He Set Me Free
Context
Content
The Priest
The rite of circumcision was the covenant sign between Abraham, his seed, and God. It symbolized the cutting off of the flesh as useless as a means of producing a sinless life. The Lord’s circumcision identified Him with the ruined race that He had come to save. On the natural level, it identified Him as a member of the Jewish nation (Gen. 17:14) and a member of the Abrahamic covenant.
“When the days of her [Mary’s] purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord” (2:22) as required by law (Exod. 13:2; Num. 18:15).
They came also “to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons” (2:24). This sacrifice was required according to Leviticus 12:2, 6. Rabbinic law fixed the date for this offering at forty-one days after the birth of a son. The Law called for the sacrifice of a lamb, but, in the case of the poor, the requirement was reduced to a pair of doves or pigeons.
Thus, Mary took her place as one who was ceremonially unclean and in need of cleansing by the shed blood of a substitute. One of the doves was offered as a sin offering, the other as a burnt offering. The sin offering symbolically transferred all of the sinner’s guilt to the substitute. The burnt offering symbolically transferred all of the virtue of the substitute to the sinner.
The Mosaic Law required other duties and ceremonies in connection with the birth of a child. The firstborn child had to be redeemed at the price of five sanctuary shekels (Num. 18:16). The earliest date for this particular function was thirty-one days after birth. (Luke, incidentally, refers to the Law five times in telling this part of his story—2:22, 23, 24, 27, 39.) His intent was to make clear that Jesus was born under the Law. He, the Lord Himself, however, did not need to be redeemed. He was immaculately conceived, sinlessly born, and wholly free from sin. He had come to fulfill all of the demands of the Law, so He was circumcised and ceremonially “redeemed” to identify Himself with us.
The Promise
The name Simeon means “hearing.” The Bible says that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). This suggests that Simeon spent much of his time pouring over the prophetic page.
The Old Testament Jews revered the Scriptures; nevertheless, the Old Testament was full of unattainable precepts, unfulfilled promises, and unexplained procedures. The apostle Paul later described his own inability to keep the law (Rom. 7).
Old Simeon understood that these seeming deficiencies could be resolved only in the person of Christ (Dan. 9:24–26). Christ was the answer to his incomplete Bible. The Spirit of God made clear to him that he would see Him when He came. He would not die until then. We can imagine how eagerly he scanned the faces of young and old after that (2:27).
Then one day, however, it happened. He saw a young man and a young woman, both of peasant stock, or so it seemed. They were Galileans by the sound of their voices, poor by their looks. They carried a Babe. They were coming into the temple to present Him to God. The Holy Spirit urged him: That’s Him! He stepped forward boldly. Of course! A Babe! All doubts were swept aside. This was the One of whom all of the prophets had written! He held out his arms. Probably he spoke. Then he took Him in his arms (2:28).
The old man gazed into the face of a Babe, the face of God manifest in flesh. Instantly, he was ready to die! “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (2:29–32). Death was no longer a devourer but a deliverer. By one man sin had entered the world and death by sin. With this small Babe salvation had arrived.
“The consolation of Israel” means the messianic hope. One of the traditional Jewish prayers is, “May I see the consolation of Israel!” That prayer was answered for Simeon when he saw Jesus Christ in the temple. He was a man who was led by the Spirit of God, taught by the Word of God, and obedient to the will of God; and therefore he was privileged to see the salvation of God. How important it is for people to see God’s salvation, Jesus Christ, before they see death.
The Prophecy
Commitment
The word depart in the Greek has several meanings, and each of them tells us something about the death of a Christian. It means to release a prisoner, to untie a ship and set sail, to take down a tent (see 2 Cor. 5:1–8), and to unyoke a beast of burden (see Matt. 11:28–30). God’s people are not afraid of death because it only frees us from the burdens of this life and leads into the blessings of the next life.