Simeon's Song - Luke 2:25-35

The Songs of Christmas  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
0 ratings
· 1,155 views
Notes
Transcript

©December 22nd, 2019 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Songs of Christmas

When you were a child you may have had the experience of waiting for a Christmas gift you were really excited to receive. On Christmas morning, you woke up early because you just couldn’t wait any longer. I hope you had an experience like that. This morning we get to see Simeon, an old man, receive the gift he’d been waiting for as well—the long-awaited Messiah! He responded with a similar enthusiasm to a young child—because he was equally excited!

Simeon is an odd addition to the Christmas story. He’s not related to any of the characters, yet this is another example of how God chose to reach out to everyone through the birth of Christ. Just as God chose to reveal the Messiah first to shepherds, then to foreigners, he also chooses to reveal Him to this devout man who had waited his whole life to see the Messiah.

The Spirit had told Simeon he would see the Messiah before he died. We don’t know how long ago God had told him this—it could have been a few days prior, or maybe many years before. Regardless of the length of time, he continued to strive for obedience to the Lord until the Messiah was revealed.

On this particular day, the Spirit had led Simeon to go to the temple. I wonder if Simeon expected that this was the day he might finally see the Messiah, or whether he was simply obedient to the Lord, not knowing what God had planned for him. Whatever the case may be, Simeon was in the temple at the perfect time.

We also are not told how Simeon knew that this particular baby was the long-awaited Messiah. Surely the child didn’t look special (unlike a lot of the paintings we see, Jesus probably didn’t have a halo), and neither did his parents. More than likely, the Spirit also revealed to Simeon that this was the one he’d been waiting for. So Simeon scooped up the child, took him in his arms, and issued an excited prophecy about him.

Now stop for a moment and think about this experience from the perspective of Mary and Joseph. They surely had no idea what was going on. All they knew was that this old man came over to them and they could see excitement in his eyes as he asked them if he could hold their child. I wonder if Mary and Joseph could sense that this man understood who their son was. I wonder if rather than being a bit freaked out by Simeon, they were excited to see what he had to say. I don’t know. But what we do know is that as Simeon held the baby Jesus, he began to prophesy.

Simeon’s First Prophecy

Simeon utters two prophecies in these verses. The first is primarily a song or exclamation about Jesus, while the second is more directed to Mary. Both are relevant portions of our study this morning. But first, let us direct our attention to the prophecy he uttered as he held Jesus in his arms.

29“Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. 30I have seen your salvation, 31which you have prepared for all people. 32He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!” (Luke 2:29-32, NLT)

Simeon’s reflections are significant. First, the Messiah brought salvation. Simeon felt he was ready to die now, knowing the Messiah had finally come. He had been waiting patiently for this day. Now, he exclaims with joy that he is ready to die because “I have seen your salvation”. Simeon recognized that through this child God planned to bring salvation to the world. He may not have fully understood what that meant at this point, but he definitely understood that this child was the deliverer God had promised so long ago. This child brought us a salvation we desperately need. That is the same reason Christmas is a big deal today—this baby changed everything.

Second, Simeon declared that this salvation was not only for Jews, but for all nations. Even though the prophecies about the Messiah were very clear about this, the Jews at this time had basically forgotten that the Messiah would be a deliverer for all nations. They had in mind that this Messiah was going to deliver the nation of Israel and restore it to its former glory. In the minds of most Jews, the Messiah would allow Israel to rise up and trample the rest of the world underfoot.

Simeon’s declaration flies in the face of that understanding. Instead, he said that God had prepared his salvation for all people (not just the Jews), and that Jesus would be a light to reveal God to the nations. In other words, Simeon recognized that Jesus would open the door to people everywhere to come to God, not only the Jews.

Why does this matter to us? Because most of us are not Jews. We are not part of the physical nation of Israel. If God’s plan for the Messiah had been only the deliverance of the nation of Israel, we would have no reason to celebrate. But because Jesus came to reveal God to all people, we are beneficiaries of what He did, which is great news! Jesus was the promised salvation for all people—which includes you and me!

Simeon’s Second Prophecy

As Simeon said these things about their baby, Mary and Joseph stood amazed. I wonder if they had a slight sense of disbelief themselves, because even though they had been told their child was the Messiah, he was also just a baby. How reassuring it must have been for God to send Simeon to reaffirm God’s promises to them.

But after Simeon said these things about Jesus, he turned to Mary and prophesied about her. His statements to her are even more telling.

34Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.” (Luke 2:34-35, NLT)

Simeon blessed Mary and Joseph and then spoke to Mary about who her son would be. He said three different prophetic things to her.

First, this child would cause the rising and falling of many in Israel, and he would be opposed, even though he was sent by God. This is the first indication that things would be difficult for Jesus. But Simeon’s description of what Jesus would face was spot on. He said he would cause many in Israel to fall, but many others to rise.

Most people expected the Messiah to cause Israel to rise and everyone else to fall. But Simeon specifically says that some within Israel would fall, while others would rise. The reason for this was that Jesus was not the Messiah the Jews were expecting.

Jesus was a polarizing figure. People either loved him or hated him. Some people loved him because they loved his miracles and hoped they could benefit from them personally. Eventually, these people abandoned Jesus. When he gave them hard teachings, they lost interest and turned away. They were only concerned about what they could get from him, but weren’t really interested in worshiping him or following him. They went from being fans of Jesus to ultimately rejecting him.

These people had a great deal in common with the religious leaders, who vehemently opposed Jesus. None of them liked that Jesus was changing the status quo. The religious leaders saw Jesus as a threat, because he was leading the people away from them and toward himself. He was contradicting (actually correcting) their teachings, and they didn’t like it. So they opposed Jesus. And those who opposed Jesus ultimately fell. They lost their high standing and ended up fighting against God, which is always a losing battle.

But there was also a group who followed and worshiped Jesus. Many of these people began to understand what He was saying and followed Him and His teachings. A lot of these people were nobodies in the eyes of the world. Jesus’ own disciples were a mishmash of people who had no real standing in the Jewish society of the day. But ultimately these people were raised up. And God used them in ways they would have never thought possible.

Jesus continues to do this today. If you stand against Him, you will fall—even if it doesn’t happen right away. But those who follow and worship Him will be raised up to do things they would have never thought possible. Jesus still causes both rising and falling.

Secondly, Simeon says the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. People couldn’t pretend with Jesus. He knew what they were thinking. He knew what was going on in their hearts, which is what got many of the religious leaders into trouble! They were not concerned about the things of God, but only about themselves.

This is part of what makes Jesus such a divisive person—he sees through the facades we put up. Jesus makes us very aware of our own failures and the ugliness in our hearts. The good news of this is that He also provides a way to deal with that ugliness. The bad news is that it requires us to acknowledge it before we can be helped.

I would venture to say that most of the people in the world who do not follow Jesus do not do so because they find the evidence for him to be lacking. I think most choose to reject Jesus because they don’t like the implications of who He is. Because if Jesus is real, and if the things he said are authoritative, then everything must change. We can no longer whistle a happy tune and pretend everything in our lives is ok. If Jesus is correct, then we stand condemned apart from Him. It is easier to simply ignore Him and pretend He doesn’t exist than to confront our own sinfulness and admit our need for a savior. It is easier to pretend we don’t need Jesus than to recognize that His way is the only way that ultimately works and follow Him. Trusting in Jesus means taking ourselves off the throne and putting Him there instead. And we don’t want to do that—so many reject him.

Jesus reveals to us what is in our hearts—and we don’t tend to like what we see.

Third, Simeon tells Mary that a sword would pierce her very soul. This one likely came as an even greater shock to Mary. Here was this child she had carried in her womb and whose miraculous birth had been praised by people from all walks of life. How would this child end up piercing her very soul?

With the benefit of hindsight we know how this would happen. Mary would see this child whom she loved, the child she had raised, become a teacher who pointed others to God only to be rejected by the people around him. She would see her son made public enemy number one by the Jewish religious leaders. She would see him beaten publicly to the point that he was unrecognizable, and then she would watch him be hung on a cross to die a slow, torturous, and public death. Mary didn’t know the rest of the story. She had to watch it unfold in real time. I can only imagine how that process must have felt to her.

She surely felt the grief of a parent losing their child—which is a grief I can’t begin to imagine and hope never to experience. This grief had to have been crushing. But I think Mary faced an even greater grief: wondering if God had failed her. She believed the promises about her son. She believed He was the Messiah. She believed He would deliver people from every nation and point them to God. And then she watched those dreams come crumbling down as her son was crucified. I imagine that Mary’s faith was shaken, wondering how God could allow this, wondering if she had misplaced her faith, wondering if she was a fool.

But the pain she faced in that time paled in comparison to the joy she experienced later as she saw God deliver on His promises in a way she could have never imagined. This is often the case in our own lives. In the times when our faith is shaken and our souls are pierced with grief, when we are tempted to question whether God has abandoned us entirely, we must learn to hold on and wait for God to reveal His plan. Like Mary, one day it will all make sense. But for a time, our very souls may be pierced with a sword.

Lessons

Simeon’s prophecies about Jesus were spot on (as all good prophecy is). They gave insights into who Jesus would be and the impact He would have on the world. But as we reflect on the difference Jesus’ birth makes, we should draw some lessons from Simeon’s revelations about Jesus.

First, Jesus changes everything for everyone. We celebrate Christmas because we recognize that Jesus provided a means for us to be forgiven and to be reconciled to God. This means that no matter what you face, no matter what is in your past, no matter what your reputation is, you can have right standing before God through Jesus Christ. Those who trust in Jesus will be forgiven and made new. This is tremendous news! And it is what is at the core of why we celebrate.

Of course, for those who would rather not address their sin, for those who reject Jesus, Jesus changes everything as well. They can no longer blame God for their lot in life, nor for their eternal destiny. He sent someone to rescue them, but they spurned His offer, leaving them without excuse. Jesus changes everything for everyone.

But there’s something else we need to see: Jesus makes salvation available to every person because every person has value. This means we should treat every person as valuable. The temptation is to show love and care to the people we like, or the people we feel deserve it. But the message of the gospel is that God extends grace to everyone, even though none of us deserve it. So we should extend grace to the people around us as well. We should give the person who has failed a second chance. We should welcome people from all different backgrounds and walks of life as equals. And we should reach out to everyone who will listen, because you never know how God might use you to change even the hardest of hearts.

Second, Jesus loves us too much to leave us the way we are. Often the Lord reveals to us painful things about the flaws in our own character and in our hearts. This is part of the reason many people reject Jesus—because they don’t like being confronted with their sin. But that’s the only way we can actually have freedom. God knows that our sinful attitudes and actions ultimately lead us into slavery and pain. That’s why He confronts us with that sin—because He loves us too much to let us stay where we are.

As believers we need to be willing to listen to the hard things God tells us through His Word and through His Spirit. We must not turn a deaf ear to the whispers of God’s Word or His Spirit. There’s too much at stake. When we are confronted with sinful attitudes and actions in our lives, we must be willing to humbly change in order to honor the Lord.

Third, the gospel message is offensive to many people. Not much has changed in how people view Jesus. People still hate the gospel message because it shows us we must submit to the Lord of all. That is not a popular message, especially in a day when the prevailing belief is that we each need to determine truth for ourselves.

Practically speaking this means we need to do a couple of things. First, we need to tell people about the gospel, even though they might get mad. We need to lovingly speak the truth and point people to the fact that they desperately need a savior. This means helping people to see their sinfulness and their inability to save themselves. It means pointing them to Jesus and asking them to submit their wills to His. We should do this with the utmost love and respect we can, but we should also recognize that some people will still take offense. Be prepared for this, because even though the gospel message brings life, many are unwilling to hear it. But please don’t let that keep you from sharing the truth that people desperately need to hear. You never know who may respond.

Second, it means we need to be consistent in our own lives. We need to give up any claims that we determine truth for ourselves and must humbly submit to the God who created us. We must study the Bible and base our lives on what it teaches. We must stand firm against the temptation to cave in to the thinking of the world around us—even when that thinking lets us do what we want. The world is watching—so we must be consistent.

Finally, God uses simple people to do great things. Simeon, Mary, Joseph, the disciples—none of these people were special. The only thing that made them special was the God they worshiped. Ultimately there is a great deal at stake when we look at the person of Jesus. Those who oppose Him will ultimately fall, even if they seem powerful now. But those who humbly serve the Lord will be used in great and mighty ways—even if we can’t see it yet.

Conclusion

I hope this Christmas you continue to be as excited by the gift of Jesus Christ as Simeon was all those years ago. We understand the significance of the Messiah in a way he couldn’t have—we see how Jesus changed everything for everyone, including us. This is reason to celebrate! Like Simeon, our response should be to praise God for the gift He has given us. It should also be to share that gift with as many people as will listen. Simeon wasn’t concerned about whether people thought he was crazy—he was only concerned with praising God for the Messiah.

Let me challenge you to take that same approach to your Christmas celebration. Rather than simply going through the motions, or toning down your celebration, let it rip! Praise God for the difference Jesus makes, praise Him for His wonderful gift. If you do, you may find others will join in—and some may even want to learn more about this wonderful gift as well.

©December 22nd, 2019 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Songs of Christmas

Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more