Luke does not tell us how old the Prophet Simeon was when he encountered the Holy Family, but there are several indicators that he was quite old. The Prophetess Anna was eighty-four, and it would be fair to say that Simeon was at least as old or older.
So, let’s do a bit of math. Most scholars believe that Jesus was born around 4 BC. If we place Simeon and Anna at nearly the same age, we can agree that they were born in approximately 88 BC. Who ruled Israel at that time? The Maccabees/Hasmoneans. Anna, for sure, and most likely Simeon, were both born in an era when Israel was free from foreign rule. Under the Hasmoneans, Jerusalem grew from a city of 5,000 to 25-30,000. It was prosperous and vital. Therefore, Simeon and Anna had seen a time in Israel when God reigned—when God was King. However, in 63 BC, the pendulum swung, and the Romans took control of Jerusalem. Anna and Simeon had seen the prosperity of Jerusalem, but now, for the last sixty years, they had been witness to the suffering of the people brought about by the occupying forces of Rome. Yet, instead of simply giving in, crying defeat, and lamenting the past and the current state of their lives, Simeon and Anna did the one thing that would actually make a difference—they prayed. Simeon “was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.” Anna “never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day… looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Like so many others, they could have given themselves over to despair. Still, instead, they chose to have hope, always looking forward to the consolation, the comforting after the defeat, the redemption, and the saving of Israel by the hand of God. Not only did they believe that the Lord would save, but they knew the Lord would save. So, with hope, they patiently waited on the dawning of God’s light:
“A light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”
Today, our lives may not always be rosy and beautiful, but for all of us, just like with Anna and Simeon, the pendulum will swing. It may be for a short while, a season, or much longer, but that swinging is not a matter of if. It is a matter of when. So, the question is: how will we respond? How do we wait for God in the dark days?
Henri Nouwen wrote a beautiful little daily devotional, Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith. For November 20th he wrote, “How do we wait for God? We wait with patience. But patience does not mean passivity. Waiting patiently is not like waiting for the bus to come, the rain to stop, or the sun to rise. It is an active waiting in which we live the present moment to the full in order to find there the signs of the One we are waiting for.
“The word patience comes from the Latin verb patior which means ‘to suffer.’ Waiting patiently is suffering through the present moment, tasting it to the full, and letting the seeds that are sown in the ground on which we stand grow into strong plants. Waiting patiently always means paying attention to what is happening right before our eyes and seeing there the first rays of God’s glorious coming.”
Like Simeon and Anna, we must learn how to wait patiently, being confident in our faith that the Lord hears the cries of His people and will deliver them, even when all seems lost.
Candle in a Cave 