Simeon’s Revelation

Public domain image from the author’s collection, edited by author.

Luke 2:25-29 records, “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26  And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27  And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 28  Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29  Lord, now let thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:”

Most people realize that a central truth of true Christianity is that God veiled Himself of our flesh. They hear the Biblical terms, “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit,” and many accept the fact that God subsists as such.

However, many have a difficult time to resolve the deity of Christ in passages which show Him quite dependent upon the Father. For the sake of brevity (and expanding upon this at a later date as God permits) I will use only three verses:

“… my Father is greater than I,” John 14:28e.

“… I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things,” John 8:28e.

“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father,” Mark 13:32.

If Christ is God, then why such statements from the Son Himself? While the answer is in various passages of the Holy Bible, Simeon, no doubt empowered by the Holy Spirit, also gave us the answer: “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people,” (Luke 2:30-31).

Essentially, when we read the Gospels and see the Son so dependent upon the Father we are witnessing our own salvation under construction, “prepared before the face of all people.” The Gospels bear record of all this from His incarnation to His ascension. Once ascended, He regained the glory He had with the Father prior to the creation of the world (John 17:5, John 1:1). Christ is eternal, Himself never being created (John 8:58), but the life we need to live was fashioned in front of eyewitnesses and recorded as directed by the Holy Spirit so we may have a sure pattern to follow.

While being the “I AM,” His statement in John 14:28e indicates He came to our level to rescue us for, though we be created in God’s image, we can never be God Who is holy and has no moral evil (1 John 1:5).

From John 8:28e, we see that we must be led by the Holy Spirit as directed by the Father. The Son within us, if we are truly dedicated to Him, impels us to follow through.

Of course Christ, being glorified, now knows when He will return, but passages like Mark 13:32 show that we should not seek knowledge of the date of His return, but seek the personal knowledge of Him that we may be ready for when He does return.

May Simeon’s revelation make us aware that all that we need to please God is found in Christ and by faith and directed by the Holy Spirit we should lovingly obey the Father through Christ within us.

If you are not surrendered to Christ, I strongly encourage you to do so for salvation from sin and hell can only be found in Him (Acts 4:10-12). He has a wonderful plan for you.

Notes:

God willing, this will be part of my Bible GemLight Series as pearl018.

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