Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 2:25-35)
When referring to God’s promises, Christians often say that they are “incredible,” “surprising,” “hard to believe,” and “too good to be true.” While the intention is to accentuate the exceeding excellence of the things promised, these expressions offer God slothful and insulting praise. Used by preachers and theologians from various traditions, these expressions imply that the Christian mindset remains in the realm of the natural, the human, and the unbelieving. God is not incompetent or a liar, but he is a God of truth and power, and we can expect from him exactly what he tells us to expect. All his promises and their fulfillment are credible, unsurprising, easy to believe, and expectedly good and true.
The incarnation of Jesus Christ is one of those doctrines that has incited much lazy doxology. Mary said, “May it be to me as you have said.” But after it had happened for two thousand years, preachers and theologians are still saying it is “too good to be true.” Lame? Certainly. She was not reduced to speechlessness, but uttered a lengthy and substantial praise (Luke 1:46-55). She did not say that it was surprising, but said that “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.” She did not think that it was incredible, but that “He has performed mighty deeds with his arms.” She did not sing that it was “hard to believe” for God to make or fulfill his promises, but that “He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.” What is that last part? “Even as he said to our fathers.”
Praise consists in an affirmation of God’s goodness and faithfulness, and not in an expression of shock that he would make wonderful promises and then fulfill them. The incarnation was not incredible, not surprising, not hard to believe, and not too good to be true. It was exactly what we would expect. And we should say the same about the resurrection, the ascension, and the second coming.
Parroting a sound theology is of limited value if it is tied down by unbelief. To let your theology fly, you have to believe it, all the way, without hesitation or reservation. If tradition tries to stop you, defy it. If believers try to sedate you, flick them off like flies. If sinners try to oppose you, run them over. God’s word is like fire, and like a hammer. It is destructive to the heart that is hardened by unbelief. If you stand up on his word, it will be your sure foundation; nothing will sway you in this life or in the life to come. But if you stand up to his word, it will destroy you and punish you, in this life, and especially in the life to come.
Simeon was thankful, but not surprised. He affirmed the excellence of what God had done, without the childish and unbelieving exclamations that pass for praise today. He said to the Lord that what happened was “as you have promised.” In addition, his praise carried substance and insight. The Spirit of God gave him understanding on the person and work of Jesus Christ, and what his incarnation would mean to the world. Here we will select several items to discuss:
He is salvation. Our time is short and we face many hardships in this world. Even then, life can be beautiful in Christ. A person is worthless if he does not serve Christ. Whether he dies now or later, or whether he is rich or poor, happy or unhappy, influential or obscure, none of it really matters. He serves God’s purpose, who uses him as a display for divine justice and wrath, to declare his honor and to educate the elect, and then he is discarded, thrown in hell to be tortured by the flames. But in Christ there is everlasting life and love, fellowship, meaningful labor and glorious worship. In Christ there is true understanding and fulfillment.
Our problems, and thus the solutions, do not directly concern politics, economics, education, or how the sciences are applied to the environment, to cure diseases, and so on. Non-Christians are the problems. You say, “I thought our sins are our problems.” Yes, but you do not see sins running around robbing banks, cheating on their wives, and fighting for religious diversity. Those who are non-Christians, including false Christians, do these things. Jesus Christ did not come to save people from the Romans, at least not directly. He came to free the people from the burden of self-righteousness and men’s religious traditions, from the enslaving power of our own sinful nature, from demonic powers, and by the Father’s own decree, to deliver us from the most powerful force of all, that is, the wrath of God. Jesus Christ saved us from the non-Christians, and from being non-Christians. And he continues to save us from the remaining non-Christian forces within us. This is true salvation. There is no other answer to the world’s problems.
He is revelation. Simeon knew that Jesus would be salvation for “all people.” He did not mean that salvation was for every human person, since the distinction between the elect and the non-elect would have been fundamental to his thinking. Rather, through Jesus Christ, salvation would be extended to all kinds of people, regardless of their race, gender, and social and economic status.
Here the contrast is made between the Gentiles and Israel. The Jews already had the light of revelation in a measure, but when Jesus arrived, he found that most of them were blind. The Gentiles, on the other hand, did not have the light. Who is God? What is the truth about this universe? What are we as men? What is right and wrong? The Jews possessed the answers conveniently in a written form. The Gentiles had only their wild speculations. Then, the light of Christ came into the world and began to reach out, exploding to all the nations, penetrating every level of society, refuting every religion and philosophy, which men have invented in the absence of this revelation.
He is glory. Simeon regarded Jesus as the glory of Israel. Certainly he should have been perceived thus by the nation, although many of the Jews did not see him this way. So a distinction is necessary. Simeon spoke from the viewpoint of God and of those who loved him, and not from the viewpoint of wicked men. If we speak from the perspective of the wicked, then many things would not be called what they are in Scripture. The message of Jesus Christ is called good news, but Paul states that those who do not believe perceive it as the stench of death.
Jesus said that salvation came from the Jews. Of course, this does not mean that the Jews saved us. Rather, God used the line of Abraham as carrier for his promise of salvation, so that the Messiah himself was born to it. In itself, there was nothing special in Abraham’s blood, since as John the Baptist said, God could raise to himself children of Abraham even from rocks. They were natural vessels for a spiritual promise. In this sense, salvation came from the Jews, but we must not give them undue honor, since salvation also quickly got away from them. They soon rejected Christ and murdered him, so that God destroyed their nation and flattened the temple. Nevertheless, for the Jews who follow the faith of Abraham, they share in our belief that Christ is indeed the glory of Israel, that is, the true Israel, or the Church.
He is a sign. Simeon said that Jesus would be a sign that would be opposed, or spoken against, “so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” It is often said that we cannot know the hearts of men, and it follows that we ought not to judge them. However, although we are unable to directly and infallibly perceive men’s thoughts and motives, we are not completely ignorant. We can know what is in a man’s heart if God tells us. And if he tells us, then we must admit that we know, and we must affirm the same judgment that he has pronounced on the individual.
He does not need to tell us by special and specific revelations. He has given us a sign in Jesus Christ, so that we may judge all men by their reaction to him. A man says that Jesus is the Son of God, in him the fullness of God dwells, and whoever trusts in him shall be saved. We accept him as a brother. Another man denies what the Bible says about Christ, and regards him as only an excellent man or teacher, if even that. We know that this unbeliever is a demon from hell. His heart has been revealed by his attitude toward Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34), and to introduce dissension and animosity even among immediate family members. He also said, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters” (Matthew 12:30). Notice that “with me” corresponds to “gather with me.” In other words, the dividing line is very explicit, and there is no neutral ground. No one can be a non-Christian who is not against Christ. To be for him, a person must be a Christian, and who wants other people to become Christians.
Thus he separates humanity into two groups – Christians and non-Christians. When we speak Jesus Christ to a person, we present him a sign that compels a response. Even silence is an answer, and represents a rejection of the Christian message, since “he who does not gather with me scatters.” The only answer that puts a person on the side of righteousness is an enthusiastic and wholesale embrace of Jesus Christ. And the person who embraces Christ invariably thinks that everybody else should do the same; otherwise, there is no true faith in him.