Unpacking Simeon

Luke 2:22-35 is a Christmas text, a birth narrative in the Gospel of Luke. When Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to be circumcised on the 8th day (and given His name Jesus), there’s a righteous and devout elderly man - Simeon - who’d been waiting for Messiah.

The Holy Spirit prompted Simeon that baby Jesus was the very One, and he scooped Baby Jesus in his arms and spoke a blessing over Him - a blessing of praise and thanks, yet also a prophetic word that He’d cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and that a sword would pierce Mary’s own soul.

Why does the Nunc Dimittis leave off verse 2?

Why no Christmas melody to these words?

In a world of sin and evil, Jesus and His followers can expect hostility and hardship - first within ourselves but also from without, but also through faith - the rising to new life in Jesus from the ashes of our brokenness and ultimately to His perfection on the Last Day.