“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 (Read Luke 2:22-40)
Are you ready to die and stand before God, your Maker? Are you at peace with God, knowing that full atonement has been made for your sins? Do you have the assurance that God forgives and accepts you for Jesus’ sake?
Simeon was an old believer who had been waiting for the coming of God’s promised Messiah and Savior. He trusted in God’s promises to send a Savior and redeem Him and, so, was just and devout. God had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen with his own eyes the Lord’s Christ.
And directed by the Spirit to come into the temple at Jerusalem precisely when Mary and Joseph came to the temple with the baby Jesus, Simeon took Jesus up in his arms and said: “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.”
He had now seen the promised Christ Child — God the Son in human flesh — and held Him in his own arms. And Simeon was now ready to die in peace and face God’s judgment because he knew that His God and Savior had come and that, for the sake of the holy life this Child would live in his stead, and for the sake of the innocent sufferings and death this Child would accomplish, atonement would be made for all his sins. Simeon was assured that through faith in Christ Jesus he was forgiven and accepted of God (cf. Eph. 1:6-7). He was ready to die in peace, for in Christ Jesus he had a Savior from sin and its eternal punishment!
What about you? Are you ready to die and stand before God, your Maker? Are you at peace with God, knowing and trusting that your sins are paid for and forgiven for Christ’s sake?
For such confidence, we look to the pages of Holy Scripture; for there we too see our Savior and the salvation God has provided for us. There we see Christ’s holy life for us under God’s law, and there we see His bitter sufferings and death for us upon the cross and His glorious resurrection. There we see Jesus, our Savior, the Light of the Gentiles and the Glory of His people Israel. There we hear God’s gracious offer of pardon and forgiveness in Christ Jesus. There we learn that, through faith in Christ Jesus, we are not condemned but have forgiveness for all our sins and life eternal (cf. John 5:24)!
We know these words of Simeon as the “Nunc Dimittis,” The Latin for “now, You dismiss.” We sing these words after partaking of Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, for there we too have seen and partaken of Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God who atoned for the sins of the world, and we depart in the peace of sins forgiven and with the assurance that we have everlasting life for Jesus’ sake.
When we look at Christ through the Scriptures and hold Him in our arms by faith, when we are joined to Him in Baptism and partake of Him in the Lord’s Supper, we too can be ready, as Simeon was, to depart this life in peace! Cf. Rom. 5:1-2. God grant us such faith in Christ Jesus our Savior!
Lord Jesus Christ, let our eyes behold You through the pages of Holy Scripture, and in the Holy Sacraments, that we too may trust in You and always be ready to depart this life in peace. Revive the weak in faith and strengthen all of us, that we may stand fast in You, our Savior, until You return to grant unto us and all believers everlasting life. Amen.
[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]