Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Luke 2:29 "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word . . ."
A SONG OF COMING AND GOING
If you sit down and read the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke during this Advent season, you might notice that three individuals were moved to song because of the momentous time when our Savior came to earth. There is the song of Mary, the Magnificat , in which the earthly mother of our Lord thanked God because she had been chosen to give birth to the Son of the Most High. There is the song of Zacharias, the Benedictus , in which an elderly man thanks God for the miraculous birth of his son, John the Baptist, who would prepare the way for the Lord. And then there is the short but powerful song of Simeon. Let us briefly consider the words that the Holy Spirit caused this saint to utter upon meeting the Christ-child.
Advent means "coming." During the Advent season we consider the means and the reason for Christ's first coming to earth to save us from our sins. At the same time we also look forward to Jesus' second coming, when He will judge those who believe in Him to be righteous and to inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Advent is all about anticipation. We are all looking forward to seeing Jesus. Does it seem strange to you then that after all the anticipation Simeon was ready to depart this life as soon as he had seen the Messiah? You see, as we at this time look forward to the coming of Jesus, we, like Simeon, do not know when exactly it will happen. No one knew when the first coming would happen and no one knows when the second coming will happen. But we, like Simeon, look forward to the coming of Jesus with our bags packed, ready to go at a moment's notice. Like He prepared Simeon, God prepares us for the coming of our Lord. Like Simeon, we know that all will be done according to the word of God.
