Reflections from Pastor Joe

Transcript:

I'm going to be coming from Luke 2:26-27. It reads, It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. 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. So this passage takes place after the birth of Christ. Jesus' parents had brought him to the temple to be consecrated before the Lord as in accordance with the law of Moses. There was a man in Jerusalem, and his name was Simeon. And the scriptures describe him as a righteous and devout man. It says that the Holy Spirit was on him.

And in fact, the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that Simeon would not die until he saw the Messiah. All right, so in this passage, Simeon is moved by the Holy Spirit. He's moved by the Spirit to go to the temple the exact same time that Mary and Joseph were there. And Simeon got to hold Jesus, and he praised God and prophesied about what Jesus would do. So the reason why this passage really stuck out to me is, again, it's a little after the traditional Christmas story. But what stands out to me is how much Simeon had to be moved by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had promised him something. And really, every moment of his life had to be moved by the Holy Spirit that it led him to this specific point. And he even knew that after he had seen Jesus that it was his time that the Lord had really signaled near the end of his time here on earth. So be moved by the Holy Spirit. And everything that we say and everything that we do, that seek the Spirit and allow the Spirit to lead our lives.