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The Book of Luke, Psalm of Simeon and the Announcement of Anna, Part IV - Lesson 20
Luke 2:25-35, And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 28Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. 33And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. 34And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 35(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
We will continue to look at the things that surrounded the ceremony of Christ’s presentation in the temple
It is very apparent the words which Simeon and Anna said overshadowed the ceremony of Christ’s presentation.
The occasion for the appearance of the baby Jesus at the temple was His presentation, but nothing is actually said about the associated ceremony.
We have no record here of the ritual, nor have any of the names of the priests survived the ceremony.
We are only told of Simeon and Anna, and of their proclamations.
It is not the ceremony, the ritual of the presentation of Jesus which is most important, but the proclamation of these two saints, that the Messiah has come.
It is the official announcement that the Messiah is in his temple and this announcement was entrusted by God to be given by two saints of old, who came on the scene for this purpose only.
God always has the right people in place at the right time.
The essence of the actions of Simeon and Anna was to identify the child as the Messiah, God’s Anointed One, God’s Salvation.
God will have his witnesses and his witnesses come from his own people who desire to do His will.
That which Simeon and Anna said informed the godly Israelites, those looking for the Messiah, that He had come.
Anna did not keep quiet about this great event for we are told:
She spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
Anna knew who these were for this is who she kept company with.
We would say she kept company with “Those of like precious faith”
We have seen and continue to see how Luke is careful to bring into his account the words of godly people.
We as believers 2000 years later have trustworthy witnesses that are given to bolster our faith.
Why should I believe a modern interpreters of scripture who twist and turn the scriptures for his own purposes, when God himself in his word, witnesses like Simeon and Anna and Peter, and John and Matthew who were there!
Simeon and Anna are prominent in this passage for their godliness, and we as believers are to see them as examples of dedicated disciples, given to us to follow.
We can trust their testimony!
They are provided to us that we may imitate them so far as their goals and priorities are concerned.
Humanly speaking, Simeon and Anna had little to commend them.
They were apparently not people of position or power.
They were not the “movers and shakers” of that day.
Perhaps to many of the officials of the temple, Simeon and Anna were looked upon as fanatics, ones who perhaps by their lives pointed out the shortcomings of others.
As Mary was critized by Martha for being at Jesus feet we may suppose that Simeon and Anna were critized for spending too much time in devotion, being engaged in too much religious activity.
After all, couldn’t these people do something useful, especially Anna, who was there every day, and only had time for prayer and fastings night and day.
Only had time for prayer – what good was she? perhaps many like Martha would say?
In light of the condition of the religious leaders of Israel at that time we could even think that the religious officials looked with disfavor on people like Anna.
She was always there, always under foot. Always being a testimony.
Her testimony was convicting to others, just like the testimony of Jesus was convicting to the Pharasees.
And her kind of spirituality may even have been viewed as creating an unspiritual environment.
After all, if she was mourning over and confessing Israel’s sins, then she was backhandedly condemning the religious leaders.
Wasn’t Anna a widow and weren’t widows taken advantage of by the religious leaders
Didn’t Jesus condemn them for devouring widows houses?
Anna may well have been a victim of the religious leaders with whom she continually came in contact. But Luke’s provision to us of the words and works of these two godly people should be lessons to us as we strive to lead a faithful and godly life.
They are reminders to us of what really matters in life.
For Simeon, his occupation was not the most important thing, for we are not even told what his life’s work was.
His occupation did not appear to be so called “full-time Christian service,” but somehow I believe his service to God was full time in the fullest sense.
There are many so called full time christian workers who are not very full time.
Regardless of our vocation we should all be faithful to God full time.
The Hymn, “My Saviour First of All”, by Fanny Crosby opens with a reference to her life work without identifying it but it quickly focuses on her first sight of Jesus Christ as she crosses that swelling tide:
When my life work
is ended, and I cross the swelling tide,
What you do in life apart from Jesus Christ does not have staying power but what has staying power is what Simeon had.
What set Simeon apart from many others, including the unnamed religious leaders at the temple, was that he was a man who trusted in God, who obeyed His Word, who looked for His kingdom, and who was indwelt and led by the Holy Spirit.
What ultimately mattered in Anna’s life was not marriage or family, but faithfulness to God.
They were both engaged in, as far as the world is concerned seemingly unproductive prayer and fasting, and unproductive overattendance at the temple to proclaim the Messiah’s coming and to praise God for his goodness.
But this is not unproductive activity as far as God is concerned and what is important to God should be important to us.
The apostles made prayer and the proclamation of God’s Word the priority of their ministry (cf. Acts 6:1-6).
The coming of the kingdom of God was the one great hope, the one great motivation, the one great occupation of these two saints, and it should be ours as well.
Our Lord taught us that we should pray,
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, In earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).
Peter also wrote, 2 Pet. 3:11-12, Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
And to which John adds, 1 John 3:2-3, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
The last book of the Bible is a record of the events which will occur in the last days, at which time the Lord will come and establish His eternal kingdom.
As believers the Lord’s coming should be the preoccupation of our lives.
This passage reveals the quality of the life of the Christian, in this case Simeon, who is always ready for death, because he has a God who even raises the dead.
Simeon was ready, perhaps he was even eager to die, for now that he had seen God’s Messiah, he was ready to leave his earthly dwelling behind, knowing that God’s promises were for the living and the dead.
Paul said the same thing when he said For me to live is Christ, to die is gain!
If I live I live for Christ, if I die I will be with Christ which is gain.
There is no downside for the Christian.
So Simeon was ready to face death because he had seen God’s Messiah; and we should always be ready to face death for in doing so we will see Christ.
Is this true in my life, is it true in your life?
Am I as eager to see the Messiah “face to face” as was Simeon?
For the Christian, the Lord Jesus Christ is the focal point of life, the governing principle and priority of life for Jesus Christ is the Word of God and the Word of God must be preeminent in our daily walk.
God gave me, God gave you the testimony of Simeon and Anna for a purpose.
As if they are in court before a judge giving testimony, they have given us testimony that the Messiah has come and that He came to save all who would call upon Him,
All who would trust Him as God’s only means of salvation, by bearing my punishment and your punishment on the cross of Calvary, and by rising from the dead.
The case has been made and it has been recorded for our learning, closing arguments have been given and each of us must chose for ourselves the verdict.
Is He to be your Savior or do you reject the overwhelming evidence including now the testimony of Simeon and Anna and continue to go your own way knowing that your only future is to meet the wrath of God.
Your heart has a beat that will be its last, everyone has an appointment with death.
The question is who will we meet on the other side of death?
Will it be Christ or will it be the ruler of darkness.
Fortunately God’s grace is still available and He is still in the salvation business. |