XIII. THE HOMAGE OF SIMEON AND ANNA. LUKE ii, 25-38. Saintly Character. Luke ii, 25. "AND behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, The whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him." Brief as this description is, it sets the aged Simeon before us in a clear and most engaging light. First, he was "righteous and devout," a conscientious and strict worshiper according to the rites of Judaism. Like his contemporaries Zacharias and Elisabeth, he was righteous before God, walking Luke i, 6 in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Again, he was "looking for the consolation of Israel." A choice spirit was Simeon in that Sadducean age, earnestly believing in the long-promised Redeemer, and yearning for his advent. Nor was his yearning unsatisfied. In his own case was literally fulfilled the last prophet's memorable prediction: Behold, I send my messenger, And he shall prepare the way before me: And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; Malachi iii, 1. Heb. ix, 28. Gen. v, 24. The Gracious In like manner will the consolation of Israel suddenly return, when he shall appear a second time, apart from sin, for the salvation of those who, like Simeon, are looking for him. Once more: "The Holy Spirit was upon" Simeon; that is to say, he was in a marked degree the subject of the Spirit's influence. He was emphatically a child of the Spirit. And so, to sum it all up, Simeon, like ancient Enoch, walked with God; and, although he was not translated, yet he received a still richer blessing; for he was permitted to gaze with the eyes of the flesh on the long-expected Messiah of Jehovah. "And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ." This pre-intimation, be it observed, was not a mere presentiment; it was a direct revelation by the Holy Spirit. Yet, if Simeon had been questioned about it any time before this memorable day in the temple, I doubt whether he would have affirmed that he was conscious of having received any distinctively supernatural communication. He probably would have answered: "I have a strong conviction that I shall not die until I behold the consolation of Israel." However this may have been, I believe that something like this has often occurred in the history of the Church, and may often occur again. Although the Holy Spirit is a supernatural being, yet, generally speaking, he acts so naturally on our feelings and expectations that we are not distinctly conscious of being under his influence. Who shall venture to affirm that those strong pre sentiments which we sometimes have-for example, concerning the conversion of children or kindred, or the restoration to health and home of far distant sick friends-may not be intimations to us by that Holy One who is emphatically the comforter and teacher and guide and helper and inspirer of his people? If the Holy Spirit can act on us in respect to duty, as we believe he does, why can not he act on us in respect to desire and foresight? But let us not imagine that every presentiment is his impulse. How often are our saintliest and intensest expectations disappointed! Blessed are we if, like the patriarchs, we die as well as live in Heb. xi, 13. faith, although we have not received the promised blessings, but only seen them, and greeted them from afar. In all events, no one who has ever heard the glad tidings need die before he has in the truest sense seen the Lord's Christ. God grant that we may all be sealed with the Holy Spirit of Eph. i, 13, 14. promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory. "And he came in the Spirit into the temple." The Divine Impulse. The Holy Spirit then not only revealed to Simeon Luke ii, 27. that he would not die before he had seen Jehovah's Anointed: the Holy Spirit also prompted Simeon to visit the temple the precise hour the Divine Babe was to be brought in. Ah, little do we imagine how many of the blessed coincidences of life are really arranged by that Holy One under whose administration we are living. Little did Simeon, although looking for the consolation of Israel, imagine that he would see the Lord's Acts x-xi. Christ that day in his temple. Little did Joseph and Mary imagine that on that day the Divine Babe would receive such reverential salutation. Little did Cornelius in Cæsarea and Peter in Joppa imagine that the Holy Spirit was arranging for them an interview momentous in consequences. Little Acts viii, 26-40. did Philip and the treasurer of Ethiopia imagine that they would meet each other on the desert way between Jerusalem and Gaza. Little do we imagine that many of the so-called accidental conjunctions of life are really the gracious arrangements by One who, hidden behind earth's thrones and nature's laws, is administering the affairs of the universe in the interest of Christ and Christ's church. When will the world and the church learn that Almighty God is Ruler as well as Maker? The Patriarchal Blessing. Luke ii, 27, 28. Heb. vii, 7. Nunc Dimittis. Luke ii, 29-32. "And when the parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might do concerning him after the custom of the law, then he received him into his arms, and blessed God." An exquisite picture this: "The infant Gospel cradled in the arms of dying Law." Verily, while, without any dispute, the less is blessed of the better, here, at least, the greater is blessed of the less. And Simeon said: Now lettest thou thy servant depart, O Lord, For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples; And the glory of thy people Israel. It was not only the vesper song of the vanishing Jewish church: it was also the swan-like song |