“A family of nations loving God together.” One of the first persons to actually see Jesus after his miraculous birth was an elderly gentleman named Simeon. Jesus was a mere baby of forty days. Simeon was at the right place at the right time when Mary and Joseph arrived at the Jerusalem Temple. It was time to present the baby to God as the Old Testament required in that day and time.
This face-to-face meeting with Jesus became a defining moment for Simeon. With his eyes fixed on the infant whom he held in his arms, Simeon vocally exclaimed to God in a prayer of praise, “My eyes have seen your salvation!” What did he mean? Simeon knew long before the Temple encounter that the hopes of an oppressed nation and a people separated from God would only come from a Person. Simeon realizes that the Person is Jesus, whom He is now literally embracing! We too are separated from God by our sins. Yet this was the One who would become our sin-bearer when He died on a Cross in our place and proved its effectiveness by rising from death three days later on resurrection Sunday.
A family of nations loving God together.
One of the enjoyments of living where I now do, is that, here in the Wood Buffalo Municipality of North Eastern Alberta, we are peoples of diverse origins and unique experiences. From first nations to many nations all within a Canadian context. Simeon said that Jesus came for “all peoples…a light to reveal God to the nations.” Whoever you are and whatever your background, you are loved by God who sent His Son to be your Savior and Lord. Trust Him! Let us also look around us – we have the privilege of engaging the nations thereby enlarging our hearts. “A family of nations loving God together.”