Simeon

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation – Luke 2.25-30

I enjoy looking at the lesser known people in the Bible. They just come along, make their appearance, and then they are gone.

Simeon is one of those characters. We are told that he was a ‘man in Jerusalem.’ We know that he was just, and devout, that he was waiting for Messiah, and that the Holy Spirit was upon him. We also know that the Holy Spirit had told him that he would not die before he had seen the Christ.

Simeon was the perfect picture of peace. Even before he saw Jesus he trusted that he would see the Christ. When he saw the maybe Jesus, long before Jesus started his earthly ministry, he knew that he had seen God’s salvation.

What impresses me though is his faith. He realised that the baby Jesus would one day be the salvation of the world. Faith does not require seeing the result. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Simeon understood that and exercised that kind of faith without sight.

That ought to stir our hearts. I find myself sometimes not content to trust the promises – I want to see the result. All Simeon had to do was see the baby, and his faith kicked in the rest. ‘He departed in peace.’

We have the complete word of God for our evidence. We know that the story doesn’t end with the baby in the manger.

If Simeon could find peace why is peace so rare for God’s people?