Simeon, the elderly man descried in Luke 2:21–40, realizes that his life is now complete. What he has been looking for and praying about has happened.. His final words mark the transition from the old order to the new. He marks the change of watch.
God has given you his salvation in Christ. You have seen the Lord’s Christ. Christ was subject to the law for you. He was circumcised, verse 21. He was identified with his covenant people to redeem them. This is part of the background for Paul’s statement in Galatians 4:4–5 that Christ was born of a woman, born under the law. He was presented in the temple following the offering brought by his poor parents–according to the law: Exodus 13:2, 12; Leviticus 12:8. The offerings were required, not because of our humanness, but because of our sinfulness. He was involved in this humiliation for you. His first appearance in the temple is not as the object of worship, first of all, but as a truly human baby, identified with us as sinners. Yet, The Lord’s Christ is Christ the Lord. The Child whom Mary and Joseph presented was identified to Simeon by the Holy Spirit as the Lord’s Christ, whose coming he had awaited, verse 26. The Baby is the anointed of the Lord, set apart for his messianic work. The Holy Spirit’s activity was specifically mentioned in Luke 1:13, 35, 41, 67; 2:25 & 27. He, the Christ, is also the Lord, the sovereign God. Note how the angel identifies him, verse 11. Who he is and what he came to do can be distinguished, but never separated from each other. Christ may have been brought to the temple in obedience to the law, but Simeon recognizes that this is not just a baby, he is Simeon’s Lord. He is your Lord.
His coming marks a transition. The Sovereign Lord has established a new era. Acknowledge him as your sovereign. Simeon uses a name that refers to God’s power, verse 29. As a slave or bond servant, Simeon is now ready to be released from duty. He had been faithfully waiting for the coming of the Lord’s Christ. His waiting had been, not a passive interlude, but an anticipation which was active with prayer and service of the Lord. He gives expression, not just to his personal longing, but to the expectation of the covenant people, looking forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises. Simeon’s words call you to acknowledge God as your sovereign. He calls you to submit each area of your life to him. Recognize that the new age has replaced the old. That which God had prepared and promised had now arrived. It is appropriate that history is divided by this greatest of all events–the coming of God into a sin-cursed creation. The time of anticipation and shadow had been replaced by the reality of God’s presence. The child in Simeon’s arms is Immanuel! Luke’s record of Simeon’s actions and words shows that in this event God is active in human history. Simeon’s words mark the change of watch. The new era has been inaugurated. The coming of Christ is an accomplished reality. Yet there is still a future aspect to Christ’s coming. Avoid the unbiblical speculation and date setting. Like Simeon, you live a life of anticipation. Be sure that your daily life reflects the One for whose return you long and pray and work. Does your use of time, the job you have, the entertainment you seek, reflect your status as a servant waiting for his Lord? A soldier on guard duty must not be found sleeping. Are you really awake?
“Simeon’s words give powerful expression to the thought that Simeon, having beheld Christ in fulfilment of the divine word concerning his life, has fully performed his service. His watch is concluded with the arrival of the One for whom he was waiting.”
Ned B. Stonehouse, The Witness of Luke to Christ, p. 53
When you recognize this Child, understand who Christ is. The Child causes the rising and falling of many. He is light and glory. He is light to the Gentiles. This was good news to Theophilus. It is good news to you. It continues to be good news which must be carried to the ends of the earth. Luke’s two volume work will emphasize the universalism of Christ’s work. God’s intervention in human history cannot be confined to one nation, to one people. But even at this early point, long before the Great Commission, long before Pentecost, long before Paul’s missionary journeys, Luke prepares you to recognize that the good news must, by its very nature, spread throughout the world. He is the glory of the covenant people Israel. What had been there temporarily in the pillar of cloud and fire, what had briefly shaken Mt. Sinai, has now become a reality. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, John 1:14. You rise or fall in relation to Christ. You might expect him to be popular, but he brings division and conflict. The coming of Christ involves confrontation, but let it be the conflict of the kingdom of God, not personal abrasiveness. The division cuts right through Israel, verse 34. It is not enough to be outwardly part of the covenant people. God’s covenant demands wholehearted obedience, and the judgment of the covenant falls on those whose lives do not conform. Simeon’s prophecy asks you where you stand in relationship to the Christ Child. Do you trust him as your Savior, and serve him as your Lord? Since none can present perfect obedience to God, your relationship to his Christ is absolutely important in your standing before him. He is light and glory for you only as you trust in him.
“Simeon speaks of the salvation prepared by God as a light to lighten the Gentiles, side by side with its being a glory for the people of Israel (Lk. 2:32) and announces to Mary, that the child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be spoken against (vs. 34); yea intimates that a painful experience described as a sword piercing Mary’s heart will contribute somehow to these effects (vs. 35). An illumination of the Gentiles seems to be foretold, which will have for its foil the darkness of the unbelief of Israel.”
Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments. p. 332
With Anna, thank God! As you do trust in Christ, rejoice. The longing of Simeon is supplemented by the reference to Anna, an elderly widow, who virtually lived in the presence of God in the temple. Her response of thanksgiving also involves speaking about the Child. Both of these saints use Old Testament language to speak of the Messiah. Luke’s style of Greek reflects the strong Old Testament emphasis in the first two chapters. She has the Holy Spirit-given grace to recognize that the redemption of Jerusalem is to be accomplished, not by military might, but through this child, present in the temple that day.
Simeon’s exclamation calls you to listen! Christ reveals the thoughts of your heart. Your innermost being is open to him (disturbing thought!). Don’t trust in externals. Christ knows the real you. Instead of trying to hide, turn to him today and daily. A sword will pierce Mary’s heart. Simeon is foretelling Christ’s suffering and death. Mary would watch as the nails were driven into his hands—and would feel each blow as if she were the recipient. She would wince at the mocking. She would weep at the torment he suffered. Through all of this her Son would become her Savior—and the Savior of all who trust him. But through the suffering and beyond it, lies the glory of the salvation which God has prepared for his people. Simeon can request permission to go off watch because the glory of the Lord has been revealed. At a point in time, roughly 2000 years ago, the glory of the Lord was revealed. And at some unpredictable point in the future, the glory of the Lord will be revealed in the coming of the Lord’s Christ. Your time belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever changes the future brings will be minor compared to the changing of the watch that Simeon witnessed–apart from the final realization of that change at the end of this age.
“Sovereign Lord, now dismiss me in peace,” is Simeon’s request. His work is done. The new time has begun. Because the watch has changed, live each day before the Lord’s Christ. Live as a servant of the Sovereign Lord in the new era which he has introduced.