When Jesus was forty days old his mother and father took him to the Temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and to perform the rites of purification for Mary. (Leviticus 12:2-8) According to Luke 2:25 this young couple with the newborn baby encountered a very old man by the name of Simeon who was quite devout and who was “looking for the consolation of Israel.” Furthermore, by some special revelation he knew that he would not leave this earth before he had seen that consolation. As the years rolled by he must have wondered if this revelation were true because the inevitable end of his life was coming into view and the Messiah had not yet appeared. But when Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus came into the Temple he knew that he had finally seen the One for whom he had been waiting so long. Again this was a revelation given by the Holy Spirit. According to Luke 2:29 this wrinkled old man took this fresh new baby in his arms and said,
“Lord, now let your servant depart in peace,
According to your word;
For my eyes have seen your salvation
Which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
A light to lighten the Gentiles,
And the glory of your people Israel.”
February 2 is forty days after Christmas so February 2 is the day many Christian remember this remarkable story. The power of Simeon’s song still touches people today who have seen in Jesus Christ the savior of the whole world and who wish to feel that same sense of profound peace that Simeon had as he came to the end of his days. “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace” has been prayed with the dying breath of many a Christian who was not carried kicking and screaming from this world but who departed this life composed, calm, and quiet. Simeon’s serenity is an inspiration.
These words of Simeon in the face of death did not come from some inner self control such as the Stoics of the time sought to achieve and which was greatly admired in pagan circles of that day. Simeon had seen the savior, even receiving him into his arms – and into his heart. The old man would not live to hear the grown-up Jesus preach and teach, nor did he know about the cross and the resurrection, but he did know that God had begun his saving act of salvation. And that was enough for him. He didn’t know everything, but he knew one thing for sure: Jesus Christ is the savior and that made all the difference.
People today seek the inner peace that Simeon had whether they are facing the end of their days or hope to have many years ahead of them in a rather turbulent world. That peace is found in Jesus. That peace comes when people welcomes Jesus their hearts with open arms day by day. In John 14:27 Jesus said to his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
May “the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7) today and always, to the very end.
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