Lord, now thou lettest thy bondman go, according to thy word, in peace;
Simeon has spent a long life waiting for God's promised comfort for Israel. Now he holds the baby Jesus in his arms and asks his Master for permission to go.
Simeon does not use the ordinary word for "Lord." He uses a stronger one:
Verse 29 gives us a remarkable statement. Simeon says, "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace." The word "Lord" here is really "Despot." We see in it the effect of a man moving under the power of the Spirit of God. Simeon recognised that supreme power was with God, not with the Emperor. Only a person who has the advantage of the indwelling Spirit can understand where this world is heading.
Another writer follows the same word through the New Testament:
Notice that the word used here for "Lord" is not the usual one. The same term occurs in Luke 2:29, Acts 4:24 and Jude 4. It means the Lord as "sovereign master." It is also used in 2 Peter 2:1: "denying the Master who bought them." This is not the nearness in which we know Him as "our Lord." It is the general relation of authority in which the Lord is Master of the whole world — of all men, whether bad or good.
Simeon calls himself God's servant — older translations say "bondman", a slave. He does not walk out on his own. He asks his Master to release him.
The eyes of Simeon have seen God's salvation, and he begs of the sovereign Lord that he may go.
God had made Simeon a personal promise, and Simeon now points back to it:
He begins with what is personal to himself. God is acting in His sovereignty, and he can rejoice — for sovereignty with Him means sovereign goodness. He has fulfilled His word to him, and now he may depart in peace. What, indeed, could man have sought or imagined on God's part so blessed as what He has done? Who could have thought what the Babe in Simeon's arms meant for the heart that could take it in?
Everything around Simeon that day followed the law of Moses. His peace came from somewhere else:
He sees that in that babe there was One altogether above the law. In grace He might come under it, and His parents were of course right to honour every one of its rules. But Simeon "received Him into his arms, and blessed God." He said, "Lord, now You are letting Your bondman go according to Your word, in peace, for my eyes have seen Your salvation." The law of Moses never could let a sinful man depart in peace. So to speak, it never ought to. ... It was not imagination, but solid faith; it was "according to Your word." There is nothing so sure as the testimonies of God and His Word.
Simeon is holding a baby. He will not live to see what that baby will do. One writer explains why he was content anyway:
Here was this aged saint. He had spent a long life "waiting for the consolation of Israel." Now, just before his eyes must close in death, God lets him see as an infant the One who is the fulfilment of his hopes... He might well have complained about his hard lot, having to die just as the fulfilment of his hopes was in sight. Yet in fact he simply said, "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace." He foresaw the approaching tragedy of the Cross, and more than that, his heart's love centred in the Christ of God. If the Christ is to go, he is content to go. He has no wish to live if Jesus is to die!
Others put the weight on what he already held: "All his desires were satisfied, every link with earth was broken as soon as he had God's salvation, and he was ready to depart in peace" (Edward Dennett).
One writer reads the verse as a pattern for the end of a believer's life:
Suppose a man walks with God and has finished his course. He knows that his work is done, and he is aware that the Lord's time has come. He has companionship and communion with the Lord he has walked with. If he only comes to a bed of sickness, he is not ready to go yet. He is not afraid; God is teaching him something else. But when God's time has come, all is joy and readiness. He feels like Simeon: Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace.
- Master. Simeon addresses God with the word for an owner of slaves — sovereign authority over all men, not the nearer title believers use for "our Lord."
- Servant. Because God is Master, Simeon speaks as His slave. He asks leave to go; he does not take it.
- Word. His release rests on a promise God made to him. God acts here in sovereignty, and sovereignty with Him means goodness.
- Peace. The law could never let a sinful man go in peace. That peace comes from the Child in his arms.
- Ready. Holding Christ satisfied him. The glory he would never live to see cost him nothing, and a believer knows that same readiness when God's time has come.
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
An old man in the temple takes a newborn into his arms and announces that he has now seen what God had promised him. His words raise the question that runs through the whole scene. How can anyone say he has seen salvation? The work is not done yet — no cross, no empty tomb, only a baby.
Simeon does not say he has seen a plan or a promise. He says he has seen God's salvation, and what he is holding is a child. One writer turns this into advice for anyone beginning the Christian life:
It is important, I think, to link salvation with the Lord Himself. We have it in present and enjoyed possession when we have Him. Simeon's words show this plainly. He held the infant Jesus in his arms and said, "My eyes have seen Your salvation." The Lord's words to Zacchaeus show it too: "Today salvation has come to this house." He was there, and He was salvation. I advise young Christians to spell salvation "H.I.M." and not "I.T."
The salvation had not yet been accomplished. Simeon's confidence rested on the One who would accomplish it, and the weakness of the infant did not shake him:
Simeon knew, at last, that here was God's salvation. The work was not yet done, but here was the Worker of it. His faith did not fail as he considered the weakness of those infant hands that now held the task. Already his eyes had seen this salvation. It might come from Israel, but it could not be shut up in Israel. No, God had prepared it before the face of all the peoples.
Another writer weighs the exact wording:
The whole tone here is not what we may call formal. It was not that the work was done. But in Christ there was, in principle, "God's salvation" ... The Spirit might not yet say "God's righteousness," but He could say "God's salvation." It was the person of the Saviour, seen according to the prophetic Spirit, who would in due time make everything good as to God and man.
Many people saw that baby. Only Simeon saw salvation in Him, and the difference was not in his eyesight:
Only the anointed eye could discern who He was, the eye of faith. The angels voiced the gladness of heaven and proclaimed the greatness of that Babe. Yet His lowly birth and deep humility made no appeal to people — except to men like Simeon, who had the eye of faith. He was an old man, unknown and perhaps poor in the world, but rich in heaven's reckoning, and highly favoured of God ... The old saint had waited for a sight of God's Salvation until his natural eyes grew dim. At last he looks on Him and knows Him.
Simeon asks to go, and he asks it in peace. Where does that peace come from?
But he sees that in that baby there was One altogether above the law. In grace He might become subject to it, and His parents were, of course, right in paying every respect to its rules ... The law of Moses never could let a sinful man depart in peace — so to speak, it never ought. For peace to be real and righteous, it must come from the God who gave the law. He is present in grace, present as man in this world, and present to suffer for sins, the Just for the unjust. And so He was, for such was Jesus.
With salvation in his arms, Simeon had nothing left to wait for:
As soon as he held God's salvation, all his desires were satisfied. Every tie to earth fell away, and he was ready to depart in peace ... With the holy Child in his arms, Simeon stood at the centre of God's purposes. From there he looked on to the time when the Gentiles would come into the light, and when Christ would be the glory of His people Israel.
Before Simeon says a word about nations or about himself, he blesses God. That order matters:
God's sovereign work is in view in what He told Simeon, and God has in mind to bring us into the good of these things. Has knowing these things produced in us the same effect it produced in Simeon? When he took the Babe up in his arms he "blessed God". Could there be a greater evidence of reconciliation than a company marked by blessing God?
- Seen — Simeon's eyes saw a baby; his faith saw God's salvation. The sight was given, not achieved.
- Personal — What he saw was not a system but a Saviour. Spell salvation "HIM," not "IT."
- Early — The work was not yet done, but the Worker was there, and that was enough for faith.
- Peaceful — The law could never send a sinner away in peace; holding God's salvation, Simeon could go.
- Worship — Simeon's first act after receiving Christ was to bless God — the surest mark of a reconciled heart.
which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples;
Simeon, an old man in the temple, takes a baby into his arms and calls Him God's salvation — the salvation God has made ready in full view of all peoples. Two questions follow. How could Simeon see salvation years before the cross? And how far does "all peoples" reach?
Simeon is not holding a plan or a promise. He is holding the Saviour, and in Him he sees God's salvation.
No wonder that Simeon, whose eyes were opened by better sight than earth can give, could see God and His salvation in the baby. It was not imagination, but sober faith. "My eyes have seen your salvation." This was what kings and prophets had longed to see, and now Simeon saw it in the person of Jesus.
Simeon puts Israel and the nations together in one salvation. And the word "prepared" says who arranged it.
Notice that he makes both one in a salvation for all, prepared — ordered — before the face of all people. The glory, though, belongs to Israel as God's people.
Simeon's faith was not shaken by the weakness of what he held. And he saw how far this salvation had to reach.
Simeon knew, at last, that here was God's salvation. Even if the work was not yet done, here was the Worker of it. His faith did not fail as he looked at the weakness of those baby hands now trusted with it. Already his eyes had seen it: a salvation which, being what it is, might come from Israel but could not be shut up in Israel. God had prepared it before the face of all the peoples. Could it be anything less than world-wide in God's desire, with the same need on every side calling for it?
Simeon goes further than the angel did, and the difference sits in one word.
He went one step further than the angel. He saw that God had prepared His salvation before the face of "all peoples" — the word is plural this time. Jesus was not only to be the glory of Israel but also a light to lighten the Gentiles. It was revealed to him that grace was going to flow beyond the narrow borders of Israel.
Simeon lists the nations before Israel, and the older prophets do not. Commentators differ on what that reversal marks. One reads it as a picture of the present period, while Israel stands aside. He works from an older wording, "revelation of the Gentiles," not "to the Gentiles":
The reversed order here seems to me significant: "a light for revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel." First comes this exceptional period, in which God brings the Gentiles to light. The predicted and regular state of things will follow it. Still, once God has brought the Gentiles into light, He never puts them back into darkness.
Another reads the same two clauses as the coming reign of Christ over the whole earth:
Salvation, the deliverance of God, had come in Christ. It was for the revelation of the Gentiles, who until then lay hidden in the darkness of ignorance, with no revelation. And it was for the glory of Israel, the people of God. This is indeed the fruit of the government of God in Christ, that is to say, the millennium.
Simeon's song ends with what holding Christ did to Simeon himself.
The first fruit of possessing the Christ was to bless God. It was a holy, happy, grateful acknowledgment of His salvation now seen, and it gladdened the heart of God to have His Anointed welcomed. Simeon also declares marvellous things about the Child, the Gentiles, and His people, in that order. The effect on himself was a satisfied heart, a peaceful spirit, and readiness to depart out of the world — an experience that is ours also.
- Person — God's salvation is a Man before it is a work. The work was still ahead, but the Worker was already in Simeon's arms.
- Prepared — the word points back to God. He ordered and arranged this salvation Himself.
- Peoples — the plural is deliberate. This salvation may come out of Israel, but it cannot be shut up there. The same need calls from every side.
- Pattern — Simeon names the Gentiles before Israel, and the prophets did the reverse. Commentators differ: some see the present time, while Israel is blind; others see the coming reign of Christ.
- Peace — whoever receives this salvation gets what Simeon got: a satisfied heart, a quiet spirit, and no fear of leaving the world.
a light for revelation of [the] Gentiles and [the] glory of thy people Israel.
In the temple, Simeon holds a baby and describes the future of the whole world. He names light for the nations first and glory for Israel second, and commentators read our own age out of that order.
English versions word this line in different ways. One writer argues the common renderings miss the point: the nations themselves are what the light uncovers.
"A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel" (Luke 2:32). "A light for revelation to the Gentiles" in the Revised Version is no better; its margin note has it right. It should be "A light for revelation (or, unveiling) of the Gentiles." This means that Christ is a light for bringing Gentiles into divine view. That is happening now. He will be the glory of Israel later on.
Before Christ came, the nations outside Israel had no place in God's public dealings with the world.
Christ has been a light for the revelation of the Gentiles. Before that, they were so completely in the dark that in God's sight they were as if they did not exist. This was not about His judgment of the secrets of the heart, but about His government of the world.
He also names what that unveiling brought them.
This was the revelation of the Gentiles — their discovery in darkness by the Light that had come, and their admission to an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Christ.
Simeon names the nations before Israel. One writer reads the whole present age out of that order.
This is the time during which Israel is blinded, and the long hidden Gentiles come into view, brought out of the low state in which they had lain until now. But when God has finished His work among the Gentiles, the next words will come true: "and the glory of your people Israel." This verse is very important. It shows what would follow when Israel rejected the Messiah, and what comes before God brings them in later on. This is not the order we find in the prophets. There, wherever the Lord appears as the Glory of Israel, He also blesses the Gentiles in a place below the chosen people.
The same writer answers the question that raises: does Israel's future glory undo what the nations have received?
Once God has brought the Gentiles into light, He never puts them back into darkness. But this will not stop Him from bringing Israel to the highest place of earthly glory, above all the nations. So God's goodness to the Gentiles never passes away, and He will still keep His ancient and special promises to Israel.
One writer sets this line beside other Scriptures about how the present age ends.
This is prophetic. The Gentiles are put first. And so it has come to pass; after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, all Israel will be saved. See Isaiah 49:5-6; Romans 11:25-26.
Another writer follows the same line forward into the book of Acts.
When Mary took Him to the temple, Simeon, one of the faithful few in Israel and a servant of the Lord, rejoiced to see in Him God's "salvation," and "the glory of His people Israel." He also saw in Him "a Light for revelation of the Gentiles," so that they, brought out of their darkness and ignorance, might be revealed in God's marvellous light. This truth is not limited to the time when our Lord Jesus Christ was here on earth. When Paul preached the gospel he said, "Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles'" (Acts 13:47). The Light, like the gospel and the salvation of God, is sent out for all men everywhere.
One writer pictures Simeon beside Moses on the mountain, looking out at the land.
All his desires were satisfied. Every tie to earth was cut as soon as he had God's salvation, and he was ready to depart in peace. Moses once stood on Mount Pisgah and saw the land God had provided for His people. Simeon went further: with the holy Child in his arms, he stood at the centre of God's purposes. From there he looked forward to the time when the Gentiles would be brought into the light, and when Christ would be the glory of His people Israel.
- One Person, two effects. One Child is both — light for the nations, glory for Israel.
- Revelation means unveiling. Commentators prefer "revelation of the Gentiles." Nations once invisible in God's dealings now stand in view.
- Order matters. Simeon flips the prophets' order. Writers read that flip as a preview of this age: Israel set aside, the nations reached.
- Glory is future. Light is shining now; the glory of Israel waits — after the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.
- Held, then released. Simeon held God's salvation in his arms and was ready to go; that same salvation is sent out for all men everywhere.
And his father and mother wondered at the things which were said concerning him.
Simeon has just held the baby and called Him a light for the nations and the glory of Israel. Joseph and Mary are amazed. Luke notes their wonder before he records Simeon's warning. Two questions follow: what surprised them so much, and why does Luke call Joseph His father?
Even the two people closest to this child were amazed at Simeon's words. One writer sees no failure of faith in that, only the normal way people take truth in.
Joseph and the Child's mother were amazed at the things spoken about Him, and well they might be. Here we only know in part. Only little by little do we take in the truth we say we believe, and come into its power.
Simeon's song named the nations first and Israel second. For a Jewish listener, that order was a surprise.
He spoke of the child as a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, as well as the glory of God's people Israel (2:32). A Jew would have thought first of his own nation, God's people on earth. Old Simeon put the Gentiles first. The good news really would be preached to them alongside Israelites. In that way God would bring them out of the background where His dealings had kept them, and this would happen before the Jewish nation entered its final blessing.
Luke records how the parents felt. That fits the purpose of his account, which keeps the human side of the Lord's life in view.
"And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them."… Luke always brings out these touches of human affection and sorrow. This is part of his purpose, because he shows the Lord Jesus especially as a man. In keeping with that, he brings out the feelings of those closest to Him, such as His mother.
The verse calls Joseph His father. That title is not about how the child was conceived. It is about Joseph's place in law.
The angel of the Lord spoke to him as son of David: "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 1:20). In obedience to God's Word Joseph took her, "and" (the Holy Spirit carefully records) "knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus" (v. 25). Joseph was therefore rightly regarded as the legal father of Jesus. In every true sense the firstborn Son of Joseph's wife was legally his rightful Heir.
The old manuscripts differ here. Some read "his father," others read "Joseph."
Their amazement is not the end of the scene. Simeon turns to the mother with a warning.
Simeon does not see the bright side only. He does not imagine that God's message of salvation will be welcomed at once, just because men need it. While Joseph and Mary wonder at the things said about Him, he turns to the mother. He warns her what the light of God will reveal about the hearts of men… For the presence of Christ as light would bring everything to light.
The cross is already in view while the child is still an infant, yet the tone is not despair.
Simeon turns to the parents, for the Spirit of God in grace links Joseph with the mother, and he blesses them. But he also foretells that cross which would reveal many hearts, and the sword which would pierce her own. So, at His very birth, we see the shadow of the cross. It is not a shadow of gloom. It shows the unchanging purpose of love, which no difficulty can block and which even death cannot quench (33-35).
- Light. Simeon's words reach past Israel to the nations. He names the Gentiles first, before Israel's final blessing.
- Wonder. That reach amazed even the parents. We know only in part, and we take truth in step by step.
- Father. Joseph is His father in law, not in nature. The child was his rightful Heir, yet conceived by the Holy Spirit.
- Sword. Simeon answers their wonder with a warning: the light of Christ reveals men's hearts, and a sword will pierce Mary's own soul.
- Love. The shadow of the cross falls on the scene at His birth, yet it shows a purpose of love that nothing can stop — not even death.
And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother, Lo, this [child] is set for the fall and rising up of many in Israel, and for a sign spoken against;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
(and even a sword shall go through thine own soul;) so that [the] thoughts may be revealed from many hearts.
Simeon has been speaking over the Child in front of everyone. Now he turns to the mother alone, with a word about a sword in her soul and about hidden thoughts brought into the open.
Simeon's words came years before the events they describe. One writer sees kindness in that timing.
In tender grace God used His servant Simeon to prepare Mary for her Child's path of sorrow and rejection. Who can doubt that the sword pierced her own soul above all when she stood by the cross of Jesus and saw His sorrow? How merciful God's ways are! We come to our sorrows only step by step, and when they come we find them lit up with His love.
The sorrow named here is Mary's own, and its inclusion fits the character of this Gospel.
The words point to Mary's personal sorrow, since she was to be a witness of the crucifixion of her own Son. Luke always brings out these touches of human affection and sorrow. This is part of his special task, because he above all portrays the Lord Jesus as a man. In keeping with that, he brings out the feelings of those as close to Him as His mother.
At the cross the prediction came true. One writer sets Mary's grief beside a very different sword that fell on her Son in the same hour.
The hour had come when the words of the aged Simeon to Mary came true — "a sword will pierce through your own soul also." The sword of Jehovah, according to Zechariah, was about to awake against the true Shepherd of Israel. But a sword of another kind would also pierce the soul of His mother, and the Shepherd thought of that.
What became of her after that hour?
The Lord entrusted John with the care of Mary His mother, and from then on John gave her a home. Old Simeon's prediction came true. A sword did pierce through her soul, but the loving care of John must have soothed her and comforted her.
The word translated soul has a wide range in Scripture.
The word also covers conscious feeling and existence in general — the activity of the inner man — without saying where it comes from or what it is. In this way it applies even to God. So: "with all your heart and with all your soul"; "My soul is very sorrowful"; "a sword will pierce through your own soul also."
The verse ends with a purpose that reaches far beyond Mary. One writer traces what the coming of the Messiah brought about.
The full accomplishment of God's counsels towards Israel, and towards the world through Israel, brought joy of heart to the faithful who had trusted these promises. But at that moment it tested every heart, through a Messiah who was a sign spoken against. The counsels of God and the heart of man were both revealed in Him.
Rejection is the very thing that brings hidden thoughts to light.
As He would be spoken against and rejected, the thoughts of many hearts would come to light, as they came into contact with Him. In the presence of God every man must come out in his true character. So this feature about Christ was an unintended tribute to His deity.
The sharpest test is the place where the sword fell. There the revealing runs both ways.
The Cross of Christ is the test; it lays bare the thoughts of all hearts. But most of all it revealed His own thoughts, His deep feelings. We learn what they were from the seven words that came from His lips.
That testing did not stop at the cross.
The One who is the Saviour will also convict us of our sins, and so show us our need of the Saviour. His word will be like a sharp sword and a polished arrow. It pierces the conscience and reveals the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- Warned — Simeon's word came years early. Grace prepared Mary for a path of sorrow she could not yet understand.
- Pierced — the sword came at Calvary. Another sword fell on the Shepherd there, and He still found His mother a home.
- Human — Luke records her feelings. His Gospel presents Jesus as man, so it takes in the affections of those nearest to Him.
- Tested — the Child who brought that grief tests every heart. In His presence every man comes out in his true character.
- Revealed — the cross lays bare the thoughts of all hearts, and above all His own. His word still does that searching work.
And there was a prophetess, Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of [the] tribe of Asher, who was far advanced in years, having lived with [her] husband seven years from her virginity,
Right after Simeon, a second witness steps into the temple scene. Luke names her family, her tribe and the shape of her long life — and every detail carries weight.
Simeon has just given his witness. God does not leave the moment resting on one man's word.
But God brings in another witness besides Simeon — Anna the prophetess — so that two or three witnesses may establish every word.
The two witnesses do not do the same thing.
Simeon and Anna were old ones, passing away when Christ comes in… Simeon rests in what Christ is; Anna tells others about Him.
How did a woman use such a gift? What Luke records her doing gives the answer.
But is a public congregation the only place to speak out the praises, the mercies, and the wonderful works of God? Luke 2:36 tells us that the aged Anna was a "prophetess." Her prophesying was serving God with prayer and fasting, giving thanks, and speaking of the infant Saviour — whom she had seen with her own eyes in the temple — to all who were waiting for redemption.
Her appearance is also treated as a sign of something reviving in Israel after long silence.
So the good news must flow from one to another, and God takes care that Anna the prophetess should come in; for here we have the revival, not only of angel visits, but of the prophetic Spirit in Israel.
Luke names her father and her tribe. The meanings of those names sketch a portrait of the woman herself.
She is a true child of Asher, which means "happy," and of Phanuel, which means "the face of God." Her own name, Anna, means "grace," and it marks out the principle of a life like hers, where fasting and prayer are simply love's service, and her prophesying flows out of her fellowship with God. What a blessed picture!
We would expect a witness in the temple to come from Judah or Benjamin. Anna comes from one of the other ten tribes.
It is a little surprising that the tribe of Asher is mentioned here. We would normally have expected Judah and Benjamin. Clearly Anna represented the ten tribes. Perhaps there is a prophetic touch in that, pointing to the future day when all twelve tribes will be fully reconciled to God.
Moses had given Asher's tribe its own blessing. Her life shows that promise still holding, long after the nation collapsed.
The blessing of Asher in Deuteronomy 33:24-25 ends with these lovely words: "As your days, so shall your strength be." But all went to ruin, as the history of Israel unfolds. Yet at the first coming of Christ… we find one of that same tribe… still enjoying the power of that blessing given through Moses. And the Lord Christ Himself was identified with that obscure remnant. She was one of them — a remnant ready to receive Him when He first came.
Her marriage lasted seven years. She spent the rest of her long life as a widow, and that widowhood matched the state of the nation she prayed for.
Commentators differ on her exact age. Reading verses 36–37 together, one puts her past a hundred:
As the Revised Version shows, she must have been at least 105 years of age.
Leslie Grant reckons similarly — married at sixteen would make her about 107 — and adds that her steady devotion to the Lord "had not wearied with age."
- Grace — her name means grace, her father's name means "the face of God," and her tribe's name means "happy"; the meanings match the life Luke describes.
- Widowed — seven years a wife, then decades alone, praying with a widowed heart for a nation that had lost its husband.
- Waiting — she belonged to the obscure remnant who were ready to receive Christ when He first came.
- Witness — God supplies a second mouth beside Simeon, so the testimony to the child stands established.
- Reach — Simeon rests in who Christ is; Anna goes and speaks of Him to everyone else who was waiting.
and herself a widow up to eighty-four years; who did not depart from the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers;
Anna appears for only three verses, yet Luke records her age, her long widowhood, and the shape of her days. Commentators see her as one of a faithful few left in Israel, and ask what kept an old woman praying in the temple for decades.
Her widowhood shapes her praying. One writer sees her praying as a widow for a nation in the same condition.
Anna was a holy widow. She never left the temple, and she felt the misery of Israel keenly. With a widowed heart she had pleaded again and again at the throne of God for a people to whom God was no longer a husband. They were truly widowed, like herself. Now she tells everyone who talked these things over together that the Lord had visited His temple.
One writer lists the marks of what Scripture calls a "widow indeed", and finds each one lived out in Luke's Gospel.
Scripture gives three marks of the "widow indeed." She is "desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day." It is remarkable that three widows in Luke's Gospel answer exactly to this description. The widow of Nain, whose only son was being carried out for burial when the Lord met her, was truly the desolate one. The poor widow who put her two small coins into the treasury, and out of her poverty gave all she had to live on, surely trusted in God. And in Anna we find the last characteristic.
Her steady presence there is more striking once you know the state of things around her.
In her time there were dark days in Israel. For four centuries no prophet had come among them with a burning message to revive their hopes. There was no visible glory of God's presence in the temple. Things were indeed at a low ebb.
One writer asks whether one promise held her there: that the Lord would come to His temple.
Her interests were wholly taken up with the things of God. She refused present things. She showed her constant dependence and confidence in God by her prayers night and day. Had she been fixing her thoughts on Malachi 3:1? "The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple." If so, she was not disappointed.
One writer contrasts her long service with how the world counts a working life.
Fifty-five is the retiring age for Government officials who work under the burning skies of India; sixty for officials in this country. But there is no age limit for devotedness, and devotedness is the crying need of these days.
Anna belonged to a small circle who had no standing in Jerusalem's religious life.
This is the lovely picture the Holy Spirit draws with an unerring pencil. It is a picture of a few in Jerusalem, in a time of decay and spiritual death, who "feared the LORD," "spoke with one another," and "esteemed His name." Outside of the activities of the day, and unknown to those in power and influence, they were known by the Lord, and by one another. This was enough for their souls.
One writer notes their obedience to the law, and explains why news of Christ reached this small circle first.
Luke carefully notes how these godly people in Israel kept to the ordinances, submitting to God according to the law. Then, as always, there was a remnant chosen by grace. God took care that the testimony reached those whose hearts were prepared for Jesus. In due time grace would go out to the very worst of people. But God first makes Him known to those whose hearts were already touched, waiting for Jesus.
Her hidden hours produced something visible: she knew God's mind, and then she spoke.
Her constant fasting and prayer brought her into communion with the mind of God as she waited for the Messiah to come. So God led her into the temple at the very moment when the infant Jesus was presented to the Lord. Her heart filled with joy, and her lips with praise... Morally we stand where that little group in Jerusalem stood. Like them, we are waiting for our Lord. Meanwhile God calls those who are truly widows to give themselves to fasting and prayer. In that way they hold up the whole Church by their prayers, and rekindle in many hearts the blessed hope of the Lord's return.
- Widowed — Her loss became her qualification. Desolate, trusting God, praying night and day — she matches the widow God honours.
- Waiting — Four silent centuries. No prophet, no glory in the temple. Still she stayed, holding the promise that the Lord would come to His temple.
- Worshipping — She prayed with a widowed heart for a widowed people — a nation God no longer owned as a husband.
- Witnessing — Unknown to those in power, she was known to God and to a few like her. She learned His mind, and came in at the exact hour.
- Wanted — There is no retirement age for devotedness. The same hidden work of fasting and prayer still holds up God's people and rekindles the hope of the Lord's return.
and she coming up the same hour gave praise to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who waited for redemption in Jerusalem.
Anna arrives just as Simeon finishes blessing the child, and she turns two ways at once: up in thanks to God, and out in words to other people. Her hearers were a small, hidden group in Jerusalem who were still waiting for God to act.
Anna came up "at that very hour." One writer sees God's hand in that timing, and notes who God told first.
The present guidance of God is just as clear in her case as in Simeon's. There was then, as always, a remnant chosen by grace. God took care that the testimony reached those whose hearts were prepared for Jesus. Grace might go out to the very worst, and in due time it would. But God first of all makes Him known to those whose hearts were already touched, waiting for Jesus.
Anna does two things, and the order matters. Her thanks go to God before her words go to people.
Before Mary and Joseph left the temple, Anna came up. Like Simeon, she was at once taken up with the child. She gave thanks first to God, and then spoke of Him to all those who looked for the redemption of Jerusalem. God provided the right person to spread the news among His waiting people: Israel's King, David's Lord, was here on earth.
The word "redemption" here carries a national hope. Some older versions read "redemption in Jerusalem"; one writer notes that newer texts read "of Jerusalem," and links the word to Isaiah 40:2:
"Redemption," compare Isaiah 40:2. Note that the text followed by the revisers reads "of Jerusalem," that is, deliverance by the Messiah.
Those waiting for it were not strangers to each other. Another writer ties them back to the prophet Malachi, and reads Anna's widowhood into what she prayed for.
Malachi had said that in the evil days, when people called the proud happy, those who feared the Lord should often speak together. That time had arrived in Israel... We see that they knew each other, in this lovely picture of God's hidden people... Anna was a holy widow. She did not leave the temple, and she felt the misery of Israel deeply. With a widowed heart she had pressed the throne of God for a people to whom God was no longer a husband — a people truly widowed like herself. Now she makes known to all who thought about these things together that the Lord had visited His temple. They had looked for redemption in Jerusalem; and now the Redeemer — unknown to men — was there.
Luke does not record a single sentence of what Anna said. He records only her theme.
It was the same with Anna. She did not leave the temple, and her one thought was "Him." She "spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem." In the Old Testament remnant I was speaking of, "they feared the Lord, and spoke often one to another." In the same way, her one thought and her one topic of conversation — the thing that filled her — was "Him." She "spoke of Him" to all those who shared her hope, her expectation and her affection.
Anna is old and long widowed, yet she bursts into thanks. One writer sets her beside the other aged believers in this account.
The widowed Anna joins in this praise. It is most touching to see these aged ones — the parents of John, Simeon and Anna. The fires of nature are all put out and their earthly hopes are all gone, yet they break out into joy. The fountain of perpetual youth has sprung up in their hearts, and it is flowing out even now.
One writer turns her example on us today.
And they knew each other, for Anna "spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem." Just as we ought to be doing in another way.
- Waiting. Anna and others in Jerusalem were waiting for deliverance by the Messiah — the "redemption" of Isaiah 40:2. They were hidden people in a proud city.
- Timing. She arrived at that very hour. God guided her, and He makes Christ known first to hearts already prepared for Him.
- Thanks. Her first move was upward — thanks to God — before she said a word to anyone else.
- Speech. Her one subject was "Him." She carried the news to everyone who shared her hope, just as Malachi said the faithful would speak often to one another.
- Company. They knew each other, and their speaking of Christ to one another is a pattern for us today.