Are You in Need of Consolation?
Dear friend,
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:25-32
A brother and I met for lunch yesterday and discussed the wonderful truth of this passage. If we remember the conditions at the time this was written it helps to see the truth: Israel was no longer a sovereign nation, but rather were subject to the Romans. They had not a had a prophet in 400 years, so God’s voice had been silent. They were emasculated as a nation, demon-possession was rampant, and true godliness at an all-time low. It was in these conditions that old Simeon had been earnestly seeking the Lord. He was “waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon Him.”
What does consolation mean? The Word in Greek is paraklēsis, from where we get the word for the Holy Spirit Who is our “Comforter.” The Word means to comfort, to console, to encourage, to build up, to strengthen. And oh how Israel needed consolation at this time in their history. They were under oppression from the Romans, they needed freedom and consolation. They were subject to the devil’s fury, they needed protection and comfort. They were cast down as a nation, they needed to be picked up, encouraged, given strength.
Simeon was moved by the Spirit to go to the Temple, and seeing Jesus Christ, He “took Him in His arms and praised God…” To those who need consolation, Jesus is the answer! To those attacked and beaten down by Satan, Jesus is the answer! To those who are weary and worn, tired and discouraged, Jesus Christ is the “Consolation of Israel!” Though we most certainly need each other, Jesus can do more to console and comfort us than any human being. The truth is, He consoles and comforts us through His Word, through His Spirit, and through His body. Triple consolation for all who are His.
Simeon saw Him and was moved to take Him in His arms. To hold Him. To embrace Him. God would encourage us today to take Jesus in our arms, to embrace Him; that is, to love and worship Him. We are instructed to “kiss the Son…” (Psalm 2:12) in submission and adoration and worship.
And then Simeon “praised God.” Once we take Jesus in our arms praise comes out of our mouth. We have found Who we were waiting for. We have Who we need. This beautiful baby, this “Consolation of Israel” is the Solution of all mankind! He would grow up and purposefully go to a Roman cross to die. Why? To remove our sins from us and replace them with His Spirit, thereby comforting us. Isaiah says it this way: “1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” Isaiah 40:1-2
Are you in need of consolation today? Needing comfort and encouragement and strength and love? Jesus is the consolation of Israel. No, He is the consolation of the whole world: “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”
This was a very encouraging post. I always get a lot from these bible studies. I have a question: With regard to the Scripture quoted from Isa 40, what do you believe the phrase, ‘received double…for all her sins’ means? Double punishment? or double good as an act of grace?
I believe it means they had received double punishment/discipline for their sins. They had been plundered, the temple was desecrated, they were sent away into captivity, their nation had been scattered and spread abroad. By the time Isaiah wrote chapter 40 God was turning from anger and giving them comfort. Incidentally, the first 39 chapters of Isaiah can be compared to the Old Testament, which has 39 books, in God’s dealing with the nation. But starting with chapter 40 and the comfort and forgiveness provided, we have moved to the New Testament with references to the coming Messiah Who would forgive their sin and comfort them with the Holy Spirit. Thank you for commenting.