Give Me Eyes That See
I love it when a plan falls into place. I especially love it when only God could be the one to put all the pieces together. God orchestrates connections long before I ever even fathom needing them. The timeline of Jesus’ entry onto Earth’s stage as a baby is no exception. Prophesies are sprinkled throughout the Old Testament which foretell the details, but we see the weaving together of specific people and situations when we actually dig into the facts surrounding his birth.
In today’s reading, we are told of Jesus being brought to the temple for a sacrifice required in Mosaic law. It is in the temple that God brings two of His faithful followers to meet their Messiah. First, we are told of Simeon: “This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” He was looking for the Messiah. Now, remember to whom God first made the announcement of the birth of His Son? That’s right, it was to a group of shepherds just outside of Jerusalem. At that time, Jerusalem was the location of the only Temple of the Lord. At the Temple, large quantities of sheep were routinely sacrificed. This required large herds of sheep. Those herds needed shepherds. We don’t know if the shepherds that the angels proclaimed Jesus to worked for the temple, but we can assume they would have mentioned the event to the Temple shepherds. One could easily imagine the religious community filled with a mixture of excitement, fear, wonder, and speculation. In the middle of this, a faithful man was looking for the Messiah.
The other person highlighted in today’s reading was an elderly woman named Anna. Anna too was devoted to the Lord. In fact, we are told she was a prophetess. She spoke the word of God to His people. Both Simeon and Anna immediately recognized the divinity of Christ in his mother’s arms. They didn’t miss it. They weren’t so preoccupied with their own expectations that they ignored what God placed directly in front of them. This is the way I long to be. Too often I become focused on my idea of what God wants that I miss His actual directions. Neither Simeon nor Anna suffered from this problem. I believe the key to their immediately seeing God’s gift was the fact that their lives were continually devoted and focused on God. May we learn from their example. When we resist the urge to allow the necessary obligations of life to distract us, we open ourselves up to seeing the Hand of God move all around us. May your eyes be open. May your spirit always walk in step with the Holy Spirit, and may you see His blessings and gifts all around you.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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