Simeon's Song: Part One

Have you ever noticed how movies and TV shows portray Christians? Usually, the Christian character is either portrayed as stupid, bumbling, bigoted, or just plain weird. Very rarely do you see a positive portrayal of Christians in movies, TV shows, or books.

You have the next-door neighbor, Ned Flanders, on The Simpsons, whom Homer absolutely can’t stand.

You have the movie Footloose, where the fundamentalist father screams against dancing in his sermons while his daughter is secretly dating Kevin Bacon behind his back.

You have a couple of Stephen King movies that portray Christians in an awful light:

In the movie Carrie, starring Sissy Spacek, her mother is a wild, charismatic fundamentalist who locks her daughter in the closet.

In the movie Shawshank Redemption, the corrupt warden is always quoting Bible verses and then doing perverse things to prisoners.

Why does our culture often misunderstand Christianity at best or malign and persecute Christianity at worst?

It’s no surprise that we live in strange times of unrest and confusion, and many of us are trying to get our bearings straight as to where we truly are.

Remember Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz? Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.

We look at our nation right now and wonder: Are we living in America anymore? What is going on? Is there any hope for our future?

Why is the message of Jesus so hated?

Today, we begin our study of Luke’s fourth song of Christmas called Simeon’s Song:

Luke 2:21–40 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

Here’s the main point of this passage: Genuine faith waits for God’s promise of salvation.

Remember, the first witnesses to the birth of Christ were shepherds. Shepherds were considered suspicious and had a reputation as robbers and bandits, and were not legally permitted to serve as eyewitnesses in court.

Yet God sovereignly chose for them to hear the Gospel proclaimed from the angelic host and see the Christ-child with their own eyes.

The Old Testament emphasizes the need for at least two witnesses to corroborate a case in a court of law.

In this passage, we have two witnesses—one male and one female—both Jewish, who attest to the birth of Christ.

What do these two people have in common?

Simeon is a righteous, Spirit-filled man of faith.

Anna is a faithful woman of prayer who walked with the Lord for a very long time.

She was widowed and was in her 80s—probably older.

Luke tells this story of Jesus being presented at the temple by comparing these two older Jewish people side by side.

Yet, there is one common denominator between the two.

In verse 25, Simeon was WAITING for the consolation of Israel.

In verse 38, Ann was WAITING for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Both of them spent their lives waiting patiently and expectantly for the Messiah.

The consolation of Israel and the redemption of Jerusalem are synonymous. They were waiting for Jesus to be born.

In verses 21-24, Joseph and Mary take Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to be circumcised on the 8^th day and presented before the Lord.

They were a righteous Jewish couple who did what the Law of Moses prescribed.

In Leviticus 12:1-8, we are given instructions on purification, and in Exodus 13:2, we are given the command that the firstborn son be presented before the Lord.

This was to be done with a lamb, but if you could not afford a lamb, you could bring turtledoves and pigeons. This shows that Mary and Joseph were probably poor, again showing the humble conditions in which Jesus grew up.

In verses 25-35, Luke focuses on Simeon. And then, in verses 36-38, he focuses on Anna.

Again, there were two true believers in Jesus waiting for their Messiah.

What, again, is genuine faith? Genuine faith waits for God’s promise of salvation.

What do we see in Simeon and Anna that shows us what true faith in Jesus actually is?

God always has a believing people in the darkest of times and the worst of places.

What fascinates me is that we don’t know much about Simeon and Anna. We really don’t know their backgrounds beyond brief descriptions, but we do know they were both waiting patiently for their Messiah during a very dark time.

At this time in history, who is the earthly king? Caesar Augustus.

He was the great-nephew of Julius Caesar. He was supposedly conceived by a snake. He was called the Son of God, the Savior of the world, and the Prince of peace. Yet he was a massive manipulator who maneuvered the Roman Senate into granting him absolute power.

The nation of Israel is living in a dark time with the iron fist of the Roman Empire clamping down on them.

It was also a time of Jewish legalism. Think about who the religious leaders of the day were—the Pharisees, who had created hundreds of crazy laws that kept the people in bondage.

In addition to emperor worship, Greek paganism, with its multiple gods and goddesses, was the predominant worldview at that time. To claim that there was only one true God was considered blasphemy.

And let us remember God has been silent for the past 400 years. At the close of the Old Testament book of Malachi, up to this present time of the birth of Christ, there were no prophets of God speaking to the people.

Simeon and Anna lived during a time of political unrest.

They were living in a time of religious confusion.

They were living in a time of paganism and immorality.

They lived in a time when God’s Word was silent and not preached.

Does this not sound eerily familiar to our American context today?

Do we not live in a nation of political unrest? In a country of religious confusion. In a nation of paganism and immorality. In a nation where God’s Word is not respected but maligned and hated.

Yet, in the darkest of times and the worst of places—ancient Israel under Caesar Augustus, God had two believers who were waiting for their Messiah.

Here’s the point: God never leaves Himself without a small, holy minority called a remnant in the darkest times and the worst places.

Whether you like it or not, we, as Christians, will always be on the margins of society. We will always be misunderstood, persecuted, and small. We will never have this supposed moral majority that will take over the halls of power.

If you look back at church history, the true church—and I mean the true church of true believers in Christ—is not the state church of the Middle Ages; true believers have always been a minority.

Simeon was in the minority. He was waiting in faith for his Messiah in a world where nobody expected Jesus. He never lost sight of God’s promise.

Anna was in the minority. She was waiting in faith for her Messiah in a world where nobody expected Jesus. She never lost sight of God’s promise.

This Christmas season may be a time of stress and anxiety. Perhaps you’re waiting for an answer to prayer or for God to help you through a difficult situation.

Don’t lose hope, but keep your eyes fixed on Jesus!

Tomorrow we will continue this study of Simeon and Anna….