25 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. 26 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. 27 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, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 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 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:25-38
There isn’t much scripture devoted to the lives of Simeon and Anna. Simeon is described as righteous and devout, waiting for the Savior’s appearance, and that the Holy Spirit was upon him. He had been promised that he would see the Messiah before his earthly life was over. Anna is described as a prophetess of the tribe of Asher, widowed until she was 84, and did not depart from the temple, worshipping night and day.
Simeon and Anna were nearing the end of their lives. Both had spent their lives in love of and service to the Lord. They were each described in ways that seem to indicate they had close relationships with God. But we are left relatively in the dark over much of their life stories. Did they ever, in their decades of serving, wonder what God was up to? Wonder when his promise of a Messiah would be fulfilled? Did they ever grow weary of waiting? We don’t know about the years in between. The moments leading up to their meeting the Christ child probably seemed just as everyday… as every other day.
As I began my study of Simeon and Anna, I was working through a Bible study that included a study of the intertestamental time. In case you’re unfamiliar, the intertestamental time is the 400 years between the end of the prophets’ warnings of the Old Testament and Jesus’ birth in the New. It is sometimes called “the silent years”—a time seemingly without purpose, action, movement.
But God was actually very much at work behind the scenes during this time. As the intertestamental period began, the Israelites were scattered and in exile, synagogues spread all throughout Asia Minor. It would be the creation of over 50,000 miles of roads and the spread of a common language, Greek, during this period—events that from a glance seem irrelevant to God’s plans—that would in reality be the work that would allow Peter, Paul, and other missionaries of the early Church to spread the Gospel.
Like the intertestamental years, at a glance, Simeon and Anna’s in-between years could be viewed as unimportant, without purpose or movement. But like the intertestamental years proved critical to the spread of the Gospel, I believe those long years of serving and worship were critical years to building both Simeon and Anna’s faith.
While we don’t get to see their “silent years”, we do get to see a pinnacle moment of their faith. Finally, that moment arrives when they each lay eyes on the promised and long-awaited Savior, and they are filled with praise. Their brief meetings with the young Messiah point us to a time of waiting fulfilled. It may not have been easy in the waiting, but this is their moment to celebrate. To hope. To praise.
Maybe you enter this Advent in a waiting season of your own. What will you do after school? Is there a new job or a much desired marriage or child in your future? How much longer before God shows us our new church home? Maybe life feels hard, or it could just be stagnant. You wonder what God is up to. I won’t discount the challenge and hard of silent times. But may we follow the lead of Simeon and Anna. May we serve faithfully and deepen our relationships with God. Trust that God is at work, though we may not know how it will all unfold. Take this moment, this day to remember, no matter what else is going on, even in whatever else is going on, our Messiah has come. Our Savior came here. He is Immanuel, God with us in the Now, and he is with us in the Yet to Come.