The Messiah Simeon Waited For

Day 41, Into Zion First

Isaiah 59: 15b-16, 20 The Lord saw that there was no justice,
and He was offended.
He saw that there was no man—
He was amazed that there was no one interceding;
so His own arm brought salvation,
and His own righteousness supported Him.

“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.”
This is the Lord’s declaration. (HCSB)

In one of the stone/rock posts we talked about the duality of Zion and how Jesus was uniquely qualified to live and serve in both.

This passage from Isaiah brings Zion back into the picture. However, the focus is more on the role of the Redeemer as God’s own offer of salvation.

Simeon mentioned that, too, in Luke. ‘My eyes have seen Your salvation…’ God’s. Nothing that mankind could bring, provide or do.

Over and over, because we humans can be pretty thick-headed, God states that the salvation He offers mankind is his own invention. He created it to satisfy both his love and his holiness. It fulfills both mercy and grace. It meets all the conditions of the law and yet annuls the law at the same time.

It does what no man could possibly do. It does what no human mind could even imagine.

But one thing we don’t think about often this far into the church age is that all of this was offered first to the sons of Jacob. Or as Paul says in Romans, ‘…the gospel…is the power of God to all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.’

Jesus went into Zion first. He was born to fulfill the promises to all the Jewish patriarchs and kings. All of the disciples he called unto himself were Jews. He witnessed in the Temple in Jerusalem and read the word in the synagogues. He celebrated the Sabbath and kept the Law of Moses.

We read those words and know it intellectually, but I know I don’t always get it for real.

As Simeon said, the Messiah would be a light to the nations. But he would be a light from Zion.

During his life, Jesus did not go on a worldwide crusade. He did travel into a few other nations, but all were relatively close to Judah and Galilee. It makes perfect sense.

When you start a fire that you want to burn hot and long, you concentrate the sources of long-term energy (a.k.a. wood), firestarter, and kindling so that the heat builds. Then you make sure that air gets to it.

This is how our Lord built the fire, the light, to spread to the world. And then he fanned it with the Holy Spirit.

A Sixty-Day Countdown to Christmas


More Days

Introduction to The Messiah Simeon Waited For

Holding Jesus

Day 3, A Sketch of Simeon

Simeon Was a Godly Man

Day 5, Simeon's Testimony

Day 6, Prophecies for the Gentiles

Day 7, Blessing to Nations

Day 8, A Holy People

Day 9, Welcoming God's Firstborn

Day 10, The Name of Simeon

Day 11, Staying Alive

Day 12, Following the Spirit

Day 13, Taking Up Jesus

Day 14, God's Slave

Day 15, True Peace

Day 16, Seeing Reality

Day 17, The Intent of the Law

Day 18, For All Peoples

Day 19, Making Mary and Joseph Marvel

Day 20, A Blessing

Day 21, Hinting at the Rest of the Story

Day 22, Mary Will Grieve

Day 23, Making Simeon into Simeon

Day 24, Prophet to the Prophets

Day 25, A Priest Like Melchizedek

Day 26, Destined for Sacrifice

Day 27, Jesus and the Passover Lamb, part 1

Day 28, Jesus and the Passover Lamb, part 2

Day 29, Jesus and the Passover Lamb, Part 3

Day 30, Jesus as the Lamb (con.)

Day 31, Simeon as a Man of Gratitude

Day 32, Sacrificing Lambs in the Old Testament

Day 33, The Silent Lamb

Day 34, The Messiah as Light

Day 35, Jesus the Stumbling Block

Day 36, Jesus as the Rock

Day 37, The Precious Cornerstone

Day 38, The Stone in Zion

Day 39, The Cornerstone and the Gate

Day 40, The Stone of Judgment

Day 41, Into Zion First

Day 42, Restoring the Booth of David

Day 43, Forgotten Stones

Day 44, Blessed to Receive

Day 45, Crown Him with Many Crowns

Day 46, Identifying the Son of God

Day 47, The Best Storyteller Ever

Day 48, In Bethlehem, the City of David

Day 49, Born a King

Day 50, The Living Jesus

Day 51, The Mountain Tree (Part 1)

Day 52, The Mountain Tree (Part 2)

Day 53, The Root of Jesse

Day 54, David's Branch

Day 55, The Cursed Tree

Day 56, Time Fulfilled

Day 58 through 60

Day 57, Born David's King