Luke 2:21-40 "Simeon"
Sometimes people say “Ok, I can die now” when a famous person notices them or something they did. Kathy Lee Gifford replies to one of Billy Eichner’s tweets and he says “Ok, I can die now.” A journalist runs into Randy Newman at the hotel breakfast buffet—”I can die now.”
We meet someone we really respect and it feels like our life is now complete. “We’re not worthy!” Neither of those examples would do it for me personally, but I get it.
You ever had a moment like that? I’ve had a few—it’s a great feeling.
Do you know where the phrase comes from? It’s not from Wayne’s World—It’s from today’s text in Luke chapter 2. The guy who said it met someone a lot more impressive than Randy Newman or Kathy Lee—someone he was even less worthy to meet than Alice Cooper.
Luke chapter 2, starting at verse 21:
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. Luke2:21
A lot could be said about this. I said some of it when we talked about the circumcision of John the Baptist. This is the way a person entered the covenant of the people of God—it’s how the Old Testament men became part of the Old Testament church. This is what baptism replaces in the New Testament for men and women. Jesus grew up as a member of the Old Testament church, not to choose for Himself to become a member one day. This is why we baptize the children of believers—we raise them as Christians—not to someday become Christians. It’s part of their identity from the start.
So, that’s also when Jesus was given His name—notice He was called “The Child” before this. He’s given His identity, He’s a member of the people of God and His name is Jesus. In English, we say “Jesus.” In Spanish, it’s pronounced “Hey-Suess.” Same name. In Greek, it’s pronounced “Iisoús.” In Hebrew, it’s “Yeshua” and is the same name as “Joshua.” Jesus was named after the sixth book in the Bible. There’s a bunch of different ways to spell and pronounce “Jesus.”
In all cases, the name “Jesus” (just like the name “Joshua”) means “YAHWEH Saves.”
JESUS is Israel reduced to one man. He is going to reenact the whole salvation story of God’s chosen people in His life—He is God’s chosen person. He’s going to fulfill every aspect of the law. So, He begins His obedience at eight days old by being circumcised—even though you could argue that He didn’t have much to do with it at the time. We need to think about the implications of what this means for us as parents and grandparents. The obedience of our children is on us—at least for the foundational time of their childhood. I’m sure God chose Mary and Joseph to raise Jesus because He knew they would raise Him knowing the Bible and going to worship—but if they hadn’t, that would have been a great evil. We need to do everything we can to make sure our children and grandchildren know what it means to be obedient to God’s Word, know who Jesus is and what His grace is all about, what it looks like to follow Him, be in His church and love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
The next verse is 32 days later:
When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” Luke 2:22-24
Two things are going on here: Mary is going to the Temple to be purified 40 days after giving birth, and Jesus is being consecrated to the LORD because He is the firstborn son. In Leviticus, it actually says to offer a lamb but if a lamb can’t be found, then two doves will suffice. The reason a lamb usually couldn’t be “found” is because the parents couldn’t afford one—Mary and Joseph offered the purification sacrifice of poor people. God wanted Jesus to grow up in humble circumstances.
Verse 25:
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. Luke 2:25
When all is said and done, this is what you want to be said about you: that you are righteous and devout. How many people would you say that about? How many people that you know pretty well would you say that about? It usually seems like the more we know about a person, the less righteous and devout they appear to be.
Simeon was righteous and devout, he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. The comfort of Israel. Things had been bad for a long time, from one oppressive overlord to another. Isaiah said when the Messiah comes, it’s going to be “comfort, comfort” for the people of God. Consolation.
Verse 26:
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. Luke 2:26-27
Simeon was walking around with the knowledge that he would not die until He actually laid eyes on the Lord’s Messiah. I’ll bet he didn’t talk about it much. “Yeah, anyway, I know I’m not going to die until the Messiah comes. So I got that going for me. Which is nice.” It doesn’t say he was an old man but he probably was—how long do you think he had known this?
One day, the Holy Spirit leads him to hang out in the Temple courts. I wonder how he was led? It just says he was. Doesn’t mention an audible voice or a dream. No angel. It just says the Spirit was “on him” and somehow he knew where to go and what to do when he got there.
Let me just say, all Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit. All Christians are to walk by faith and not by sight—walk in the Spirit. Maybe we should pay a little more attention to where the Spirit is leading us. And maybe we need to realize wherever we are is where the Spirit has already led us—and we should start doing whatever He led us there to do. That would probably change the way we looked at the world and our life, you know?
When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. Luke 2:28-29
There it is—there’s the line. “Okay, I can die now.”
Take a moment to appreciate the scene. It’s a day like any other day at the Temple. People coming and going. A young couple walks in with their newborn baby—they appear to be poor, they have two doves for the sacrifice. Nothing out of the ordinary going on here as far as anyone can tell.
Except for Simeon—he sees something no one else is looking for. And Simeon’s just a dude at the Temple. He doesn’t work there—He’s not a professional baby blesser. He just walks up to Mary and Joseph—it doesn’t say he asked but I’m sure he did—he takes baby Jesus in his arms and starts praising God. That would probably be strange. Dude grabs your baby and says, “Ok, I can die now.”
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Luke 2:29-33
Everyone thinks their kid is special but Mary and Joseph have angels and shepherds and random people at the Temple telling them how awesome their baby is.
There’s so much going on here in this little prayer by Simeon. It was his ultimate destiny to see the Messiah with his own eyes and encourage His parents, but I doubt if he thought the Messiah would be a baby—he had probably imagined a warrior king riding in on a white horse. But he knew it when he saw it: this baby is how God is going to save the world. The whole world. A light to reveal God to the pagan Gentiles, and the return of the presence of God for the people of Israel. Throughout the Gospel of Luke, the metaphor of sight and seeing will be used for salvation.
There’s something else going on here, too. Something pretty amazing. 500 years before this, the glory of the LORD had left the Temple. It was destroyed, the people were exiled to Babylon—we talked about all this when we went through the books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Then in Ezra and Nehemiah, the people returned to Jerusalem and they rebuilt the Temple but the glory of the LORD never returned. Didn’t happen. That had to be disappointing—now 400 years have gone by. God’s like, “you people are such a disappointment, I’m not going to live in this Temple anymore. I’ll come back someday, but it’s going to be a while. And you probably won’t recognize me when I do.”
Then Mary and Joseph walk into the Temple with a little baby. And this baby is the glory of the LORD. This is the glory of the LORD returning to His Temple. Come on!
Simeon is playing the same role as the angels on the night of Jesus’ birth—but his job was to give a very important message to the Messiah’s parents. First, the good news: Jesus is the Savior of the world, the light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the Glory of God for Israel. But there was also news that would have been hard to hear…
Verse 34:
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Luke 2:34-35
“I’m sorry, I must have missed the “blessing” part. That didn’t sound like a blessing.” The truth is a blessing, even when it’s hard truth. It had to be a lot to take in. Simeon told Mary that depending on how people react to her little baby when He grows up, they will either rise or fall. Depending on how they respond to His teaching and whether they accept or reject His claims—their thoughts and hearts will be revealed. They’ll find out where they stand with God. They either stand with Jesus or they stand against the LORD—speak against Him. Also, Mary, you’re going to have trouble with this, too. You’re going to reject your own son for a while, along with the rest of your family. You’re also going to watch Him suffer and die on a cross in His mission to save the world—so much about this is going to be painful and difficult. But this is how God is going to save the world—it’s how God is going to save you.
Verse 36:
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38
As if the day hadn’t been weird enough already. An old woman comes up to them after Simeon does his thing, and starts talking about their baby to everyone in the room. Simeon had only spoken to Mary—Anna was broadcasting it to the whole Temple court. “Hey, everyone! Look at this baby! He’s the Messiah! This is the glory of the LORD! His name is Jesus—this baby is how the LORD is going to save us! Everyone come over here and look at this little guy! No, I’m not a crazy old woman, you shut your mouth!” She’s like the shepherds, spreading the message to everyone she meets. We’re not told exactly what she says but it was probably a similar message to what Simeon had just said. And once again, she’s the least believable, least likely person for God to choose as an evangelist. You should keep that in mind the next time you think you’re not qualified to tell people about your faith in the LORD.
Verse 39:
When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. Luke 2:39
But I thought the Wise Men showed up at the stable in Bethlehem? And then I thought they went to Egypt to escape from King Herod?
At the risk of messing up our Christmas nativity sets a little, we need to add what we learn from Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus if we want to understand the whole story.
In Matthew chapter 2 it says after Jesus was born, Magi from the east came to Herod in Jerusalem and asked where the Messiah—the king of the Jews—was supposed to be born. These were pagan astrologers and they said they saw His star—they wanted to find the Messiah and worship Him.
These Magi were the same kind of magicians we heard about in Daniel—the wise men who couldn’t interpret any of the dreams or do anything right. The idea that they were kings or men of wisdom is not how Matthew’s audience would have thought about the Magi. These were pagan gentiles.
King Herod was disturbed by all this. He didn’t want anyone to threaten his throne, so now he wanted to find baby Jesus, too—to get rid of Him. His Bible nerds told him the Messiah was supposed to be born in Bethlehem, so that’s where Herod sent the Magi. He also gave them instructions to let him know when they found Him. He said it was so he could worship Him, but that wasn’t really his motive.
Here’s where the story gets confusing: they started heading to Bethlehem but that’s probably not where they found Jesus. It says they followed the star “until it stopped over the place where the child was.”
If you add that to what Luke tells us—after Mary and Joseph went to the Temple and did everything required by the Law, they went back to Nazareth, not Bethlehem—it looks like that’s where the star led the Magi. Nazareth is where they gave their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh—where they worshiped Jesus. Then they went back to their own country by another route to avoid Herod because they were warned in a dream. A dream that apparently even Magi could figure out the meaning of.
So, Herod realizes he’s been doublecrossed and becomes murderous. He orders all the boys two years and younger around Bethlehem to be killed. We hear this story every year in the Christmas song “Coventry Carol” but most people have no idea what it’s talking about. Merry Christmas, remember when Herod slaughtered a bunch of baby boys?
Joseph was also warned about all this in a dream and told to take his family to Egypt until Herod died. So, they would have used the money from the Magi and left from Nazareth to live in Egypt for a while. Jesus was probably about two years old at this point.
It’s okay. We don’t have to throw out our nativity sets. It’s good to know how things fit together though.
There’s echos of the exodus from Egypt and the Passover—Jesus is Israel reduced to one man. His life is a reenactment of God’s whole salvation plan.
Last verse for today:
And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. Luke 2:40
Even though Jesus was the Eternal Son of God—the Creator and Sustainer of the universe—He still had to grow. He had to learn. Almighty God had to become strong. Even though He is wisdom itself, He had to be filled with wisdom. Even though He is the very embodiment of grace—the grace of God was also on Him.
This is everything we know about the childhood of Jesus. There are apocryphal stories of Jesus doing magic tricks, making clay animals come alive, cursing his friends on the playground when they made Him mad, killing them and then changing His mind and bringing them back alive—those are all nonsense. Make believe. It would have been fascinating to know more about what it was like to have Jesus as a child, as a son, as a brother—but God wanted to give His Son some privacy. There’s only one more story and we’ll talk about it next week.
The prayer of Simeon is quoted every week In the liturgy of the Lutheran church, right after Holy Communion. In Latin it’s called the “Nunc Dominus” which means “Now Let depart.”
In other words, after we see the body and blood of the LORD and taste the bread and the wine—once we receive grace and forgiveness by faith—once we see Jesus—we echo Simeon. “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation.”
Every week, when we come here to gather around God’s Word of promise that’s only found in Jesus, we should have the same response Simeon had: “Ok, I can die now.”
Simeon was promised to see the Messiah before he died. We’ve also been promised something. That once we see Jesus by faith, we don’t have to fear death. We can depart in peace. This is your consolation, your comfort: that even in death, you will see the LORD. You don’t have to fear death because Jesus has made a way for you. You must follow Him in life, and you will follow Him in death—He promises that all who hear His word and believe will follow Him to life eternal. Sovereign Lord, we have seen Your salvation. Let us depart in peace. AMEN.