MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/12/2026
7:49 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“Simeon’s Proclamation”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke 2:28-33
Message of the verses: “then he took Him into his arms, and
blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart
in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which
You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the
Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”
And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being
said about Him.”
Having meet Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, Simeon then took
the baby Jesus into his arms.
It is really hard to imagine how thrilled Simeon must have been as he
realized that the promise that God had given him came true. Salvation had come to Israel, and he was
holding the consolation of Israel, the Messiah, in his arms which certainly was
overwhelming with joy and gratitude, that Simeon then blessed God.
MacArthur writes that “His song of praise (cf.
1:41-45; 46-55, 67-79; 2:13-14, 38) is known as the Nunc Dimittis (Now Lord),
from the first two words of the hymn in Latin.
God was releasing His bond-servant to depart (die) in
peace, according to His word of promise revealed to Simeon by the
Holy Spirit. His hope fulfilled, his joy
complete, his heart at peace, Simeon was content to die. With his own eyes he had seen God’s
salvation, personified in the infant Jesus (cf. 1:69; 2:11). He understood that salvation for Israel
involved much more than the national deliverance promised by the Abrahamic and
Davidic covenants, whose blessings will not be fully realized until the
millennial kingdom. In the incarnation,
Jesus came not to save His people from their enemies, but from their sins
(Matt. 1:21; cf. Acts 4:12).”
(Matt. 1:21; cf. Acts 4:12)
“21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his
name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’”
“12 And there is salvation in no one else, for
there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’”
Now the next statement that Simeon
would give would shock Jewish sensibilities.
Fiercely proud of their status as God’s chosen, covenant people, the
Jews believed Messiah was their deliverer.
The problem was that they assumed He would establish their kingdom,
which would then rule over the infidel Gentiles. However the truth that God had prepared salvation
in the presence of all peoples, and that Messiah would be a light of
revelation to the Gentiles (Acts 26:24), as well as the glory of God’s
people Israel (cf. Isa. 46:13; 45:25), ran counter to all their
preconceptions. Even after the
resurrection, the apostles still did not truly understand this. It was shortly before the Lord ascended to
heaven that “they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are
restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).
(Acts 26:24)
“23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being
the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and
to the Gentiles.’”
(cf. Isa. 46:13; 45:25)
“13 I bring near my righteousness; it is not far
off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel
my glory."
25 In the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall
be justified and shall glory."
John MacArthur writes that “Centuries
of animosity toward the idolatrous Gentiles, whose corrupting influence had
contributed to Israel’s downfall, was not easily set aside. The Jewish believers in Jerusalem were
horrified that Peter ‘went to uncircumcised men and ate with them’ (Acts 11:3)
because, as Peter reminded the Gentiles gathered in Cornelius’s house, ‘You
yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a
foreigner or to visit him’ (Acts 10:28).
But salvation is offered to all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, since
Christ ‘made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of dividing wall’
(Eph. 2:14) and ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor
free man, there is neither male nor female; for [believers] are all one in
Christ Jesus’ (Gal. 3:28). Thus the Lord
directed that ‘repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His
name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Luke 24:47; cf. Matt.
28:19-20).
“Speaking prophetically of Messiah’s
ministry Isaiah wrote:
But there
will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the
land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall
make it glorious by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of
the Gentiles. The people who walk in
darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will
shine on them. (Isa. 9:1-2; cf. Matt. 4:12-16)
“According
to Isaiah 42:6, Messiah would be ‘a light to the nations,’ while in 49:6, the
Lord said to Him, ‘it is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to
raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I
will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation my reach to the
end of the earth.’ In Isaiah 51:4-5, God declared, ‘A law will go forth from
Me, and I will set My justice for a light of the peoples My righteousness in
ear, My salvation has gone forth, and My arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands
will wait for Me, and My arm they will wait expectantly.’ Isaiah 52:10 notes
that ‘the Lord has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all
the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God.’ In Isaiah 60, God once again addressed His
Servant, the Messiah;
‘Arise,
shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon
you. For behold, darkness will cover the
earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you and His
glory will appear upon you. Nations will
come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. (60:1-2)
“With each confirmation of their Son’s
true identity, Joseph and Mary’s astonishment grew. After hearing Simeon’s song of praise they were
amazed at the things which were being said about Him. Their son, in every sense a normal human
baby, was the Divine Savior of the world, the Messiah who would fulfill as the
Old Testament promises of salvation and blessing.”
4/12/2026
8:45 AM
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