Study the Bible

"The Prophecy of Simeon"
Luke 2:34-35

Theme: The birth of Jesus Christ signaled the commitment
of God to deal with sin and sinners.

When the Lord Jesus Christ was incarnate, it truly signaled the reality of God’s intention to deal with the matter of sin.
Of course, God’s intention was to provide the way by which all men could be reconciled to Himself.
However, God’s sending His Son indicates the prevailing love that He has for the world – His desire to see men saved from their sin and made alive in Christ.
The incarnation was no "calculated risk" waging the work of Christ against the stubbornness of man – God knew full well who it was who would respond to the call to repent and be saved.
He also knew that many – out of the hardness of their hearts – would reject Him and cling to their sinfulness.
Hence, Jesus incarnation is described as being "appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel."
Thus, it was time for God to deal with sin and the sinner.

As has already been mentioned, the response to the work of Christ would be varied – not mechanical.
How to explain the fact that some would accept and others reject is difficulty:

Certainly, those who are the elect of God would accept.
Also, those who refuse Christ are personally accountable for the exercise of their freedom to reject Him.

How these two mutually exclusive things inter-relate is beyond me; all I can say is that when a man is born again, it is the work of a Sovereign God; while when a man rejects Christ, He is personally accountable for his refusal.
Here we are told that the Lord Jesus Christ was "appointed for the fall . . . of many in Israel."

This clearly refers to those who would fulfill the prophecies concerning the rejection of the Messiah by Israel – cp. Isaiah 8:14-15; 1 Peter 2:7-8

These one’s who claimed to already possess a relationship with God, would "fall" through their rejection of Christ.

Jesus whom they rejected was the subject of the promises made to the Patriarchs;

Jesus whom they rejected was the significance behind the rituals prescribed by the Law;

Jesus whom they rejected was the deliverer announced by the Prophets;

Jesus whom they rejected was the ideal of righteousness that all were called to maintain but couldn’t.

In like manner, many fall today by accepting the religious forms of Christianity without dealing without confronting the heart of sin from which we must be delivered – a deliverance that can come only through the work of Jesus Christ.

If the falling refers to the stumbling at the "rock of offense" in Jesus Christ resulting in damnation, then the "rise of many" refers to the quickening power of redemption – cp. Ephesians 2:6
To come into true contact with Him is to touch a Life so intrinsically vigorous and vital as to be transform-ed into a Life-bearing soul – cp. 1 John 5:12
Consider those who were so "raised" from the deadness of their sin: Mary Magdalene (harlot), Simon Peter (coward), Saul (murderer of Christians), Mel Trotter (drunkard), Rick Gregory . . . .

Simeon now is prompted by God’s Spirit to pick up a reference made by Isaiah to the sign that would be given to Israel – Isaiah 7:14
The Shepherds were likewise given a "sign" – a babe in the manger – as the way to distinguish the newborn Messiah – Luke 2:12.
The entire emphasis of John’s Gospel is to portray the diversity and multiplicity of indications or signs that Jesus was the Christ – cp. John 20:30
Perhaps the greatest of all of the signs was simply the fact of the incarnation itself – that God became a man and dwelled among us.

However, were these signs of God’s intention to deal with our sin received by sinners? Absolutely not!
Simeon knew from the beginning that this baby He was dedicating to the Lord was set "for a sign to be opposed" – literally: "to speak against" (antilegw)
Clearly this is what is known as a synecdoche – a literary term describing the reference to an object or an event on the basis of one of its parts.
The opposition that this baby would encounter from sinners would be progressively more hostile – culminating in the crucifixion when they all stand with one voice speaking against him before Pilate saying: "crucify Him, crucify Him!"
Jesus Christ is truly the "rock of offense" to sinners who refuse to obey the glorious truth of the Gospel and repent of their sin.
He offends the pride of man, the purpose of man, the practices of man – the entire orientation of man is contrary to the perfections of the Son of God.
Either man will yield to Him in humility and adoration or he will despise and reject Him – the two responses seen even by the two thieves who were crucified together with Christ.

Simeon – having addressed his comments specifically to Mary – cp. v. 34 "And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary . . ." (Joseph was excluded mainly because he would no longer be in the picture when the event predicted were fulfilled.)
Now she is told that this hostility and rebellion by "many in Israel" would result in the infliction of her own heart with incomparable grief – "and a sword will pierce even your own soul"
Since a "soul" is incorporeal – or non-matter – it cannot be literally pierced – this does not refer to martyrdom of Mary or any such thing.
This is merely a prediction of the intense agony of heart Mary will know when she stands before the cross of Christ and beholds her Son.
But in a more general way, it portrays the agony of heart that the rejection of Christ by man would have on the Author of faith Himself – the heart of God would also be pierced.

This hostile rejection of God’s Son will provide the opportunity for the upright and sinner alike to know the condition of their heart: "to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."
The pompous and self-righteous Pharisees would generate tremendous hostility toward the offense brought by the Son of God – so much so that they wanted to murder Him.
In doing so, they identified themselves for what they really were and all the pomposity in the world could not cover it over.
So too, as we respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ our hearts are seen for what they really are – by as yielding to Him by obeying the Gospel, humbling ourselves, and repenting before His absolute holiness – or as degenerate by turning our backs and refusing to seek forgiveness through the grace of God.
When we reject Christ, we prove that the "thoughts from [our] . . . hearts" are condemned – cp. John 3:18.
When we show a heart that has been touched by the power of God’s Spirit and respond obediently, we demonstrate that we have benefited by Him who "is appointed . . . for the rise of many"