The Standard December 30, 2023
For some of us, the time between Christmas and New Year’s Day can be less stressful and hurried than the previous weeks. There might be more time for reflecting on the true impact of the birth of Christ and its earth-shattering implications for the world. Joy and rest might come more naturally to those who have been extremely busy leading up to December 25. Pondering the gift of the Babe in the manger can help make the season a bit more peaceful, especially for the many of us who have faced the death of a precious parent, spouse, child, sibling, grandparent, or friend this year.
One of the most moving scenes in the New Testament takes place when Mary and Joseph bring their firstborn child to the temple.
When the baby Jesus was eight days old, he was taken to the temple to be presented for circumcision, as was the Jewish custom. “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 glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:25-32)
Simeon, an old man who depended entirely upon God, was waiting in hopeful expectation for the promised Messiah. He lived a life in conformity to God’s ideals.
John Piper, pastor, author and theology professor, writes, “Now Simeon, a man of great faith in God’s consolation, sees Jesus and is ready to die in peace. And his peace is not because he has a naïve notion that the Messiah will bring only joy and prosperity to his people. He knows that Jesus will be spoken against; some will fall because of him. His peace is in the assurance that God keeps his word (he has seen the Messiah ‘according to thy word’), and somehow beyond all the conflict to come salvation will prevail.”
Indeed, it is heart-wrenching for family and friends to lose a loved one to death, but for the believer who is secure in the grace and love of Jesus Christ, the end of this earthly life should not be feared. As Charles Spurgeon once preached in London in the 1800s, “Ah, it is sweet to see a Christian die! It is the noblest thing on earth—the dismissal of a saint from his labor to his reward! From his conflicts to his triumphs! The gorgeous pageantry of princes is as nothing. The glory of the setting sun is not to be compared with the heavenly lights which illumine the soul as it fades from the organs of bodily sense to be ushered into the august Presence of the Lord!”
celiastone 