Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ripe for Harvest: Prepared to Give an Answer

As you read through the book of Acts, look at every conversion, and see what happened right before it: what was said, who said it. The situations are the same today.     A long time ago, my duty in the Officer’s Christian Fellowship was the east coast of the United States. I went to an officer’s office at Fort Lee, VA, and stayed overnight, then I went on to Norfolk and Fort Bragg.    Forty years later, I was no longer on the staff of OCF, but I had to go to Denver. While I was in Denver, I checked in at the OCF offices. There was the same Air Force officer I had met in Fort Lee, retired now, a colonel. I had stayed in his house when he was a first lieutenant. He asked me, “Do you know what happened when you stayed overnight?” I said, “No, I just remember staying in your home.” He said, “You led the next-door neighbor to Christ.” I had no memory of it.    Ten years after that, I was speaking at a banquet at the Hotel Salisbury, and who was th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why Is Obedience So Hard?

There are several reasons why obedience seems hard. I will comment on some of them and then speak positively on how obedience is easy. We think: 1) Obedience is an infringement on freedom. Since we are free in Christ, and obedience is somehow contrary to that freedom, we conclude that obedience is not good. Yet we know it is good. Thus, we become confused about obedience and are not single-minded. 2) Obedience is works. We who have been justified by grace through faith are opposed to works; therefore, we are opposed to obedience. 3) We have tried to obey and have failed—frequently. Therefore, the only solution is to disobey and later confess to receive forgiveness. It is easier to be forgiven by grace than to obey by effort. 4) We confuse obedience to men with obedience to God. Although these are sometimes one and the same (see Romans 13, 1 Peter 2-3, Ephesians 5-6, Colossians 3, and Titus 2), sometimes they are not the same (see Colossians 2:20-23, Mark 7, 1 Timothy 4:1-5, a...
7 comments
Read more

Joy

Here are five biblical passages on joy: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (Galatians 5:22). “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18). “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you” (Psalms 51:12-13). “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’ He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have give...
Post a Comment
Read more