over the course of the Bible, Israel has had a tragic and rocky history to say the least. When they were liberated from their slavery in Egypt, they rebelled in the wilderness and were barred from the promised land for forty years, until all of the rebel generation had died. Once delivered through the conquest of the promised land, and finally in possession of the land of Canaan, the book of Judges outlines a cycle of rebellion and return to God. Having not fully extricated the original inhabitants of the land, the people would go after false, foreign gods, be broken by the Canaanites, drawn back to God, and be restored. The phrase is repeated in Judges that there was no king in Israel, and “the people did what was right in their own eyes.” The people had a King in the Lord their God, they had the Word of His Law, but in the absence of a physical, human leader, like Moses, Joshua, or the judges that God raised up, they would stray. God used king David to largely correct the course of the nation, but his son, king Solomon, strayed in his old age, taking wives from people groups that God had forbidden His people from marrying into, and going after their gods. Because of this transgression, the nation was split in two, with Israel as the northern kingdom, and Judah as the southern. Over the histories of both Israel and Judah, the ascent of many of their kings accompanied with the phrase, “He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.” There were kings who sought to reform their nation and steer the people back to God, similar to David, but on the whole, the wickedness of the divided kingdom deepened over time, until the Babylonians came and destroyed both Israel and Judah. After seventy years of exile, the Jews were allowed to reform their nation, and rebuild the temple, but it was never as it was before. While allowed to remain largely intact, there were Jews that remained scattered in the aftermath of the exile, and the empires of the world shifted on a grand scale. After being allowed to reform by the Persians, Israel was swept up into the empire of Alexander the Great, then, after that was divided up by his four generals, the Seleucids, and then finally the Roman empire, which bring us into the time of Jesus. The suffering of Israel, while tragic, was also just, and happened as promised. God told Solomon after the consecration of the temple, that if His people humbled themselves before Him and prayed that He would hear their prayers, forgive their sin, and heal their land. God warns Solomon though as to what will happen if the people rebel, where He says in 2 Chronicles 7:19–22,

“But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’”

Israel maintained a degree of independence after they were allowed to reform, but always under the heel of a greater empire. The messiah had been prophesied, but the intertestamental period had stretched on for around 400 years, from the time of the prophet Malachi until John the Baptist first came speaking in the name of the Lord. I give this crash course in the history of Israel to give some perspective to the fact that it makes sense that many if not all Jews would have been waiting eagerly for the day that Israel would be consoled, would be lifted up and restored, dominating over their enemies and triumphant as God’s chosen people. This desire for consolation didn’t look the same across the board, and in this we see that by the Spirit, Simeon was unique. What most Jews sought was uprising and conquest – their eyes were set on an earthly kingdom, their hopes placed in earthly power. We see this in John’s gospel in the aftermath of Jesus feeding the 5,000. John 6:14–15 says,

“When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”

Jesus taught them, then Jesus miraculously fed them – multiplying enough food for one person into enough to feed somewhere upwards of 20,000 people. The people, amazed by the miracle, don’t receive the teaching and grasp that it is the Christ, the Son of God who is before Him, but limit Him to just the Prophet that Moses foretold (which Jesus was as well), and downgraded His station further by seeking to make Him king. The people sought the earthly consolation and empowerment of their nation, and in their ambition, they ignored Jesus’s true identity, and made Him into what they wanted Him to be. In the aftermath, after He withdraws and crosses the Sea of Galilee on foot to join His disciples in their boat, the people pursue Him, still seeking their political figurehead. In the following conversation, Jesus tells them that He is the Bread of Life, which the Jews push back against. Jesus calls them to something higher, to look beyond the world, to seek the face of God, but they can’t see past their ambitions. John 6:66 says,

“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”

Simeon on the other hand is described as “righteous and devout.” We see that he, like so many is waiting on the consolation of Israel, but specifically that he’s waiting with the Holy Spirit upon him. He’s not seeking anything worldly, but is turned toward the will of God, and seemingly in reward for his faith and steadfastness, he’s been given a gift – the knowledge that he will witness the Christ before his death. This is a hope that is offered to all of God’s people, but so many are blinded because they’re not seeking the will of God. As Jesus said to the Jews in John 6:64–65,

“‘But there are some of you who do not believe. (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’”

The people could not see, comprehend, or received the wisdom of the Spirit or the gifts of God with their eyes trained on the world. The religious rulers of the day, those who held the seat of Moses and were tasked with the weighty responsibility of teaching and guiding God’s people were largely corrupt and obsessed with their social standing. When we read here that Simeon was “devout,” it’s important to understand that this doesn’t mean that he was obsessed with the strict rules and legalism like the ruling Jews, but purely and righteously was committed to the plans and designs of the living God. In just a few words, Luke has given us the picture of a man who has the greatest hope, because of his submission before God, and the work the Lord has done in his life.

2.      Hope Given to the World

“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, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘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.’”

There are a number of heresies that have existed for almost as long as the gospel has. One of the most popular ones (possible the most popular one), which has been recycled in various was a thousand different times, is that Jesus wasn’t divine, and was just a prophet. The world in it’s wickedness has a much easier time propping up the lie that Jesus was just a man who said some good things, as opposed to acknowledging that He is God made flesh, and is the crucified and risen Savior of the world. The Truth offers freedom in its sanctification, it offers purpose and structure in accountability, and the world has a vested interest in keeping you enslaved through the liberties it claims to grant through the indulgence of sin. One spin I’ve heard very recently (though I doubt it’s new), is that Jesus wasn’t deified, wasn’t truly the Christ until after He was baptized, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him. Rather than debate the principles I can think of as to why this is wrong, I’m just going to tell you what the Bible says (beyond today’s passage), and we don’t even have to go far, as it’s also in Luke chapter 2. After Jesus is born, an angel appears to nearby shepherds who are tending their flocks and tells them, Luke 2:10–11

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Born this day, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Jesus was One with the Father from before the beginning, He was always God made flesh, this not being dependent upon His baptism. This truth is further attested to by what we see in today’s passage. Based on the Law concerning purification after birth, outlined in Leviticus 12, Jesus would have been forty days old when He’s seen by Simeon in the temple, still very much a newborn baby. Yet by revelation of the Holy Spirit, Simeon knows he’s looking at the Christ, and rejoices. Going on, he further shows the distinction between what the Spirit is doing in him, compared to the vast majority of other Jews. In identifying Jesus as the Christ, he calls Him God’s Salvation, “prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles,” as well as “and for glory to your people Israel.” This was not new information. Isaiah 42:6–7 says,

“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

Isaiah 49:6 says,

“… It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

And Isaiah 52:10,

“The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

Jesus came, as Paul put it, “to the Jew first and also to the Greek,” and while this wasn’t some big secret, it does seem to have been largely ignored. Whether because the religious rulers didn’t properly teach this, or that the people were unwilling to accept the gentiles into the fold of the people of God, it remained a point of contention for many Jews well into the Apostolic church – to the point that many denied the Way on this one point alone. The book of Acts even shows us that some of the Apostles struggled with their own bearing against the influence of the circumcision party, insisting that gentile converts first come under the Law before accepting Christ. Simeon’s revelation from the Holy Spirit, and his genuine joy in his devotion to God, helps us see what an obstruction of the flesh the exclusion of the gentiles truly was. Despite the words repeated in Isaiah again and again that God would bring forth a light that would shine and draw “nations,” plural, and salvation reaching the ends of the earth, this point of pride hardens the hearts of many Jews, to the point that we see a mob ready to kill Paul in Acts 22 for including the gentiles in the call of the gospel. What we see was clear from the prophets, and was joyously clear to Simeon through his obedience to the Spirit, was that Jesus did not bring hope to Israel alone, but to the entire dark and fallen world.

3.      Hope that leads to Righteousness

“And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 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 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.’”

Jesus said in John 14:27,

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Our God does not offer us what the world offers us, but something so much greater that it entirely supersedes worldly wickedness. To offer an analogy – this isn’t like comparing corn flakes against frosted flakes – different, but similar – but is like comparing a bowl cereal in milk to a bowl of thumb tacks in battery acid – it’s not even close to being the same thing, despite the fact that the world pretends like it’s offering a viable, if not better option to the Truth of God. Something so polarizing, two paths so utterly opposed, create division, which Simeon foreshadows here.

“Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed”

The Pharisees and Sadducees, the ruling council of the Sanhedrin, they held the power and notoriety as the religious leaders among the Jews. These men, who have made the Law itself into the idol and have hearts after their own power instead of seeking God, are the ones Jesus addresses in Matthew 23, saying of them,

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in,” “For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence,” and “For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

Conversely, many of the twelve disciples who were closest to Jesus were uneducated men from the dregs of society. Several were fishermen, one a revolutionary zealot, and one a tax collector for Rome – men who based on their birth, education, or political affiliation would have been at the bottom of the barrel of the religious institution. Yet Jesus says to them in Matthew 19:28,

“… Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Jesus also said to the crowds following Him in Luke 14:25–27,

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

And He says in John 9:39,

“For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

Jesus is the very embodiment of Hope, He is the Savior of the world – and because this Hope is true, it opposes the world, the hope that is hollow and counterfeit, it creates division. By the Truth many are made new and lifted up, and by the Truth many are found unrighteous, and just judgement it brought upon them.

“(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Hebrews 4:12 says,

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

While the “sword that will pierce through your own soul also,” it seems that many commentators think this points to Mary’s shared suffering in seeing Jesus crucified. I’m not saying this is entirely wrong, or that it doesn’t make any sense – but Simeon wasn’t necessarily addressing the crucifixion here, but the impact that Jesus would have on Israel and on the world. “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed,” he says, before including as an aside, “and a sword will pierce through your own soul also,” and then finishing, “so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” The similarities in the verbiage of Hebrews 4 doesn’t seem accidental, the sword that will pierce Mary’s soul, The Truth, the Word, the sword of the mouth of God, which pierces to the division of soul and spirit. That which is “discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart,” and as Simeon says of Jesus, “so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Jesus both holds and is the sword – the only Son, One with the Father. The Truth that is manifested in Him, the salvation that was brought to bear in His birth, and the dividing line He strikes between the Light of salvation, and the worldly darkness of separation is a power that leaves none unaffected. Not the rulers or the servants, not the kings or the beggars – not even His own mother, chosen by God to deliver Him into the world is not subject to His Truth, and in His Truth, the realization of the complete and perfect hope we have in Him. This is hope that leads to righteousness, and righteousness that leads us to the presence of our God for eternity.

Pastor Chris’s sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwc-_3re9y0