Tenth Day of Christmas
Posted on January 3, 2024 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 name of Simeon’s song (verses 29-32) is the Nunc Dimittis—Latin for the opening words, “Now, You dismiss”. The Nunc Dimittis is used in the Divine Service every Sunday (TLH, 29-30; ASBH, 33-35); it is the song which the congregation sings together after they have received the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Lord’s Supper. By singing the Nunc Dimittis after the Supper, we confess that we have truly handled the flesh and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, as certainly as Simeon did when he took the divine Child in his arms. Having received this gift and having made this confession, we, like Simeon, are prepared to die in peace.
Where is God found today? There are many who seek Him in nature, others who seek Him in dreams and visions, and still others insist He is only in heaven. But Christians have true fellowship with Him in the eating of the Lord’s Supper, for the Christ took bread and said, “This is My body” (Matt. 26:26), and He took wine and said, “This is my blood…for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:28). God is found where He promises to be, and the Christ—who is God in the flesh—promises to be found in His Supper. Those who eat the bread and drink the wine of His Supper receive also His body and blood and, believing this, receive His peace.
Collect: 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, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
