THE PRIESTLY PRESENTATION OF CHRIST AS SET FORTH IN SIMEON
[p. 448] THE PRIESTLY PRESENTATION OF CHRIST AS SET FORTH IN SIMEON
I want to show from this passage how the priestly state marks, and should always mark, the presentation of Christ, taking up Simeon as one in whom that state is seen. I want also to draw attention to the peculiar and holy emotions that marked, according to this gospel, the introduction of the Lord Jesus Christ into this world. The Spirit of God brings forward in this narrative certain instances of men and women in whom such emotions were evident, and I shall dwell on these for a moment before coming to Simeon.
It is always well in presenting the testimony of God to go back to the beginning and test everything by the beginning, for the end is to be in keeping with the beginning according to God. It ought to be an exercise with every one who has opportunity of presenting Christ in testimony to do so in a priestly way, and yet withal, in the energy of the Levite. The priest ensures holiness of thought and accuracy and skill, the Levite ensures energy; the Levite, as you will remember; was to serve in the strength of manhood. His service was rendered between the ages of thirty and fifty; old age disqualified for the work. “And from the age of fifty years they ... shall serve no more”. (Numbers 8:25); but there were no limitations of that nature with the priest. The Levite was to serve in the energy of manhood, and so one would endeavour, and one should endeavour, to combine the priest with the Levite in the presentation of the gospel.
Apollos is an example of this; he suggests to us the energy of a Levite; we read “He mightily convinced the Jews” (Acts 18:28) but then he had to be instructed as to how to do things, “whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto [p. 449] them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly”, (Acts 18:26). He would henceforth know not only the power of levitical work, but the skill and holiness of priestly service; in other words, he would know how to come in and water what Paul had planted. He would know by priestly intelligence that it was not new seed that was needed in that garden, but watering; the seed was already there, hence the priest knows what to bring in; he knows the need of his congregation. Paul had planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase; both services were owned; we may reckon on that still, but how important to be priestly, and, as I said, to go back to the beginning even although we may be at the end, and test everything by the beginning.
I wish now to dwell upon what I have already referred to, the spiritual and holy emotions that marked the introduction of Christ into this world. We should continue on that line and be moved in our presentation of Christ, whether we are formally preaching or otherwise. I call attention to the instances of this in Luke’s gospel. In chapter 1 we get Elizabeth, and then Mary the mother of Jesus, and finally Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist; and in chapter 2 we get the angel of the Lord coming to the shepherds in the field by night, and then the multitude of angels of the heavenly host. In each instance there were deep emotions with regard to Christ. In no case is it a matter of presenting doctrine, but of movement in the light of the introduction of Christ in manhood.
We read that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; even the babe, before it was born, leaped at the accents of the voice of the mother. “As soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy”. Think of that; an unborn babe moved by the accents of the voice of the mother [p. 450] of the Lord; and then the mother herself is filled with the Holy Spirit. She was now truly a daughter of Aaron, for Elizabeth being filled with the Holy Spirit “spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb”. Then Mary following upon that, for she was with Elizabeth in her seclusion, says, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour”, (Luke 2:46,47). I cite these as illustrative of the soul movement in these holy women in relation to the birth of Jesus, the coming of Christ into this world. In the case of Zacharias, the father of John, he was dumb for a season on account of his unbelief but when the child was born, he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, “His name is John”, and his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spake and praised God, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. He not only spoke from the emotions of his heart, but he conveyed divine thoughts prophetically which all centred in this blessed One who was coming in.
In Luke 2 when the Babe is actually born in Bethlehem, attention is called to shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night, while others slept. We read, “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them”; he was a messenger of peace, such as one would desire to be. They were terrified, but he said, “Fear not”. How that spirit of “Fear not” is breathed in Luke. There is no need of any terror in man’s heart now, for God is approaching man in a Man, yea, in a Babe; “Fear not”. Is there any one here tonight who does not know the Lord, and who on account of a certain dread as regards God is hindered in his faith? The word to you is “Fear not”. If you are going into the world, you have good reason to fear. God is to be feared, but as approaching [p. 451] you in grace, He would allay every fear that would come into your heart. “I bring you good tidings of great joy”, the angel said. Think of that! “I bring you”; and then it adds, “which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord”. What a message!
We can say much more than that today; not only has a Saviour been born, but He has died and risen again. He has witnessed here for God, He has brought God in, brought Him near to men; He went about in manhood doing good, for God was with Him; he relieved all who came in His way. The gospel announces this, as the apostle says, “How that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that be rose again the third day according to the Scriptures”. (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). That is what the evangelists can tell now, but the angel told all that it was possible to tell then. “The glory of the Lord shone round about them” as the message was announced, as if God would shine out in the light of the message, One being here in whom all His thoughts and love would be disclosed, and who would know perfectly how to express Him to men. One would love to set that forth so that souls should understand God.
The shepherds were illuminated by the light of the glory of God. One was here who could bring God near to man, and make Him known to men’s souls. There could be nothing in the world greater than that God should be known in a man’s heart, and God now had a Person here capable of bringing the knowledge of Himself into the heart of man, “The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”. What glory for God! “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts”, (2 Corinthians 4:6). All is in the countenance of Jesus Christ. As the psalmist says “[p. 452] I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance”, (Psalm 42:5). All that God is is there to be made known to those in whose hearts God had caused the light to shine.
But to return to the narrative in Luke. The angel made known that the One born was none less than Christ the Lord, not that He should be that, but that He is Christ the Lord. It is well to take account of the way Scripture speaks. Then it says, “suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host”. I think it is peculiar to Luke that heaven should come into evidence. Heaven was all astir in the light of this wonderful occurrence that the Son had become Man, and that He was there in the manger, and so these heavenly intelligences were moved. Let us dwell on that for a moment, for one feels the hardness and deadness and coldness that mark oneself, as well as others, in regard of Christ and Christianity, whereas this scripture brings before us the emotions of hearts. The heavenly host was saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”. They were occupied with the great event, and were moved, and the outcome of their emotions was that they praised God and said, “Glory to God in the highest”. What a portion it was for God! Already, before the Child grew, God was reaping His harvest, and reaping it as He was approaching men by causing emotions in this one and in that one in regard of what was happening.
Now God looks for that in us as Christians; He looks for this kind of result in connection with the presentation of Christ here, and in connection with His testimony, He looks for a movement, for a stir, in the hearts of those who are professedly interested. Paul was a “sweet savour of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:15) unto God in his service. I believe his heart was always moved. It is affecting to sit down, as it were, and listen to [p. 453] him as he spoke before Agrippa. He refers on that occasion a second time to his conversion; he had already referred to it at Jerusalem in addressing the Jews, now he refers to it again, and he speaks of the light from heaven which he saw. It was not only a “great light”, but a “light above the brightness of the sun”. His heart is astir as he says, “At midday, O king”. His heart is so filled with the magnitude of his vision that he ejaculates “O king” as if he would say, ‘You should have it, it should be in your heart too’. So he says, “King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest”. Then said Agrippa, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian”, and Paul replies, “I would to God that not only thou, but all that hear me this day were both almost, and altogether such as I am except these bonds”. (Acts 26) He desired, not simply that they should believe what he was saying, but that they should be as he was, except his bonds. Paul was triumphant at that moment. He was greater in his soul, far greater than any of his judges. His only desire was that souls should be moved in the light of the glory of Christ. Such was Paul; he was a true priest, and more, he was a worshipper, for his heart was filled with the magnitude of what was before him.
So with the multitude of the heavenly host, they said, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good pleasure in men”. They have in their mind what God has in His mind, and they looked on to the time when peace would be established on the earth. All was there in “the babe lying in a manger”, it only awaited development, Christ would bring about a state of peace on earth, for He is Prince of Peace. He is not a war lord, though He is a “Man of war” if war is to be waged, and war will be waged, but characteristically He is Prince of Peace. He is essentially set for peace, whether in your soul, or [p. 454] in heaven or on earth; He brings peace to the human heart. In the assembly He said to them “Peace be unto you”, and He will yet bring peace to Israel and to the nations; there will be peace in heaven, indeed it begins there, for in dealing with evil the Lord dislodges it from thence. He says, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven”. (Luke 10:18). He will be hurled with rapidity from heaven; Christ will bring that about and all with a view to peace, for there can be no peace in heaven while Satan is there, nor on earth while the devil is there, nor peace in my heart while any unjudged flesh is there on which he can act.
The Lord can bring peace into human hearts now as He will bring it in universally on earth by-and-by. So the angels celebrated peace, and not only that, but good pleasure in men. The Lord Jesus in becoming Man had a harvest of men in view and the angels discerned that as in the mind of God. Doubtless the immediate thought of the passage is men in contrast to angels, but it is men, not babes. God’s “good pleasure” is not quite connected with what is immature, but with men. The Lord speaks in John 17:6 of “the men that thou hast given me”. We do not exactly afford “good pleasure” to God as babes, even though babes in Christ.
One can thank God for every babe in Christ. If you are a babe, you are a believer and have access to God; if you can only bring, according to the type, a handful of meal, you are accepted; the least bit of faith in a child’s heart is acceptable to God. It is faith in Christ, and the meal speaks of Christ in some sense, but a babe is not a man. You have a representative in heaven true enough, but you cannot take care of yourself, you have to be cared for. You say, ‘That is a remarkable thing to say’, but it is well to bear in mind that God looks on to your having a certain means of keeping yourself. None can do [p. 455] this absolutely, but a man can discriminate, he can avoid danger, while a babe rushes into things without any thought and is damaged. The Corinthians were babes in Christ. The apostle says, “I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual”. (1 Corinthians 3:1). To be spiritual is to be a man in divine things. Wisdom has men before it, and so the angels here spoke of good pleasure in men, fully developed men, not babes. I wonder if it is so with us? The apostle says, “in malice be ye children” (1 Corinthians 14:20); that is if there is a tendency to malice or envy, think how a babe would act toward another babe, but “in your understanding be men”. God is to dwell with men, not with babes. There may be need for a nursery now, but not then. His pleasure is with men, with those who can intelligently reciprocate His love. That is the idea of men: the good pleasure is in men.
But I must hasten on to Simeon, and I want to point out how he is marked off. It says it was revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, as if to emphasise the fact that he was essentially a priest; that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. It was not simply that he had arrived at this fact by the Scriptures, but it was revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit. Simeon was a just man and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. That is the kind of man the evangelist Luke presents.
No doubt each evangelist presents a type of man at the beginning of his gospel, suggesting what is in the mind of God in the gospel. John the baptist is the typical man in John’s gospel. He is introduced as a “man sent from God” (John 1:6), whereas Luke brings forward a man of whom it is said, the Holy Spirit was upon him. Witness must be by the Holy Spirit. So the writer of this gospel makes a great deal of the Holy Spirit. I ask myself, Am I marked by the Holy Spirit? Am I occupied simply with the past, with [p. 456] what others have ministered, or am I enjoying what the Holy Spirit is saying and doing now? Am I in it? I think Luke would suggest that, he would suggest the importance of the Holy Spirit and of the anointing, hence you have all these different persons marked by the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and the same is said of Zacharias and of Simeon, the Holy Spirit was upon him. Let us be assured of this. We can rely upon the Holy Spirit only for testimony; it is a question of continuing [p. 457] in the energy of the Spirit of God. If one is in the recognition of the Spirit one does not grow old, one’s spirit maintains a freshness and a vigour that always suggest God to men.
It is said of those that be planted in the house of the Lord, that they shall still bring forth fruit in old age. The house is where the Spirit of God is active, and those planted there, whose roots are there, shall flourish; so that, in that way, one would never cease to be a Levite. Energy would be unabated, like Moses, of whom it is written when he was one hundred and twenty years old, that “his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated”. (Deuteronomy 34:7). That is the man. I think that is the fruit of the Spirit; it is the result of the recognition of the Spirit.
Simeon, although he was an old man, took the child Jesus up in his arms; he held the Child in priestly fashion, as it were; it was not a matter of strength, but of affection. It is said that he came by the Spirit into the temple, and he took the Babe up in his arms. How beautiful! One would love to be in that attitude in presenting Christ. It involves a measure of levitical energy, but more especially the priestly state. When it says that he came by the Spirit into the temple, it shows that it was not by his own energy or by his own wisdom he did so. All that is written is written for a purpose; in this case to show, I believe, how at the beginning it was in the energy of the Spirit of God. Simeon is satisfied; He says, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel”, (Luke 2:29 - 32). It is as if he said, Lord, there is One here now who can undertake for thee.
One would not like to be removed unless one saw that God’s things would be taken care of. No priest of God could be otherwise minded. Paul said, Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to abide is more needful for you, and I know that I shall abide. The Lord can detain some, and He can raise up others, but Christ sees to everything, so Simeon says, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart ... for mine eyes have seen thy salvation”. What a picture is this! but he does not stop there, he goes on and announces what Christ should be. “Thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel”. That is what Christ is. The word lighten is apocalypse or unveiling; that is, this light should not only shine down like the sun, it is not the thought of enlightening them, but the bringing the Gentiles under God’s eye. It would take some time to show how that happens, but if Christ comes to your side as Man, He brings you in before God. He brings you to God’s attention, for He is the Son of man, and He is here in relation to men, and so He brings the Gentiles in before God. That is what the light does, “A light for revelation of the Gentiles”. He has brought all the Gentiles in before God, in order that they might be saved. Paul speaks of himself as being “the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable,
being sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15: 16).
When Peter used the key to open the door to the Gentiles, God acted while Peter was yet speaking to Cornelius and his company, and the Holy Spirit fell on all them who were listening to him; God took account of what was in their hearts. He gave them the Spirit, but He gave them the Spirit in view of what was in their hearts. God looks into your heart, it is a question of what is going on there, and He acts for you in that relation. Christ is a light for the revelation of the Gentiles. Simeon makes the two announcements; “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel”. They are the outgoings of his heart to God, and then he blesses Mary and Joseph and says to Mary, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against”, (Luke 2:34). I desire to bring that in, for I think there is a principle in it. He is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel. I apprehend the passage to mean that if one is brought down that one is to be raised up. There must be a going down if the Lord is to raise one up. One must humble oneself before God in the light of this grace. Nothing humbles like it, for it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance. The light of this Man coming in as He did is what moves one to humble oneself before God. “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11).
Then Simeon says to Mary, “Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35). What a word for a mother! How blasting to every natural hope! There is nothing to be built up on the Child in relation to nature. Surely one has to take that home, especially if one has any natural hopes in regard to Christ. How many take up Christianity in that way as an adjunct, as an aid in this world. It is not intended to [p. 459] aid men in this world; the thought is to bring us down, to make nothing of us here, but to raise us up and set us among princes spiritually; so that any natural hopes that one may cherish in regard of Christ are blasted by this word. There is nothing for nature but a sword. Hannah learnt the divine way; as she says, “He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up”. (1 Samuel 2:6).
Then further, Simeon says, “that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed”; and how many hearts were revealed, beginning with the heart of Christ, and then as the narrative of the Spirit opens out, we get the heart of Herod, of Pilate, of the soldiers, the priests, the disciples and the heart of the blessed God Himself, for one may say reverently His heart was revealed as no other was but the secrets of humanity were all brought out too. Nothing is hidden, for God shall judge the secrets of men; they will all be brought to light, but if there is anything for God in the heart, Christ brings that out too. If there is any one here who has not yet believed on Christ, but who nevertheless bears evidence of a work of God, I would like to say, God takes account of it. The thoughts of your heart may be somewhat mingled and confused, but nevertheless you have thoughts Christward and Godward, and God takes account of these and the saints take account of them, too, knowing that one day they will develop and you will become a believer.
May God grant that in the light of the Man set before us here, we may all be transparent! It is well that we should face this now, as everything will come into the light one day, but coming into contact with Christ now brings about a state of transparency. Paul speaks of it, he wished to be manifest in the consciences of the saints, and in Revelation attention is called to the sea of glass, referring to that transparency which marks the people of God.