Look on
the Lord Christ, and then you die. This the Holy Spirit,
promised Simeon.
Think
about it.
You will
not see death until you see the Christ.
This is
an incredible statement. Would Simeon be the world's oldest
man today if he only avoided laying eyes on Jesus?
Simeon
was promised the coming Christ would signal his own death.
Until then Simeon could cruise the years presumably, without
the least apprehension of dying; no worry about infectious
disease, natural disaster, fatal accidents, or even old age.
Nothing to occasion his death except an encounter with
Christ.
With such
a pledge, one might have thought Simeon would now avoid new
acquaintances, pass up social invitations, and steer away from
crowds, never knowing when Christ might arrive.
But it
was just the opposite. Simeon was "waiting for the
consolation of Israel," precisely watching in faith for
the promised Messiah. Simeon didn't want a postponement of
Christ so he could live carefree. He yearned for Christ to
hurry so he could die carefree.
Simeon's
attention was placed on one central hope, Christ. He longed
for the fulfillment of God's promise. He hungered for the day
which all faithful Israel had kept under surveillance over
thousands of years, praying for the time to come when God
would allow his servant to die in peace.
St. Paul
sums up this hope, "I desire to depart and be with Christ,
which is better by far." (Phil. 1:23)
This is
opposite, isn't it, to the world's constant, futile pursuit of
youth and immortality? Ancient myths talk about fabled
elixirs of life. The Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de León,
chased in vain the fountain of youth. Today's obsession with
younger looking skin, plastic surgery, prolonged prowess, and
recapturing youth is the old myth simply repeated.
The world
spends billions trying to avoid the very thing Simeon desired
most ... to die in peace.
To his
great joy, Simeon's hopes were realized when the Holy Spirit
led him to the child of Mary. In the temple Simeon's faith
was satisfied as he took the baby Jesus in his arms to
actually hold the Lord's salvation, God's light to the nations
and the glory of Israel.
Simeon
witnessed Christ with his own eyes and blessed God for the
revelation of His Son. Here was the same Christ we behold
with our own ears, the same Jesus each communicant at the
altar touches and tastes in the elements of bread and wine.
The same Jesus is perceived in absolution and recognized in
Gospel preaching. The same Jesus is comprehended in Baptism
where the old nature is drowned and we are guaranteed a
blessed death.
Jesus
makes possible for us a blessed death. But what in the
world makes any death blessed?
What in
the world?
Christ in the world.
Christ in
the world setting apart those who will rise at his coming.
Christ in the world as true man for all men. Christ in the
world as God's sign to those who oppose the truth. Christ
in the world lifting up the fallen and stripping the proud.
Christ in the world administering death to sin and immortality
to sinners. Christ in the world redeeming the lost and
sanctifying their dying.
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on,"
(Revelation 14:13), Scripture maintains. That's the key:
in the Lord!
IN
THE LORD those who die are blessed. IN THE LORD those who
wait and hope are hallowed. IN THE LORD those who have
received Christ are made ready to die in the certainty they
will rise again. IN THE LORD human eyes see God's salvation.
IN THE LORD Gentiles gather to God's light and the faithful
are given glory which no person can know even if he should
live to be the oldest, wisest, richest, or best known man in
the world.
