133. The Prayer Of Simeon In The Temple.

The Prayer Of Simeon In The Temple. The Prayer as recorded.—Luke 2:27-32.

After the “custom of the law,” Mary and Joseph had brought the infant Jesus to the temple. Simeon, a man of great piety, residing at Jerusalem, had received a divine intimation that he should live to see the Redeemer, and it is in the temple he meets him with his parents. He had long waited for the “consolation of Israel,” the coming of the promised Messiah, and now his prayers were answered; the desire of his waiting, anxious heart gratified, the old man is permitted to enfold the Savior in his arms, and lift his soul to heaven in gratitude. By his prayer we infer he was especially endued with the spirit of prophecy, and his mind stretches far beyond the narrow Jewish point of view. He sees the kingdom of the Redeemer extending not over one nation or people, but filling the earth with its blessings; not only a glory to the Jew, but a light to the Gentile also. He tells the mother of our Lord, “with the clear, sharp tongue of prophecy,” of the sword that should pierce through her own soul.

Dr. Kitto says of this remark of Simeon, and the one preceding it, “It is an important addition to his prayer, for we learn by it that he believed that Israel would be eventually glorified in the Messiah, yet that at first he would be to them a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence.”

Simeon calls the child Jesus, the “Salvation of God,” because in his person all the purposes and promises of salvation are centered; in him are grace, mercy, and peace, from God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The old man’s work is done; he is ready to obey his Father’s call, ready to lie down in peace, ready for his home in heaven.