Wednesday within the Octave of the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord
Posted on December 30, 2020 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 2:25-32 (NKJV)
2:25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29 “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”
Devotion
The song of Simeon, the Nunc Dimittis of our Divine Service, is one of our most beautiful expressions of the true catholic faith. It summarizes the transition from the Old Testament Church to the New Testament Church. The glory of Israel was the promise of God’s Word that the Son of a woman would crush the Serpent and save man. Faithful people like Simeon maintained this hope and trust in God, even long after the rise and fall of Israel’s earthly glory.
Those people who were blessed in the true faith of Israel were the ones who recognized that Jesus was the Christ, the fulfillment of God’s promise, and they would in turn show forth the glory of God as they revealed this fulfillment to all nations! Luke’s account makes it very clear that Simeon cannot boast in his own knowledge, or his heritage, but this understanding and this song were the work of God’s Holy Spirit in him.
Our Lord Jesus was lifted up in the temple, and He was later lifted up on the cross. In the New Testament Church our glory is the proclamation of Christ crucified in His Gospel and Sacraments. In His sacrifice on the cross the promise is made into a remembrance. Now we look back to see the holy glory of our forgiveness and everlasting life through His blood and His death, which will be the song of the Church until He comes again in glory!
Prayer: Almighty and Everlasting God, direct our actions according to Thy good pleasure, that in the name of Thy beloved Son we may be made to abound in good works; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
