Luke 2:27-28 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God.
There are two other senior citizens who do not feature in the nativity scene or the Christmas picture postcards. Simeon an old man filled with the Holy Spirit and Anna the prophetess. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. (Vs 36). The orthodox Jewish couple Mary and Joseph went through all the Jewish traditions. Jesus was circumcised on the 8th day after birth. It is scientifically proven that the male baby’s blood coagulates on the 8th day. Hence the Lord had instituted circumcision on the eighth day not just as a symbolic representation of separation from the world but also for scientific reasons. Now, vitamin K is administered to stop blood clotting in newborns baby boys.
Baby Jesus was dedicated on the 40th day according to the Jewish purification laws (Leviticus 12:1-4) which is when they encountered Simeon and Anna. This was not a flamboyant baby dedication. Simeon was not the priest on duty but a man lead by the Holy Spirit. Anna on the other hand was a childless widow. If she was married at the age of 14, by 21 years she would have been widowed. Yet, she deflected from resentment and reverted to reverential fear which qualified her as the only named prophetess of the New Testament.
Why did God choose these insignificant senior citizens?
- Old: Bible scholars say that Simeon was about 200 years old! Age doesn’t impact the anointing. In fact age should accentuate the anointing. Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained by living a godly life (Proverbs 16:31). This verse doesn’t say don’t use hair colouring! It states, age gracefully. As we age from teens to twenties, to thirties and so on, “Our dreams must be bigger than our past”. As we age, our inner beauty must outwit our fading outer looks. If God can use a white bearded, aged, scruffy Simeon, God can use us. Age gracefully.
- Ostracized: Anna was from the tribe of Asher. Jewish records refer to the tribe of Asher as the lost and the rebellious tribe of Israel as they dispersed and were untraceable after the Assyrian invasion in 721BC. However, from a tribe that had no exemplary predecessor came Prophetess Anna. She could have been acidic and angry with God for her unenviable pathetic life, yet, she chose to worship Him day and night that qualified her to encounter the Messiah on the day of His dedication. Mature gloriously.
- Ordinary: There would have been hundreds of babies dedicated everyday at the temple but the felicitation of Simeon and the prophecy of Anna were directed towards the poor couple. Their offering was the poor man’s sacrifice of two birds (pigeons/doves) (Leviticus 12:8), yet they had the ‘Lamb of God’, the creator of the universe bundled in their arms. It is not the brand we wear, our wealth or networth but it is who we carry in our hearts that make us extraordinarily special. Advance extraordinarily.
God chose the old, ostracized and ordinary to cradle the King of Kings.
Luke 2:38 She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
Prayer: Father God, teach me to age gracefully, mature gloriously and advance extraordinarily. Amen.
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