It’s just over two years since I last worked as a doctor, but I still recall something my very last patient once said to me. With regard to his material possessions, and his ever-advancing years, these were his words:
‘They say you can’t take it with you…so I’m not going’.
Now I don’t doubt that he was speaking with his tongue very firmly in his cheek, but his words nonetheless reflect what many of us like to try and deny – the inevitability of our own death. Which is, of course, something that we all, without exception, will one day have to face. For some, our end will come in advanced old age, perhaps allowing those we leave behind some comfort in knowing that we’d enjoyed a ‘good innings’; but for others our death will appear unannounced and unanticipated, at a time that feels far too early.
But irrespective of when it might take place, our eventual demise is something that we would do well to be prepared for. Just like Simeon, the righteous and devout man who Luke tells us was waiting for ‘the consolation of Israel’ when he met Jesus on the day Mary and Joseph presented Him at the temple, just a few days after His birth. [Luke 2:25]
So what was Luke referring to when he spoke of ‘the consolation of Israel’? Well, it’s a phrase that speaks of the promised restoration of the people of God, as foretold centuries beforehand by Old Testament prophets like Isaiah when he said these words.
‘Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand
double for all her sins.’ [Isaiah 40:1-2]
Isaiah was looking forward to a time when the people of God would be totally forgiven and, from what he writes elsewhere, this would be on account of God’s Messiah, the suffering servant, who would be ‘pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities’. [Isaiah 53:5] His sacrifice would perfectly match the punishment their sins deserved and so, by bearing it for them, secure their peace with God.
And now, hundreds of years later, Simeon had had it revealed to him, by the Holy Spirit, that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ that Isaiah had spoken of. [Luke 2:26]
And so we understand, not only that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s long-promised chosen King, but also the one who would bring an end to all suffering, establish God’s Kingdom, and rule over it forever with justice and righteousness. [Isaiah 9:7]
For Simeon, the result of recognising this was that he was able to face death with confidence, knowing that, with his sins forgiven, he would ‘depart in peace’, no longer at enmity with God. [Luke 2:29]
And if we similarly come to see in Jesus the one who brings about the salvation that God has so graciously prepared – for both Jews and non-Jews alike – we will know the same consolation that Simeon did as we too approach our death. [Luke 2:32]
And when we do die, we will depart in peace as well.
To read Day 13 from 2023, click here
To read Day 13 from 2024, click here
Some musings 