WAITING: The Story of Simeon and Anna
Luke 2: 22-38, Isaiah 9
Song: Yet Not I, but Through Christ in Me by CityAlight
When I told my husband I would be writing about Simeon and Anna, it went a little something like this:
“I’m writing about the story of Simeon and Anna.”
“The people who lied to Jesus? Wait, those are different people. Who is that?”
“They are talked about toward the beginning of the book of Luke.”
“OH! You mean the old people promised a child?”
My husband grew up in the church, yet this advent story has escaped him all these years. As I researched this story, however, I found that he was far from alone in this. Most advent stories and devotionals focus heavily on the passage before this story - the angels are rejoicing at the birth of the Messiah and the Christ Child is officially named Jesus. After reading something like that, I can understand the temptation to take the story of Simeon and Anna at its face value: two very faithful, elderly people rejoicing at the birth of the Messiah at a temple.
What I’ve learned while studying this story is that when given the attention it deserves and the context it needs, this passage of scripture proves to be so much more than that: it is a story of how to faithfully wait on the Lord.
When Mary and Joseph bring Baby Jesus to the Temple for Purification (Lev 12:1-8), there are two people specifically mentioned as “waiting” for the messiah to come.
One is a man named Simeon, here is what we are told about him: he is righteous and devout, he is eagerly awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him (2:25). What does all this mean, exactly? This means he likely spent much of his time in prayer or intently reading God’s word, allowing it to transform him and build his trust in the Lord. This also shows that God had favor over Simeon, giving him access to the Holy Spirit during a time where God could only be encountered at the temple by the average Jewish person. Through the Holy Spirit Simeon is promised he will one day see the Messiah that would reunite God with Israel (2:26), so he waited faithfully and praised God daily, trusting that the Lord would deliver on all of His promises.
The other is a woman named Anna. Like Simeon, the Holy Spirit was upon her (2:36). She’s coming night and day, fasting and praying at the temple, patiently waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem (2:38). She has been coming continually since the death of her husband (~60 years)(2:36-37). Unlike Simeon, she was not promised by God that she would see fulfillment of the prophecies in her lifetime, she simply trusted that God was good and His Word was true, so she too waited continually and faithfully and praised God daily.
Simeon is drawn to the temple by the Spirit and Anna was already there praying. As Baby Jesus approached the temple steps, they knew it was the Messiah, and they responded the only way they knew how: Rejoicing in God's goodness and praising His faithfulness. Simeon and Anna were blessed by God to see Him deliver on His promises with their own eyes, a promise that Israel has waited on for 1500 years (Deuteronomy 18:18).
There is a truth here, however, that we cannot miss: God did not bless them because they waited, they were blessed because of how they waited. Anna and Simeon’s hope, faith, or trust was not in what came at the end of the wait. It was in God. They praised God in the wait; they didn’t wait until God fulfilled his promises to praise Him.
How could Simeon and Anna so confidently praise God in the waiting? They knew that God was worth the wait because He is always good and what He brings is always good. He is good in our best times; He is good in our worst times; He is good in the rush of life; and He is good in the waiting. In all these times He has been good, he can bring goodness, He will bring goodness, and even when it feels like there is no good left around us, He is still good.
May we wait like Simeon and Anna: praising The Lord every day of the wait, knowing that God in His goodness and glory will deliver what is good for us.
