The Messiah Simeon Waited For

Day 37, The Precious Cornerstone

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore the Lord God said:
“Look, I have laid a stone in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
the one who believes will be unshakable. (HCSB)

Face it, life is unstable. We wake up every day not knowing what will cross our paths. We have hopes, expectations and plans, but all it takes is a dash of the unexpected to tip the scales and slide us towards chaos.

We need the Messiah to be our Rock and our sure Foundation. We need a place to anchor our lives so we can function while this fallen world spirals around us—an inexorable whirlpool down to death and destruction.

When Simeon said God’s salvation had been prepared, the word ‘prepared’ could focus on what was needed to make ready a sacrifice. Or it could be used as a builder’s term about getting the pieces ready to fit together for a building.

In Matthew 7 and Luke 6 we hear the parable of the house built on the rock versus the one built on sand. Jesus alludes to the prophecy above in the comparison and refers to himself, the Word of God, as that rock and sure foundation. Sinking the structure of our life into Christ will keep us together to weather the storms of life.

The apostle Paul took this even further. In Ephesians, chapter 2, he talks about the Christian community as a holy building. This building has Jesus as the cornerstone and has been added to over the years by the patriarchs, the saints, those who looked forward to his coming (like Simeon), and the apostles. The faith of each believer adds to it. Eventually, the sure foundation will create a holy sanctuary for the Lord.

This is one of those mysteries. We become part of a building, we become the bride, yet we remain the church. Only the future will show us how God weaves all these things together.

But together or apart, we need Jesus as our foundation. We need the solid rock to stand upon. We need a place to say, here I rest; I can do nothing more or less.

Standing on the solid rock, simply being, listening to the voice of the Spirit and living for God is enough. We often try to add to that. To do more and be more. But a well-constructed building just is. Once built, the work is done.

And with that, may we be content.

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