And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon,
and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
Luke 2:25, NKJV
Four Thousand Years before this point in the Gospel story, a promise had been given to the Mother of All Living that from her would come a Seed that would crush the serpent's head.
Two Thousand Years before, a promise had been given to the Father of a Multitude and his Princess that in the Child of Laughter their Seed would be called, that through them and theirs, God would bless the entire family of Man.
And at some unknown point in the Century before, a promise had been given to Simeon ben Hillel, son of one great teacher, father of another, a scholar and teacher himself about whom history recorded very little. But he enters the Gospel story with a Spirit-inspired description of his character: he was just and devout, and he was waiting. And the Holy Spirit was upon him.
The Consolation of Israel, their salvation and redemption comfort and restoration, their triumph over evil and their enemies, was the long held hope of the Jewish people. Whenever things got bad (as things always were for the Jews, and still are for that matter), old Jewish grandfathers and grandmothers would remind their wide-eyed and fretful grandchildren that God had always seen them through before, and that God was going to see them through now, and one day, the Messiah would come to deliver them from all of their troubles. That was their hope.
That was Simeon's hope. As a righteous man, fair in his reasonings, devoted and committed to serving his God, his faith and confidence were firmly placed in that which he had not seen in the natural, but which he looked for by faith. And he was a man touched by the very Spirit of God, empowered, overshadowed, comforted and assured by the everpresence of the Most High upon his life. He knew that no matter how long the wait, his Savior was coming.
Two Thousand Years after, a promise has been given to the Bride of Christ, the Body and Church, the adopted Children of God, that our consolation is coming. We have been promised a place at the table, a position in the kingdom, an inheritance incorruptible, and eternal life besides. We have been promised that our Lord who left this earth for the right hand of the majesty on high will one day return in clouds of glory. We have been promised that one day He will speak our name and call us home, either from the ground upon which we walk, or the ground beneath which we lay. We have been promised rescue from the Tribulation that comes upon the whole earth, salvation from wrath, rest from our labors, escape before the coming judgment, and supreme shelter in the time of trouble. We have been promised a home eternal in the presence of the Lord. And still we wait for that day.
May we, like Simeon, await that day in justice and devotion, with the Holy Spirit upon us until we meet Jesus in the air!
Two Thousand Years before, a promise had been given to the Father of a Multitude and his Princess that in the Child of Laughter their Seed would be called, that through them and theirs, God would bless the entire family of Man.
And at some unknown point in the Century before, a promise had been given to Simeon ben Hillel, son of one great teacher, father of another, a scholar and teacher himself about whom history recorded very little. But he enters the Gospel story with a Spirit-inspired description of his character: he was just and devout, and he was waiting. And the Holy Spirit was upon him.
The Consolation of Israel, their salvation and redemption comfort and restoration, their triumph over evil and their enemies, was the long held hope of the Jewish people. Whenever things got bad (as things always were for the Jews, and still are for that matter), old Jewish grandfathers and grandmothers would remind their wide-eyed and fretful grandchildren that God had always seen them through before, and that God was going to see them through now, and one day, the Messiah would come to deliver them from all of their troubles. That was their hope.
That was Simeon's hope. As a righteous man, fair in his reasonings, devoted and committed to serving his God, his faith and confidence were firmly placed in that which he had not seen in the natural, but which he looked for by faith. And he was a man touched by the very Spirit of God, empowered, overshadowed, comforted and assured by the everpresence of the Most High upon his life. He knew that no matter how long the wait, his Savior was coming.
Two Thousand Years after, a promise has been given to the Bride of Christ, the Body and Church, the adopted Children of God, that our consolation is coming. We have been promised a place at the table, a position in the kingdom, an inheritance incorruptible, and eternal life besides. We have been promised that our Lord who left this earth for the right hand of the majesty on high will one day return in clouds of glory. We have been promised that one day He will speak our name and call us home, either from the ground upon which we walk, or the ground beneath which we lay. We have been promised rescue from the Tribulation that comes upon the whole earth, salvation from wrath, rest from our labors, escape before the coming judgment, and supreme shelter in the time of trouble. We have been promised a home eternal in the presence of the Lord. And still we wait for that day.
May we, like Simeon, await that day in justice and devotion, with the Holy Spirit upon us until we meet Jesus in the air!
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