“Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, … 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. … and when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, … 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 2:25a, 26, 27b, 28-30 ESV)
God made Simeon a strange and wonderful promise: that he would not die until he had seen the promised Messiah. He didn’t know when it would happen, or who it would be, but he firmly believed God would make it happen at the right time.
And of course, God did. He sent Simeon to the temple just in time to see Mary and Joseph standing in the courtyard, holding their baby. Of course he took Jesus up in his arms! Who could resist? And he looked into Jesus’ face—the face of his Lord and Redeemer. It was the high point of his life.
As Christian believers, we share in Simeon’s blessing. Oh, not because we have seen Jesus face to face yet; we look forward to that. But we too have our hearts’ desire, because Jesus has become our Savior, the One who loves us, closer to us than the breath in our bodies. Through His suffering He has rescued us, body and soul, from the power of evil; and death cannot hold on to us, because Jesus has risen from the dead, and gives life to us also.
What could be better?
We Pray: Dear Jesus, set my heart upon You forever. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
* What would you ask of the Lord, if He offered you your heart’s desire?
* What would you give to obtain it?
* What did Jesus give to obtain His heart’s desire?
Advent Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on December 31, 2023
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights