I wonder if Simeon realised that not only would this little baby do great things, but he had already done great things
Jesus left a lasting impression on everyone he met – even when he was a baby! There was a man called Simeon who loved God and was waiting for the Messiah to come, the one whom God had promised would save us from our sins. God told Simeon that he wouldn’t die before he had seen him. On the same day that Mary and Joseph took Jesus into the temple, Simeon felt God urging him to go, too. As soon as he saw the baby and held him in his arms he knew that Jesus was the Messiah.
Can you imagine what it felt like to hold such a special baby in his arms, knowing that he was from God and would be the Saviour of the world? Simeon was so grateful that he thanked God and said he was now ready to die. There was nothing else he wanted or needed – seeing Jesus was everything he had hoped for. I wonder if Simeon realised that not only would this little baby do great things, but he had already done great things; he was the Son of God, through whom all things were made and without him nothing would exist, now or then, in heaven or on earth!
There was nothing else he wanted or needed – seeing Jesus was everything he had hoped for.
But then Simeon said something which must have sounded strange. When the angels told the shepherds about the birth of Jesus they said, ‘good news of great joy’ but Simeon told Mary there would be trouble ahead and her son would grow up to opposition and suffering. Why did he say that?
He said it as we can only have the great joy of salvation because Jesus, the little baby in Simeon’s arms, went to the cross and died for our sins. Isn’t that something to be thankful for?
Read more in Luke 2:22-35
Ian Seddon, The Church of God in Manchester
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