It’s the last day of 2019, and in a few hours, we will be at the beginning of a new year. For many of us, it’s a good time to reset our lives and to set goals for areas of our lives that we would like to change. Often our goals center around our physical health: eating healthier, losing weight, doing more exercise. I usually also include spiritual goals, and this year I am adding in cognitive goals – pursuing one or two activities to keep my brain active instead of “vegging” after work.
One of the problems with New Year’s goals is that they often fall by the wayside after a few weeks. I know, I’ve been there. It takes a lot of self-discipline to persevere with a goal long enough to make it a habit. I have read that it takes at least 3 to 4 weeks to establish a new habit, so if you are tempted to quit after 2 weeks, it might help to remind yourself that in just another week or so, it will get easier.
In Luke 2:22-39, we are told the story of Simeon and Anna. Simeon was a very old man. According to 2nd century tradition, he was 112. He had a goal – one goal for his life. And it was not a goal that he could achieve, it was a more of a fervent desire for something that he wanted to see more than anything else. He wanted to see the Christ; the Messiah-King promised throughout the Old Testament.
In order to understand why this was so important to Simeon, consider all of the things that had happened to the Jewish nation in his lifetime. When he was a young man, Judah was an independent state. But then the Roman Empire took control of Judah in 63 BC. Roman soldiers were everywhere, and they had the authority to requisition goods and labor, e.g., forcing you to carry any burden for up to a mile. And then there was the tax burden imposed by Rome – paying taxes to a foreign power to fund their oppression of your people. These things were universally despised by the Jews. If only the Messiah would come, he would set things right!
Moreover, Simeon was there through all of King Herod’s bloody, brutal reign. Herod was not a nice guy. He had already proven himself quite ruthless in his attempts to hold on to power. His murder victims included his wife, his three sons, his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law, uncle, and many others. He was so barbarous and treacherous to his own family members that one Roman emperor, in a play on words in Greek, said that it was safer to be Herod’s pig (hus) than Herod’s son (huios). About two years after Jesus was born, it was Herod that had ordered the murder of every male child in Bethlehem under the age of two.
So you can see why Simeon, more than anything else, wanted to see the Christ come. He wanted to see this personally, in his lifetime. I imagine that for Simeon it all started as a simple, daily prayer:
“Sovereign God, please deliver us from Rome. Please deliver us from Herod. Please save us from the tyranny we are under. You promised us that you would send a Deliverer, a descendant of David who would deliver us from all oppression, who would reign with perfect righteousness and justice and bring peace to our land. Please send him soon. Please do these things in my lifetime. I long to see the Christ.”
If Simeon started praying like this shortly after Rome took over, it was a prayer that he had been praying for close to six decades. That’s a long time to pray for something without seeing an answer. But Simeon trusted God. Simeon believed that God would answer his prayer. And this faith in God changed his life. Simeon shows us the power of faith in God and a lifetime pursuit of the right goal.
Genuine faith builds endurance. It perseveres. It is a source of inner strength. Faith in God is what sustains you when you are living with darkness and despair. Simeon was able to endure because of his hope in Christ.
Simeon’s faith drew him closer to God. He is described in Luke’s gospel as “righteous.” Righteousness has to do with good character and living in right relationship with God and others. Simeon is also described as “devout” – wholly devoted to God in reverent service and worship.
Luke also tells us that the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon. And somewhere along the way, God’s Spirit whispered to Simeon, “Don’t worry. You will live to see the salvation of Israel coming. You will live to see my Son, the Christ.”
And finally the day came! After a lifetime of prayer and fervent expectation, Simeon would finally see Jesus, the Lord’s Christ. The Holy Spirit led Simeon to the Temple on the day that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus came to fulfill several ceremonies required of them by the Law of Moses. I am sure he was glad that he listened to the quiet voice, the gentle nudges of the Holy Spirit. It must not have been easy for a man his age to travel to the Temple. It would have been easier to stay home. But he went.
His life of waiting on God in eager anticipation for Jesus offers us some important lessons on the Christian life. While Simeon could not die until he saw Jesus, we cannot really live until we meet the Savior. Christ came to give us life, the kind of life that God created us to have — life in intimate fellowship with the triune God of love, joy, and peace. This is why Jesus went to the cross and why he rose from the dead. He did these things to overcome sin, death, and darkness; he did these things to heal our brokenness and bring us into the wholeness and fullness of life in God.
Simeon shows us that the Christian life is not a brief sprint, it is a marathon. It is “a long obedience in the same direction” (this is the title of one of Eugene Peterson’s books, a phrase that he quite surprisingly borrowed from Friedrich Nietzsche). In an age of instant gratification, where pursuit of passion may last several weeks or months, Simeon oriented his entire life around one goal that surpassed all other goals.
Simeon’s life was all about one thing: seeing Jesus! Shouldn’t our lives be about the same thing?