Simeon’s blessing

“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.”

Luke 2:29-32

And with these words the aged Simeon could find the deepest blessing of his long life. He had been given a unique purpose that the Lord had revealed to Him by His Holy Spirit. He was told he would live to see the Messiah. And the old man believed God and waited. He regularly prayed at the temple for that day. Now, holding the infant Jesus as He was dedicated in the temple by His parents, the old man’s purpose came to fruition as he blessed the Lord in poetic verse. He blessed God as He held his own Savior, the God-Man Himself, a tiny baby in Simeon’s wrinkled old hands. He experienced the coming of salvation for the world, and Simeon gushes out a thankful prayer for what Jesus would bring to all the people of the world.

Simeon’s blessing foretells the impact of the gospel. Jesus brought salvation. From the very start it was not hidden. Here in the temple in Jerusalem, a cosmopolitan city of Jews and Gentiles, the light of the revelation of God Himself and the glory of all Israel had arrived, shining now in a baby, Who would grow to be the man Jesus and Whose impactful teaching would change the world. His death and resurrection would show the love of God globally and provide all the deliverance anyone would ever need for eternal salvation and for day to day living.

Singing Simeon’s song with him today, I can rejoice in a salvation I know in Jesus. His light shows me my way, and Jesus is my glory today and always!