Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Simeon See's God's Salvation

Today's Reading: Luke 2:21-38
Simeon's Moment - Ron DiCiani 



"... my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which you have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel."
Luke 2:30-32

Enjoy your reading today in this rich passage. I hardly know what to emphasize, there are so many wonderful things here. So I am hoping you will all comment on these verses. I try to keep my commentary short for those in a hurry.

Jesus is presented to the Lord by His parents and both Simeon and Anna, faithful elderly servants of God were led by the Holy Spirit to come into the temple at that moment. Notice Luke mentions the operation of the Holy Spirit three times in the life of Simeon. Praise to God, He has provided the same Holy Spirit to us today, in even greater measure through Christ.

Simeon and Anna had eyes to see the promise of Messiah in that little baby boy and spoke of amazing things to Mary and Joseph. This passage is full of vision! Notice the references to seeing... not see death... my eyes have seen your salvation... and of course light and glory. Jesus often spoke of having eyes to see. The Spirit leads us by giving us pictures in our mind and we follow His vision. Readings for the next two days will direct us to passages declaring Jesus to be light and the brightness of God's glory.

God has prepared salvation for all people, 
revelation for the Gentile and glory for the Jew.

 My heart goes out to Mary as Simeon prophecies directly to her "yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also". She never forgot that and must have wondered how those words would be fulfilled.

Bless each of you today as you look for redemption, 
see God's wonderful Salvation in this tiny child,
His light of revelation and His glory. 

Note: If you would like to purchase a print of Simeon's Moment go to Masterpiece Christian Fine Arts Foundation. All prints are currently 40% off!

4 comments:

Victrixa said...

What's interesting in this passage, is to note that there were people of faith before Christ's coming, such as Simeon and Anna, who were watching for the signs of the coming of the Messiah. (today, Christians are watching for the signs of His Second Coming)

This passage is absolutely glorious! Simeon prophesies that Jesus will be the Saviour of both the Jews and the Gentiles!

Unknown said...

God's promise to Simeon and the way the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he would not die until he saw the Messiah is so beautiful. The visual of Jospeh and Mary showing Jesus to Simeon and Anna is such a comfort. It must have been a moment of pure love.

My heart goes out to Mary as well. Simeon's word for her is so heartbreaking. We see the image of jesus as a baby and then on the cross, and Mary's soul being pierced. *Sigh*

Jesus is the Saviour of the Jews and the Gentiles and I am SO thankful. I pray that this truth is revealed and accepted by the Jews seeking their Messiah and the Gentiles searching for truth...and those not even searching yet.

Ps...the art is beautiful!!!

Marjie Lewis said...

Sheri, your reflection on having "eyes to see" brought tears to my eyes. How many times have we wondered how we have acquired eyes to see and a heart for God, when others we love cannot see and do not pursue Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life?

Like Anna and Simeon, every person who believes Jesus is Lord and Messiah has received that miracle of grace -- eyes to see truth and a heart to discern mysteries of God.

Sheri Dinardi said...

Marjie, this is a sadness we bear as Christians that of seeing loved ones not see the gospel and promise of Jesus. He too must have been grieved when people did not see the Kingdom. He could see the hearts of people and spoke the Parable of the Sower in Matt 13 and Luke 8 to help us to understand. In fact much of Matt. 13 is about seeing and knowing the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are so blessed when we see. These verses explain this and the joy Simeon felt that day.

"Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for the hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and hear what you hear, and did not hear it.