Simeon (Luke 2:25-35)

This sermon was preached on Sunday 26/12/2010

One of the questions that has been asked of children this past week is, ‘What would you like as a present?’ In this account of Simeon, we see what he wanted to receive from God, which was a sight of the Saviour. Such a desire is one that we should all have. When he saw Jesus, Simeon burst out in praise and, in the process, mentioned names of Jesus such as the Glory of Israel and the Light of the Gentiles. We will look at Simeon’s character (his response to the birth of Jesus tells us how we should respond) and at the names he gave Jesus.

I was impressed by C. H. Spurgeon’s character profile of Simeon: ‘Beloved, that is enough of a biography for any one of us. If, when we die, so much as this can be said of us - our name - our business, “waiting for the consolation of Israel” - our character, “just and devout” - our companionship, having the Holy Ghost upon us - that will be sufficient to hand us down not to time, but to eternity, memorable amongst the just, and estimable amongst all them that are sanctified.’ He also commented that we should ‘contemplate Simeon’s character. The Holy Ghost thought it worthy of notice, since he has put a “behold” in the sentence. “Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon.”’

Who was he?

It has often been assumed, almost certainly correctly, that Simeon was an old man, although the text itself does not specify his age. He probably was a priest because he had access to the location where the offering was made by Joseph and Mary. (This occasion took place about six weeks after Jesus was born because Leviticus 12 teaches that this rite should take place thirty-three days after a child had been circumcised. It was not the same event as his circumcision which had taken place when he was eight days old, as Luke mentions in verse 21.)

The offering they made, of a pair of doves or two young pigeons, indicates that Joseph and Mary were poor. Yet they were very devout, determined to fulfil the revealed will of their God in the Old Testament. Part of that revealed will was that parents should set apart their children to the Lord, and even although they knew that the infant Jesus was the Saviour they still presented him.

We can also observe three details about Jesus connected to this occasion. First, we get a further insight into the extent of his self-humbling, that he was willing to be born into a poor family. Second, we can see that the path he chose to live involved him keeping the commandments of God. Third, we have another occasion when Jesus was numbered with the transgressors. We are aware of how he was numbered with such at his baptism and also at the cross. Yet, here at the beginning of his earthly sojourn, he is numbered among the firstborn sons of Israel who had to be redeemed by the offering of a sacrifice. Personally he did not need one, but as far as the purpose of his life was concerned, he showed right at its beginning that he was here for sinners and to be identified with them.

This is the only occasion in which Simeon is mentioned in the Bible, but enough details are given that enable us to have a good picture of him, especially of his faith in the promised Saviour. These details tell us that he was a sanctified man, a satisfied man, and a serious man, and we will consider each of these aspects.

Simeon was a sanctified man

Verse 25 mentions the evidence for his sanctification. Four features are given of his spirituality: he was righteous, devout, waiting for the Messiah and experiencing the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit. In saying that he was righteous, Luke describes the way Simeon obeyed the law of God, both as far as his relationship to God was concerned and his relationship with his fellow humans. Obedience to the law of God was later described by Jesus as loving God with all one’s mind, soul and heart and loving one’s neighbour as one’s self. Simeon was a person who had his priorities right: he wanted to please God and to help his fellows.

Luke also mentions that Simeon was devout, and by this term he means that Simeon engaged in the usual activities of a religious person, such as prayer, giving alms, and fasting. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, points out that such activities can be done for a hypocritical reason, yet he does not say that the wrong practices of some should cause others to cease doing them. These acts of devotion were the way a righteous person showed he loved God and his neighbours.

The key to Simeon’s lifestyle is seen in the other two descriptions of him. One indicates he was a man of faith who was ‘waiting for the consolation of Israel’; the other reveals he was a man of fellowship with God who experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in his life.

His faith was marked by patience. Luke does not say how long Simeon had been waiting for God to fulfil his promise. He may have received the promise when he was young or he may have received the promise as an older person. In either scenario or in any other possible one he had to exercise patience. Patience is often an important element of faith. Sometimes the impression is given that the sign of true faith is that it receives all it asks for immediately. Of course, such does happen, and this is good. Yet often, a believer has to wait for God to fulfil his promise.

His faith also was marked by sadness. This is evident in that he was looking for the consolation of Israel. It is a sad person who needs consolation. No doubt, there were many things that made him sad: the spiritual state of God’s people; the little sign of spiritual life; the spiritual poverty he may have discerned within his own heart. Faith, at times, does not have a smile on its face because it feels the sadness appropriate to a sense of spiritual need. But when it gets a sight of the Saviour, faith has a new perspective.

A third feature of his faith was its perception, which is seen in the way he recognised that the infant boy was the Saviour of the world. There was nothing unusual about seeing a small family group coming to the temple to fulfil the Lord’s requirements regarding a firstborn child. It probably took place several times a day. Perhaps Simeon was a priest, because he did what the officiating priest would have done for the child, which was to take him in his arms and pray for him. In any case, he revealed that he saw Jesus’ identity as he was carried in his arms. Faith is drawn to Christ as by a magnet. It cannot but find Jesus, even in a place where no one else can see him.

In addition, Simeon had the blessed experiences of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in his life. Three distinct activities of the Spirit are mentioned by Luke: he was on Simeon, he revealed a promise to Simeon, and he guided Simeon when he entered the temple that day. In a sense, these three blessings should be known by each of us, and we should be praying that he would give them to us day-by-day.

Simeon was a satisfied man

His spiritual satisfaction is also seen in several ways. One is the manner in which he made the promises about the promised Saviour his own before the event promised took place. Obviously we are not told how this particular promise became Simeon’s. It may have been given suddenly by God’s sovereign will, with no expectation by Simeon that he was about to receive it. Or it may have been requested by Simeon, because he would have read in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be born an infant, and maybe he asked God if he could live until the Saviour appeared. If it was the second possible option, there is a lesson for us, which is to make God’s general promises to his people into a particular one for us as individuals. This can happen if we pursue God for it.

Another way in which his satisfaction is revealed is his willingness to die once he had seen the Saviour. In connection to his sight of Jesus, his experience reminds us that all we need to enter heaven is one true glimpse of the Saviour. Simeon did not need to see all the subsequent events in the life of Jesus that took place thirty years later.

It had been prophesied by Isaiah that the coming Messiah would be the Prince of peace. Throughout his life, he would give a sense of peace to many. Yet perhaps the first to experience this peace was Simeon on this occasion. A silent infant-Saviour gave sufficient peace to an established believer so that he could happily die.

Simeon had a precious experience when he took the infant Jesus in his arms. No doubt, his parents and others would have held him this way outwardly. Simeon’s holding of the infant Saviour was an outward symbol of the delight and care with which his heart held on to Jesus.

Simeon was a serious man

Although he had just had a heavenly experience, Simeon knew that the coming of Christ had great consequences, that the arrival of Jesus had profound effects.

First, Simeon mentions that Jesus will be the universal Saviour who would bring the knowledge of God to the nations then in spiritual darkness. There, in the temple which prohibited Gentiles from proceeding beyond the Court of the Gentiles, Simeon rejoiced that the child in his arms would bring about what the religious rites of Israel could not achieve. Throughout the Gentile world, this child would bring light to the inhabitants. Looking back from our position, we can see how Jesus did this by sending the gospel to the world after his death, resurrection and ascension.

Second, Simeon mentions that the infant would be the glory of Israel. Likely there are two aspects to this. The first is that Jesus is the crowning glory of Israel, greater than Abraham the founder of the nation, Moses the lawgiver of the nation, David the king who unified the nation, or than the prophets and priests who served God in the nation. He is greater than them because of who he is (the divine Son of God) and what he has done (the salvation of sinners).

Yet he is also the glory for Israel. He will yet be the object of their praise. Throughout their history, the glory for Israel has been God. Yet when the Saviour came, they rejected him and eventually cast him out. But the day is coming, according to Paul in Romans 11, when Jesus will be the glory for Israel when they recognise him to be the true God and Saviour.

Joseph and Mary had listened to Simeon’s words with increasing amazement. The announcements of Gabriel had informed them to some extent about the child’s role. Yet the angel’s words had not included a reference to the blessing that would come to the Gentiles. God gave more revelation to them through his humble servant Simeon.

Simeon turned to them and mentioned some serious things about Jesus. He would not be welcomed by all; his later ministry would result in a division. Those who rejected him would fall, those who followed him would be elevated.

Simeon also had guidance for Mary about a great painful experience that would come her way. He was speaking of the cross, where she would know the distress of watching her son suffer on the cross. Perhaps these words came with power to her when she watched Jesus at Calvary.

In giving the Lord’s message faithfully, Simeon showed he was a serious man. He became so because he was also a sanctified and satisfied man. He is, therefore, a good model for us to copy as we think about the birth and coming of the Son of God into the world.