 |
| Simeon |
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel (Luke 2:32).
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.[1] Mary and Joseph circumcised Jesus on the eighth day after His birth as the Law of Moses required. Having received this sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, Christ is formally brought into Israel according to the Law. Being the first born male, Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple to offer the sacrifices required in the Law to consecrate Him to the LORD, and to redeem Him.[2] By this act Jesus enters into the service of God. All that Jesus did in His earthly life, or that was done to Him by His faithful earthly parents, was so that He could serve His Heavenly Father perfectly under the Law, something mankind was not capable of doing since the Fall of Adam.
At the temple, the Holy Family meets Simeon, who has been supernaturally directed to the infant Jesus by the Holy Spirit. This faithful Israelite had been waiting for the Consolation of Israel.[3] The Spirit of the Lord had told him that he would see the Messiah. When he sees Jesus Simeon sings a song of Joy. His vigil was now complete. He could go in peace, that is, he could now die, because God had fulfilled His promise. Simeon had held the Light to the Gentiles, and the Glory of Israel in his arms.
Simeon had seen the One who was the fulfillment of the covenant. This child whom he held in his arms was the one about whom Isaiah wrote: I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness and will hold Your hand; I will keep you and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.[4] Jesus is indeed a light to the nations. Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father who sent Him; whoever believes in Him believes in the Father and no longer abides in darkness.[5] He has freed us from the prison house of sin and made us servants of righteousness. Jesus, perfectly righteous under the Law, was rejected by His own, killed as a ransom for many on the cross, and risen from the dead on the third day.[6]
We who believe, like our brother Simeon, are also waiting for the Consolation of Israel. We await Hs return in glory, to judge the living and the dead. As we wait, we gather faithfully to eat His body and drink His blood, as He calls us to do, for the forgiveness of sins, proclaiming His death until He comes.[7] Each time we receive the gift of Jesus’ body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar, we rejoice; we sing Simeon’s words in the Nunc Dimittis: Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word, For mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation. By these means of Word and Sacrament Jesus gives to us Salvation – He, Himself. Like Simeon, after receiving this pledge of redemption from sin, death, and the devil, and the resurrection to life eternal, we to can proclaim that we are ready to die.
No comments:
Post a Comment