For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You
have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to
the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel." – Luke
2.30-32
Simeon’s blessing on Jesus is an amazing account to read. He
says a lot, but he says a couple of things that astonish Mary and Joseph.
We have to understand the setting. The Jews considered
themselves God’s people and only they were God’s people. The very thought that
God would have anything to do with non-Jews would have shocked them. Many of
the Jews of that day were racists and considered the Gentiles as no better than
dogs.
And yet here Simeon said that God, through this infant, had
prepared for the salvation of all people. He prophesied that this baby would
bring a light of revelation to the Gentiles and that He will be the glory of
all Israel.
This may seem like a minor event or an insignificant
prophecy, but for those who are not Jews it is huge. When Paul wrote to the
Ephesians about 50 years later he would write about how the ‘wall of partition’
between Jew and Gentile was broken down in Christ. From this time on the whole
world could be recipients of the light. We know that as a rule Jesus’ own
people, the Jews, were not going to accept Him. The gospel is ‘to the Jew first’
but it is ‘also to the Greek.’
I am so grateful that it was part of God’s plan from the
very start to give light to us – without that Light we would have no hope!
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