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Simeon's Christmas


by Bessie Wilson

"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people." Luke 2:29-31

When Simeon held the tiny Babe in his arms that day in the Temple and said these words, he said all that we need to know for our eternal salvation.

How this salvation was wrought out in the days of his flesh, culminating in His sacrifice on Calvary, is the full story of the Gospel. But at the Christmas season the Babe captures our imaginations. The manger scene becomes a decoration, and the danger is that the wonder of the Incarnation may be lost under all the Christmas pageantry.

What is the wonder of the Incarnation? The Eternal Christ "in the bosom of the Father" (John 1.18) entered the human race, born of the Virgin Mary.

Who, being in the form of God…made Himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:6-7.

 But this is only the first chapter of the story. To see the Babe in the manger without seeing the Cross is to fail to get the angels' message to the shepherds: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

Can a baby save? No, the Babe had to grow, to pass through the discipline of childhood, adolescence and manhood, to set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem, there to offer Himself, the complete sacrifice for sins.

Have you ever wondered how Simeon identified the Lord's Christ in the Babe? We are given the answer:

It was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost. that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. [Also] He came by the Spirit into the Temple. Luke 2:26-27.

He knew by revelation. He not only identified Him as the Christ but also gave by revelation something of the way our salvation would be effected when he said to Mary, Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy soul. Luke 2:35.

We, too, must know him by revelation.

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. II Corinthians 4:6.

Because Simeon had seen in the little Babe the Savior of the world, he could say, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." Unless we see Him likewise as our own Savior, we will be unable to depart this life in peace.

Have you seen Him?

Who is He in yonder stall,

At whose feet the shepherds fall?

'Tis the Lord! Oh wondrous story!

'Tis the Lord the King of glory.

Who is He on yonder tree

Dies in grief and agony?

'Tis the Lord! Oh wondrous story!

'Tis the Lord the King of glory,

At His feet we humbly fall.

Crown Him! Crown Him! Lord of all.

-Benjamin R. Hanby

(No. 34 in Inter-Varsity Hymnal)

Originally published in Command magazine, December 1961. Used with permission.

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