When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to be dedicated they met Simeon. Simeon had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he saw the Messiah. (Luke 2:25-26)
God moved him to go to the temple that day. He held Jesus in his arms and blessed God. He said that now he could die because God had kept his promise. He had seen God’s salvation. He said that this salvation was prepared in the presence of all people and would be a light to the Gentiles. (Luke 2:28-32)
Luke was a Gentile who had not seen Jesus during his earthly ministry. He had heard from eyewitnesses. As he researched his Gospel he was told about the events around the birth of Jesus. As a physician he was probably very intrigued by the claims of a virgin birth and listen with interest to the details he heard. He heard of Simeon and heard that Simeon was led by God to praise God for his revelation to the Gentiles. In the earlier hymns of praise Jesus was seen primarily as the Jewish Messiah. But Simeon expanded this vision to include Gentiles, including Luke. (Luke 1:1-4)
Also, when Luke quoted Isaiah’s prophecy about John the Baptist he quoted more than Matthew and Mark. He continued to “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Again, he moved beyond the ministry of Messiah to the Jews to the role of Jesus as the Savior of the world. (Luke 3:6)
Luke also included Simeon’s words to Mary that Jesus would cause the fall as well as the rising of many and that she would suffer as well. The earlier hymns were much more optimistic. (Luke 2:33-35).
Luke saw the gospel as applying to all people. It reveals their hearts and would cause people to fall as well as rise. He also wrote from the beginning of his account that Jesus would suffer.
At times, do we lose sight of the price paid by the suffering Messiah for our salvation?
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