Christmas, Then and NowShembull

# The Joy Many of us will have experienced what it feels like to have waited for something for so long that you can hardly believe it when it finally happens. That’s how it was for two people who are often overlooked in the Christmas story, yet who played a really important role. As one who would fully keep the Jewish law throughout his life, it was important that Jesus was circumcised when He was eight days old and that He was taken to the Temple, as Mary and Joseph’s first-born, to be dedicated to the Lord on the 40th day. It was there that they met Simeon, a godly man who had been waiting for the coming of the Messiah for a lifetime and who, that very day, had been prompted by the Holy Spirit to go to the Temple. As soon as he saw Jesus, he knew this was the One that he had been waiting for! The One that God had promised would not only bring peace to Israel, but would also be a light to the Gentiles. But Simeon prophesied that this would happen at a price, to both Jesus and His parents. The second person to see Jesus that day was Anna, a prophetess, who had spent most of her long widowhood in the Temple, worshipping and praying. The minute she saw Jesus, she too knew who this was: the One who would bring about the redemption of Israel. Their waiting had been worthwhile. And so is ours when we are waiting for something that God has promised. Never give up waiting, hoping, believing. Though what is promised may be delayed, it will surely come, as it did for Simeon and Anna.