The Messiah Simeon Waited For

Day 16, Seeing Reality

Luke 2:30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation.

Psalm 119:18 Open my eyes, that I may see
Wondrous things from Your law.

Sometimes, we have to see to believe.

The most famous example of needing to see to believe, in John 20 of the Bible, is Thomas. Called ‘doubting Thomas’ throughout history, it is hard to blame him on his reaction. What his fellow disciples told him was ludicrous. Someone might come back to life after a long illness like Jairus’s daughter or Lazarus, but Jesus had been crucified. His external body was seriously damaged. The torture prior meant that he had been lacerated and his side had been pierced. The savior’s body was no longer whole enough to truly hold together—speaking in earthly terms of course.

But once Thomas saw, he believed not only that Jesus lives, but that Jesus was God.

How much of this truth did Simeon see when he held the infant Christ? Based on his words to Mary, we know he had a glimpse of the future truth. He knew that salvation required sacrifice.

In the form of a one-week old baby, Simeon saw the answers to years of prayer.

Today, we can’t see our Lord as either Simeon or Thomas did. We can’t look at an in-the-flesh Jesus and say, “There He is!” But we can look at the changes in people who surrender to the call of the Holy Spirit. We can see anger turn to love, addiction to freedom, or bewilderment to hope and say, “There He is!” as his love continues to work miracles the whole world can see.

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