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I.

1. This is the first announcement that the way of the Holy Child must be the way of sorrows. The angel had spoken of the throne of David; the shepherds had brought a message of peace; Simeon foretells the Cross. Yet this prophecy is called a blessing! "He blessed them!" Blessedness is not the same as external prosperity. Blessedness is obedience to the will of the Father.

2. Mary has to learn that she, too, must suffer with her Child. "A sword shall pierce through thy own soul." This is her blessing! Is it not true that the coming of the Eternal Word in human flesh has brought a blessing upon human sufferings, which are henceforth linked with His?

3. Simeon foresees that the Christ must suffer because His life would be violently opposed to the principles by which men were guiding their lives. He is among men as the Incarnate Word, reading their inmost thoughts, and revealing to them their true selves. Therefore must He be for the salvation of some and for the condemnation of others; therefore must He be a Sign that is spoken against.

4. Human suffering arises from the breach of the Divine order which was made when man chose his own will rather than God's. The Divinely-ordered human life is lived by the Word made-flesh. Inasmuch as the Divinely-ordered life is in direct opposition to the self-centred lives of fallen men, it must come into collision with them and must suffer. At the same time, by its very perfection, and by its hold on the true Centre — the Divine Will — it must condemn all that falls short of it or opposes it.

II.

1. Contemplate in the Child here presented to the Father, the One Perfect Human Life, unfolding itself amidst the evil antagonisms of selfish human nature.

2. Learn that it follows that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).

(Canon Vernon Hutton, M. A.)

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KJV: And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;

WEB: and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.