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Righteous Simeon
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Luk 2:25
In previous snippets, two attributes of Simeon that characterised his wait for our Lord were considered. In this snippet, we explore the next one, his righteous character.
Attribute 3: Righteous
No one is born righteous (Rom 3:10) but anyone can be made righteous (Rom 5:19) by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour (1 Ti 1:15). This is exactly how Simeon became righteous – he faithfully accepted that the world (and he personally!) needed God to save him (Isa 53:6, Luk 2:26, 30). This is the only way any of us can be made righteous (Joh 3:16, 14:6, 1 Ti 2:5-6).
A remarkable thing happens when we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour – as well as being made righteous we are granted the ability (through the power of the Holy Spirit) to live righteously. Zechariah and Elizabeth, like Simeon, were also declared righteous. From their example we learn to live righteously means to walk “blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord” (Luk 1:5-6). Simeon’s seven attributes show us that this is precisely what he did.
In summary, each of us who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our saviour has been made righteous and granted the ability to live righteously. (1 Jo 3:7, Eph 4:24, 1 Co 10:31).
Righteousness to the believer,
Freely given, comes from heaven,
God himself the giver. [Hart]
Simeon’s seven attributes
- Meet with like-minded people (Heb 10:25) because God will be found among them (Mat 18:20)
- Listen and be a doer of God’s word (Jam 1:25)
- Righteous, and lived accordingly (1 Jo 3:7)
- Devout 1 Cor 10:31
- Waited Faithfully (1 Th 1:10)
- Lived in the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30)
- Led by the Holy spirit (Rom 8:14)
Simeon, our Lord and the temple
And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for 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.” And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Luk 2:22-35
