Divine Dismissal

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; 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 2:29-32

The song of Simeon today is called the "Nunc Dimittis." In Latin the words mean, "Now you are dismissing" and it is often used during evening prayers. To Simeon it was a divine dismissal from a promise given to him by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Messiah before he died. Simeon and many others had waited patiently for years for this day. They waited quietly, expectantly, humbly, and hopefully. Jesus was immediately recognized by Simeon, a very old man in the temple, as the Messiah. He declared that Christ would bring salvation and be a light to all people.

Yet only two pigeons were offered as a sacrifice for the ceremony. This clearly shows the poverty into which Christ was born. Christ was not born into a royal palace or a holy priest's house but into the home of a humble carpenter. Here we see God coming down not to rule the world, but in humility to be involved in the life and strife of the poor and downtrodden. God fulfills what the prophets of old had foretold, that Bethlehem in Judah would be where the Messiah would be born (Micah 5:2-5). We see how a public decree by a Roman Emperor would cause Mary to travel many miles from Nazareth to register herself in Bethlehem.

Even in the rejoicing, Simeon said, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel." In Christ we will all rise again. It is His sacrifice on the cross that causes us all to rise from the dead. In Christ we abandon our old life and rise to find a new one in Him. Simeon also warns that there will be many who will also fall. There will be many who one day will face eternal condemnation because they did not believe.

I was watching the harvest festival 2006, where Greg Laurie spoke about the end times. He said that many people come to him and ask, “are we in the end times?” He is convinced that we are. He used the analogy of the birth of his grandchild. As the time for the delivery approached, the labor pains started. These pains were the signs of the impending birth. So also we live in a time where there are wars and rumors of wars, pestilences, earthquakes, tsunamis, persecution of Christians, and a heightened hatred against Israel. These are the labor pains that were foretold before the second coming of Christ. These are times when just as Simeon did, we should watch and pray. Let us wait peacefully, confidently, humbly, and hopefully.