Seen It
Read This Week: Luke 2
Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” – Luke 2:28-32 NIV
Luke chapter 2 is probably one of the most recognized Scriptures in the Bible because of its connection to Christmas. Every year, people, both sacred and secular, read and sing passages from the story of the birth of Christ contained in the words of this chapter. But there is so much more to it than the telling of Jesus’ birth. The narrative and theological implications of Luke 2 go from the incarnation and build on it to reveal some amazing truths about Jesus and His mission for us and the world.
This glorious foreshadowing of Jesus’ mission and how it relates to us can be seen in the story of Simeon (v.25-35), a righteous and devout man who was a part of the Jewish remnant that looked with anticipation for the Messiah. Simeon desired to see the Messiah before he died. He wanted to lay eyes on the One who would bring God’s salvation to the nation of Israel and the world. He had a vision of this that we read in verse 26: It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
When Simeon goes into the temple and sees Jesus with Mary and Joseph, he realizes instantly that He is looking at the Messiah, the Son of the living God. He is so moved by this revelation of truth that he takes Jesus into his arms and begins to sing. What a greeting, right? His joy and gladness are such that he embraces Christ and can not help but break out in a song of praise. He also blesses God for keeping His promise and thanks the Lord for allowing him to see it with his own eyes. Verses 29-31 capture this poignant moment:
Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations.
As followers of Jesus, we are like Simeon. We have seen the glory of Christ revealed in our lifetime. We have witnessed his miracles (principally our salvation), His provision, His grace, His goodness, and His sovereignty that remains faithful even in the midst of the greatest of uncertainties. We have been called to His mission, been a part of His work, and seen the Gospel taken to the utmost parts of the earth just as Simeon sang about in this chapter. We have been witnesses to the kingdom advancing in our age. We have seen it.
May we live in light of this truth. Our reactions to knowing Jesus and seeing the work of the Messiah should be the same as Simeon’s so many years ago. Our eyes should open in the morning, our hearts should be filled with gratitude, and a song of praise and joy should resonate from our lips. Just like the saint of old in the temple that day, our life fulfillment is realized in the privilege we have to know and serve the God of the universe. We should rejoice and live with power because we’ve seen it.
Thank you, Jason, for always blessing everyone with so much encouragement!
Thank you, Heidi, for your consistent and powerful words of insight and wisdom! I am so honored to be a part of A Week in the Life with you all. It is a true blessing in my life.
This is what I got from Luke 2. The angel announced the birth of a savior which is exactly what you need. His birth brings you peace. I love to put My glory in unlikely things so My glory is more clearly displayed. I work through all kinds of people and all kinds of events to accomplish My plan. Mary and Joseph were obedient and brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to Me. The Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that he would not die before he saw the Messiah. I led him into the temple that day. Simeon had the peace of seeing My promise fulfilled in his life. Simeon seeing Jesus was like a sunrise from Me-“because Jesus had come, he could be relieved of his watch.”
Mary and Joseph were joyful and surprised to see how I touched the heart of others with an understanding of their Son. There is always something special about seeing others come to know Him. It was important for Mary to know what a great privilege and great burden she had as Jesus’s mother. His rejection was her rejection, because of her mother’s heart.
Anna was a widow who knew pain and loss in her life, but had not become bitter. Her close walk with Me was shown by her abundant love for Jesus, and her desire to tell others about Him. I want you to be like her, despite your own hurt and pain in your life, and be a woman of worship and prayer. Tell others about Me, so that they may receive freedom and be saved.
What this said to me was this chapter continued showing promises made by God that He fulfilled. It is important that I don’t become bitter in my pain, and that I choose to worship and pray, and stay in His word, so that I can lead others to Him so that they may find salvation, peace, and freedom.
There is so much truth and insight in this commentary Kathy that I think I could write a novel about how it all touched me. But for the sake of time, I will highlight this part that impacted me:
Anna was a widow who knew pain and loss in her life but had not become bitter. Her close walk with Me was shown by her abundant love for Jesus, and her desire to tell others about Him. I want you to be like her.
I want to be like Anna too. I want to properly process and apply the power of the Spirit to my pain and loss and not allow it to make me resentful or bitter. I want to stay close to God so that the truth of his abundant love for me will always supersede and win out over the feelings I have of disappointment, hurt, and depression. Ultimately, I want His love, peace, and hope to be my testimony and not the ramifications of this fallen world.
Luke 2:10 says, But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for [f]all the people. 11 For this day in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (the Messiah).
We have such a good, good Father! In this chapter you see this wonderful thing that has happened, Father God loves us so much that He gave us Jesus, our Savoir, we now can have a new journey with Him, a new life, what a wonderful gift we were blessed with and to share with others.
I love what the angel is sharing in Luke 2:10, But the angel I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people. A Savior, that’s Jesus, who came to rescue everyone! I’m sharing this with you because if you haven’t joined the family of Father God yet, all you have to do is to want to say what Romans 10:9-10 says:
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
It is with your heart that you believe and begin a new life with Jesus. If you just gave your heart to Jesus, please give us a call and someone can help you with the next steps in your new journey with God. Always remember God is with you always, you can talk to Him anytime! Hope you feel blessed today and every day.
I love this, Heidi. Thank you for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others and always being so bold in your love for others in telling them how to be saved. I pray that someone will read this post, receive the truth of God’s word and believe in their heart, and confess with their mouth that God raised Him from the dead and that Jesus is Lord.
God, we ask you to allow your word and message of salvation to touch someone and find the fertile ground of their heart to hear, understand, receive, and respond to your life-changing Gospel. May it bring about new life and purpose for someone as we all rejoice in your saving grace. Amen.
This Week in the Life: Luke 2
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God gave me a song from Luke 2 this week called “Our Lord”:
We praise you, praise you!
We are praising you, our Lord.
Your heart fills us with joy, glory, and comfort
Have no fear, our Lord is with us 24/7 day or night
He will never leave us.
He was born to save all of us
What good news we can trust
We believe in our Lord singing
Glory, glory, glory, we praise you and honor you! Amen.
Thank you, Lord, for always putting us first. We need to focus on you more every day.
A wonderful song this week, Alma. I think every believer could sing this stanza every day and it would fill us with strength and power for the journey:
Your heart fills us with joy, glory, and comfort
Have no fear, our Lord is with us 24/7 day or night
He will never leave us.
There is such comfort, hope, and peace in knowing that the Lord God, the Creator of the universe, is with us at all times and will never leave us. If this was the only truth we were given to successfully navigate life, it would be more than enough.