Genesis 3-5; Luke 2

Luke 2:29-32

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.

God revealed to Simeon that he wouldn't die until he saw the Lord's Christ. When Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple as a baby to present Him to the Lord, Simeon took that little baby and said those words. But Jesus hadn't even done anything yet. He had no followers. He hadn't done a single miracle. He hadn't taught a single parable or even uttered His first words. There had been no cross, no death, no blood shed to pay the penalty for sin, no resurection to conquer death. Yet Simeon said his eyes had seen God's salvation.

I doubt that Simeon even knew what was in store for Jesus or how God's plan for salvation would work out through Him. But Simeon knew God and trusted in His promises. If he had a bumper there would have been a sticker on it that read, "God said it. I believe it. That settles it." How I want to have eyes like Simeon's. Eyes that look beyond the here and now. How I want to be patient, just and devout like Simoen, who waited for the Consolation if Istael and praised God even though God's plan for salvation wouldn't be complete in his lifetime.