Simeon of Jerusalem

Luke 2:25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name [was] Simeon; and the same man [was] just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

I would like to take a look at the men of the New Testament described as being devout, as examples of godliness from the Holy Scriptures.

There is Simeon (eulabehs), Cornelius (eusebes) and Ananias (eusebes) as well as groups of men who were described in such a way. We will begin by looking at Simeon...

From the Scripture above we see that "devout" was part of a package that made up Simeon's character. He was firstly just (dikaiaos), the same word elsewhere for righteousness, meaning that Simeon was judged to be in accordance with the law of God. We know that only Jesus kept the law perfectly, but some Jews, such as Paul were able to claim a strict adherence to the law that gave them a form of righteousness. As Christians we know that our righteousness comes from Jesus Christ by God's grace through the faith we place in Him and this element of justness and righteousness is also revealed in the rest of Simeon's character.

In being devout, Simeon had a specific reverence and fear of God that determined the reality of his life. This kind of devotion and reverence (eulabehs) is connected closely with the attitude factor of eusebeia. It is also inseparable from his righteousness, as Simeon's deeds are measured closely by his consciousness of the holiness and awesome majesty of the God he served and he lived his life accordingly.

Two other things about Simeon are revealed in this verse.
1) He was waiting for the consolation of Israel.
Israel, God's chosen nation was in distress, under Roman rule and yearning for something else. The religious programs of the Pharisees and Sadducees attempted to demonstrate the justness and devout posture of life described above, while the Zealots were keen to throw off the shackles of Imperial rule with an armed revolution. But there was a hope that God would free Israel from its predicaments and that promise in proper theology was centered around the figure of the Messiah. Simeon lived in expectation that God was to do something wonderful in Israel in the midst of the situation of the day and he had a messianic expectancy for his lifetime as we see later.

2) the Holy Ghost was upon him.
This is crucial in the journey between covenants, as the Holy Ghost had been present in many great instances throughout the Old Testament, but was coming in a new and marvelous way in the age brought in by the Messiah. But the presence of the Holy Ghost in Simeon's life demonstrates God's favour and election in his life, as seen in the Old Testament prophets and others.

Luke 2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

Like the prophets, Simeon had a specific revelation from the Spirit of something that was to come. The Anointed One of God was to come during the life of this devout man. It is amazing to see that with his just and devout character, expectation of the fulfillment of God's promise and the presence of the Holy Ghost in his life, God chose to involve this man in the early days of the greatest life upon the earth - the life that was cut off for the eternal salvation of fallen mankind.

Luke 2:27-28 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

Here at the same time, we see a simultaneous obedience between Mary and Joseph carrying out their duty for the Holy Child they had been entrusted with and Simeon following the lead of the Holy Spirit in obedience and expectation with relation to the promise of God in the Scriptures and the personal revelation God had entrusted to him by the Spirit. Simeon is given the immense honour of taking up the Saviour of the world in his mortal hands and his response is to give glory to God, blessing his Lord - a sign of his attitude of holy reverance before God.

Luke 2:29-30 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

The earnest expectation of Simeon's just and devout life before God was now fulfilled in the coming of Christ. Likewise as Christians we have seen God's salvation in Christ and should find great fulfillment in this. But in another sense we are like Simeon, in that we await with earnest expectation the coming of Christ in glory and many older Christians long to see this awesome event before their time on earth expires. How wonderful that day shall be to see God's salvation with our own eyes and depart with Him from the corrupt age we now live in!

Luke 2:31-32 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Here the nature of Christ is described by Simeon as the realisation of God's promise. He is the ensign of God to all people (Is. 11) and a light to the Gentiles for God's salvation all over the earth and the one who restores the preserved of Israel (Is. 49:6). Jesus Christ is unmistakenly recognised as the Messiah Simeon had been waiting for.

Luke 2:34-35 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this [child] is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

Our last account of Simeon is his blessing to others and his glorification of Christ. He further identifies Jesus as Messiah in this revelatory message to Mary.

Simeon gives us an example of what it means to be devout as a part of being godly. We can see how his character was built upon that which bought pleasure to God and that he was chosen both to have the Spirit upon his life and to bless his expected Messiah as part of God's plan.

We must rightly conclude with this final description of Christ, being amazed that He transformed the world with His coming, becoming the demise (fall) of those who rejected Him as Messiah and remained in their sins and the resurrection (rising up) of those who placed their faith in Him.
He will surely be spoken against (and certainly is today, perhaps more than ever before) and bring out into the open the things which men imagine to be secret in their hearts. If Simeon's example does not provoke us to godliness and reverential fear, then this account of our Lord and Saviour surely should!