The Meeting of our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
1st Vespers Meeting: Exodus 12:51-13:3, 10-12, 14-16; 22:29; Leviticus 12:1-4, 6-8; Numbers 8:16-17
Epistle: Hebrews 7:7-17 Gospel: St. Luke 2:22-40
St. Luke 2:22-40, especially vs. 26: "And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he
would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." The holy man, Simeon, took the Child Jesus in his arms and
blessed God Who revealed to his eyes, in the Child, Light for the nations and glory for God's People (Lk. 2:28-32). His
blessing is the beautiful Hymn of Vespers. It discloses both Simeon's holiness of life and the revelation which God gave
him.
First, the hymn discloses a truly holy man, one who kept constant, close communion with the Lord of the Universe. Notice
how he spoke personally to God: "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart, according to Thy word, for I have seen Thy
salvation which Thou hast prepared, the glory of Thy people." See how joyfully he serves the Divine Master, living solely
to do God's bidding! He realized what a unique privilege he had received from God: to live to a great old age and, at the
last, to see the Lord's Anointed. His prayer completes his life and service: "Now lettest Thou me depart, O Master, as
Thou wentest before and promised me; for I have beheld Thee, O Light before eternity, the Lord and Savior of the Christian
People."
Submission to God is the essential mark of St. Simeon's holiness, being clearly shown in his hymn. Consider: he lived in
Jerusalem (vs. 25). Many, many times he was in the Temple. However, when the Virgin came with the Holy Infant to
make the required sacrifice, St. Simeon "came by the Spirit into the Temple" (vs. 27). Why? Because he listened in his
heart to God. Therefore, he was led to his historic encounter at the right moment and in the exact place.
The Holy Fathers call revelation like this "the gift of discernment," "diorasis," the ability to perceive invisible truths and
happenings, a special ability among the Saints, among those deified after years of ascesis and prayer. St. Simeon's arrival
was precise in timing and in place. He held the Child in his arms. He blessed God, and uttered pure revelation. A deified
man!
Let us also examine St. Simeon's revelation. The Child he held in his arms is God's universal salvation. Simeon looked
beyond a woman with a child coming to make a sacrifice. He perceived the ultimate action of God in history: Incarnation.
The Child was and is Divine Light, One capable of renewing all cultures and peoples and the fulfillment of the People of
God. The statement, "before the face of all people," is a scriptural way of declaring that God has tangibly acted in the
stream of human history. The Almighty Who dwells beyond time and space, Whose works everywhere disclose "His
eternal power and Godhead" (Rom. 1:20), came among us as a concrete, tangible, actual human being. "Salvation, life,
mercy, forgiveness," all the truths we mortals use to speak about God and His work, are removed forever from the mental
abstract, from mere human ideas. He is embodied as a living Person, both man and God.
The phrase, "a light to lighten the Gentiles," prompts us to see with St. Simeon that God has deliberately communicated
His Word to every people within the human family in order to restore and fulfill them. The God-Man, Christ Jesus, alone
overcomes mankind's suppression of truth, our denial of relationship with God, that lie which renders human thinking
futile and leaves our hearts dark and insensate (Rom. 1:21). Truly Jesus is the Light of the World (Jn. 8:12).
To speak of the Lord Jesus as "the glory of Thy people Israel," identifies Him as the capstone of centuries of Divine
revelation given through Abraham, Moses, the Prophets and the wisdom of Israel's great Seers. The Eternal Head of God's
People came and is with us!
The Lord hath made known His salvation; He hath revealed His justice in the sight of the Nations. Save us, O Son of God,
Who wast borne in the arms of Simeon, as we sing to Thee.
