Christian Reflection and Prayer

"Seeing It With My Own Eyes"

Advent Devotions

Read Luke 2:29-32.
My eyes have seen Your salvation. Luke 2:30

Today is the fourth day of Christmas and my wise men are making
solid progress on their way to the manger scene. But today we are
looking at Simeon, who held little Jesus in his arms at the same
time the wise men were traveling toward the land of Israel.

Mary must have been amazed at the things God revealed to her
about Jesus through friends and total strangers. First, her cousin
Elizabeth told her she was pregnant with God's Son before Mary
had the chance to say a word about it (Luke 1:39-45). Then, Joseph
told her about the angel in his dream who said he should not be
afraid to take her as his wife because the child was God's Son
(Matthew 1:18-25). And, of course, there were the shepherdswho
rushed in that first Christmas night to tell of the angel's message.

And here through another total stranger God reveals to Mary the
scope of her Son's work. Simeon said, "My eyes have seen Your
salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a
light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to Your people
Israel" (Luke 2:30-32). Mary knew Jesus would reign over the throne
of His father David and save Israel. But now she learned Jesus
would save not only Israel, He would be the Savior for all nations.

Jesus came as a light for those who live in the darkness of sin,
unbelief, and ignorance. He came for those who do not know that
God the Creator is perfect, and He demands perfection of His
creatures. He came for those who do not know God is merciful. He
came for those-Jew and Gentile alike-because He is love. In fact,
He loved this fallen world so much that He gave His one and only
Son to take all mankind's sins upon Himself and win eternal
salvation for all of us by His suffering, death, and resurrection.

For those of us who do know God's Word, Jesus brings glory to
God through the great salvation He has won. And in our lives He
brings glory by clothing us in His own righteousness and leading
us to do good works that glorify God.

Like Simeon, our eyes have seen God's salvation. That is why
Simeon's song has been sung for centuries in the Church after
receiving Holy Communion. When we receive the bread and wine
we are holding Christ's very body and blood, which was nailed to
the cross and poured out for our forgiveness. We have seen it with
our own eyes and felt it with our hands and on our tongues. No less
than Simeon we can say, "My eyes have seen Your salvation."
Having been saved, we glorify God and depart in peace to share
Christ's salvation throughout the world.

THE PRAYER:

 Lord God, I praise You for revealing Your salvation to me-Your Son
Jesus Christ. As He has brought light to my darkened mind, let me
share His name to all those You bring into my life, that they may see
His light and praise You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)

Scripture:

The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found
favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and
bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.'
Luke 1:30-31

Voice

To be a Christian is to live dangerously, honestly, freely - to step
in the name of love as if you may land on nothing, yet to keep on
stepping because the something that sustains you no empire
can give you and no empire can take away.
Cornel West

Prayer

God, like Mary, we are afraid. Give us that courage that no empire
can give us and no empire can take away. Amen.

Advent Devotions

Read Luke 2:25-28.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see
death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Luke 2:26

My wise men are making progress along their way. Since yesterday,
they have moved a little closer to the manger scene. But there are
two other people who really should be included in our Nativity scene.
In fact they saw the infant Jesus before the wise men did. These
faithful Jews were in the temple on the 40th day after Jesus' birth
when Mary and Joseph brought Him up to the temple to present Him
to the Lord.

The first is a man named Simeon. Luke describes Simeon as
"righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the
Holy Spirit was upon him" (Luke 2:25b). It's not that Simeon was
perfect, he was a sinner like all of us and needed the Son of God
to save him. But since he trusted God's promise to send a Savior,
the consolation of Israel, and since the Holy Spirit was upon him,
we know Simeon was a believer. His faith in Jesus made him
righteous and devout.

And Simeon had received a special promise from the Holy Spirit.
For generation after generation God's faithful people had been
waiting for the coming of the Savior. This was a promise given
clear back in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve. Each
generation wondered if He would come during their lifetime, but
countless generations had come and gone without seeing the
promised Savior. But Simeon knows how close that coming
finally is. In fact, during his lifetime, before he departs from this
earth to rest with God in heaven, he will see the promised One-
the Lord's Christ. And this is the day, the 40th day of Jesus' life,
when God kept His promise.

You and I have that special honor too, like Simeon. Today we
look at Jesus through the eyes of faith. We know that He has
come and has saved all of us from sin, death, and the devil by
His perfect life, and His innocent suffering, death, and
resurrection. We also know He will return again, but we don't
know if that will happen in our lifetime or not. But one thing is
certain, whether we depart from this world or Christ Jesus
returns first, we will see Jesus with our own eyes, face to face-
just as Simeon did. In the meantime, filled with the Holy Spirit,
let us go up to the house of the Lord to worship every week,
and joyously look forward to the day when we too will see
Christ Jesus with our own eyes.

THE PRAYER:

 Lord God, thank You for Your promise that I will see Jesus
when I depart from this world. Strengthen my faith through
Your holy Word, Baptism, and Holy Communion that I may
live in peace and share the Good News of Jesus' salvation
with everyone You bring into my life. Grant me the courage to
do this ununtil that great day when You let me depart in peace.
In Jesus' Name. I pray. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)