The Cast of Christmas: Simeon

I. Series: There were no parades in Israel on the day Jesus the Christ was born in Bethlehem. He was born in an obscure place in an obscure town that wasn't even his family's home town. There was no widespread public fanfare. But, in order to substantiate and verify the fact that Jesus born of Mary was truly the long-awaited messiah, God did send special messages to (probably) between 15 and 25 people confirming the fact that Jesus was the Savior, and calling them to bear witness to the great miracle that God was performing.
1. John and Joseph and today, Simeon. Then Herod and finally (on Christmas Eve) Jesus
II. The Story
A. Background
1. Since the beginning, One was promised to come and bring salvation to mankind.
2. His coming would mark the end of the things as they had been and the beginning of a new age. Old/new covenant
a. John 1:17 “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
b. Heb.1:1-2 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son...”
c. Lk.16:16 “The Law & the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached.”
d. New wine needing new wineskins (Luke 5:37)
e. Christ’s coming inaugurated the last days. (See 1Pet.1:20; Ac.2:17; 1Corinthians 10:11.)
3. The time just before Christ’s birth was a time of heightened messianic expectation: because of the prophecy of Daniel 2 re: the statue representing 4 kingdoms: Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome.
B. Simeon’s story
1. Long before Mary had been told by Gabriel that she was going to bear the messiah, long before the angel informed Zacharias in the temple, someone else had been told by God that the Messiah was about to appear.
a. A man named Simeon had been told by the Spirit of the Lord that he would see the Savior before he died.
2. He waited and waited. He grew very old. It didn’t look like anything was going to happen.
3. How many times he must have wondered, “Is it now?” No, not now. Later. Later. Always later.
4. And now he was so old that death had become an any-day-now affair.
5. There is no reason to think he had heard about Zacharias and Elizabeth – or Mary and Joseph – or of the promises given to them about the Messiah, or about His birth in Bethlehem, or about the incident where the shepherds were told of His birth, or about the star that was at this time already leading the magi from the east on their journey to see the one born king of the Jews.
6. All he knew was that he had been told that before he died, he would see the messiah. And now he knew it had to be very soon, for he had grown very old.
7. Then suddenly the Spirit tells Simeon to go into the temple, and he sees there a young peasant girl and her husband with a little baby.
8. And God says to Simeon, “That’s Him. That baby is the Messiah.”
9. And so Simeon walks up to Mary and Joseph and takes the baby Jesus into his arms
10. And he looks up to heaven and blesses God, saying, “Now Lord, You let Your servant die in peace, as You have said. For now my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”
11. We are told nothing about Simeon's life but this. We don't know anything about his family. We know nothing about his occupation. We know nothing about his stature, his pastimes, his hobbies, his home, his relationships, his health. And after a few more words to Mary, Simeon is gone: never mentioned before, never mentioned again. Simeon isn’t in the story so we can know Simeon. Simeon’s in the story so we can know Jesus.
C. The other side of the story
1. Joseph and Mary had traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census.
2. Jesus had been born in Bethlehem.
3. The shepherds and angels had visited that night.
4. On the 8th day Jesus was circumcised in the Bethlehem synagogue and officially given the name Jesus.
5. Joseph and Mary had moved from the barn to an actual house in Bethlehem.
6. When Jesus was 40 days old his parents took him five miles or so to the big city, Jerusalem, to offer the appropriate sacrifices in the temple, according to the law of Leviticus 12:6-8.
7. It was there that they ran into Simeon, a very old man and prophet, who had been told by the Lord that he would not die until he saw — with his own eyes — the promised Savior of mankind.
III. What a scene we have here! There’s so much going on in this story!
A. In Simeon the Old Testament is recognizing and embracing the New.
1. The old, broken-down Jewish prophet holding the newborn incarnate Son of God.
2. Simeon was not old by accident. His old age symbolized the long time that the OT saints had been waiting for this moment. It also symbolized how the old things could now pass away, now that they had served their purpose of pointing to Jesus.
3. “Now Lord, You let Your servant die in peace.”
4. Simeon represents the old order, and that old order is now passing away. The new day was dawning.
a. In Simeon we see that the old age didn’t end until the new age had begun.
5. Simeon represents all of the OT prophets that preceded Him, all waiting for the promised consolation of Israel.
a. Jesus was the one they saw when they looked with prophetic eyes into future history. He was the One who they could see who was to come. He was the fulfillment of all their prophecies.
6. Old people usually don’t welcome change. But Simeon had been given the gift of seeing that change was desperately needed and promised by God. And this is what he was waiting for.
B. I love that Simeon says “You dismiss your bond-servant in peace.”
1. Up until this moment he has lived without seeing the vision he was destined to see, and so he was incomplete. Even though he had lived many years, he hadn’t yet done what he was put here to do.
2. But once he takes Jesus in his arms, he says, "Now Lord, You dismiss Your bond-servant in peace, according to Thy word; For my eyes have seen Thy salvation."
3. “Now at last I’m done, now at last I’ve done what I was here to do, and so I am ready to depart in peace.”
4. There is in the human make-up a mechanism of relief, when we have been intensely attentive to some responsibility. And when the job is done, we experience a psychological sense of having that great burden lifted off our shoulders. This is what is happening here with Simeon.
5. But here again Simeon is acting as a representative of others. It’s much more than just Simeon’s own personal peace. The One who has been placed into his arms is the answer to all human fears and burdens and troubles. He is the salvation not only of Simeon’s calling, but He is the salvation of mankind. He is the fulfillment not only of Simeon’s life, he is the fulfillment of life itself.
C. But there is more in Simeon here than just relief. There is also the ‘Wow!’
1. There is in the human make-up a mechanism to be dazzled by what we see with our eyes.
2. The fact is that our eyes were made to behold His glory. And since “the whole earth is filled with His glory” we get glimpses of this all the time.
3. But the final ultimate experience of being dazzled comes from seeing Him face to face. All the dazzling sights of this world are but dim reflections of the glory of His face.
4. Simeon had seen many things in his long life, but he had never seen anything like this!
5. You know, it’s not just that Simeon died in peace, it’s almost that Simeon died of peace. Once he had Jesus in his arms, the world had nothing more to offer him.
D. What an amazing scene! Outwardly, it was just an old man holding in his arms a tiny baby.
1. But actually it was the OT prophets recognizing and acknowledging the coming of the very Son of God, whom God had promised through them.
2. That deity would be contained in a human body, and that that God-man would be tiny and helpless and weak, and that this tiny baby would be placed into the arms of an old man about to die.
3. What an ironic pedestal for the Word of God made flesh! What a Treasure there in those old arms!
IV. Conclusion
A. In Matt.13:45-46 Jesus told a very brief parable about a merchant who was looking for fine pearls. One day he found a pearl so valuable that he sold everything he owned in order to purchase it.
1. He preferred to own that one pearl & nothing else rather than own all the things he had previously possessed.
2. When Simeon found Jesus born of Mary, Simeon had found the pearl of great price (and nothing else mattered). When He found Jesus, he found everything.
3. The acquisition of this pearl is painful.
a. merchant - selling everything
b. Mary - watching her son be opposed even to the point of death
c. The hard road, denying ourselves, forsaking everything
4. But the good news is so good that it far outweighs the bad. The pearl is so beautiful, precious, valuable it is well worth the cost.
B. But not everyone delights in this pearl. For some Jesus is not a pearl of great price but "a sign to be opposed." As Simeon said, "this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel" (v. 34).
1. What is there so harmless as a baby? But even as a baby, they were intimidated by Him to the point of trying to kill Him. (Herod)
C. Never on the face of the earth has there lived a man who is so hated and so loved.
1. Thousands have willingly lost their lives for Him. Hundreds of millions have dedicated their entire lives to serving Him and helping others to love Him too. For 2000 years millions of groups of His admirers have gathered together every week to adore Him and learn more about Him.
2. And yet He has had more enemies than any other man who has walked the face of the earth. An innocent man attracted such insane anger from the people of His day that He was killed as a criminal. Jesus Himself said, "They hated me without cause." (John 15:25)
D. O Lord, give us eyes to see the One Simeon saw in all His beauty and glory, promised from of old, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Let every heart prepare Him room!