When Jesus was forty-days old, Mary and Joseph took their baby to the temple to make an offering of purification (of two doves or pigeons), as required by the Law of Moses. While there, and seemingly unsure of who Jesus would become, they met two inspired individuals who essentially prophesied of Jesus' divine destiny. One was an elderly woman named Anna, and the other an elderly man named Simeon.

Our verse for today indicates that Simeon had been brought by the Spirit to the temple that day in fulfillment of a promise made to him earlier in his life; a prophetic promise that he would not die until he had seen the face of the Messiah. Who made that inspired prediction we do not know. Nonetheless, it clearly came true when he encountered Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in the court of the temple.

Upon seeing Jesus, Simeon was himself inspired to prophesy, telling Mary that Jesus would essentially be a blessing and a curse to "many," because some would accept Him while others would reject Him. While that was certainly true of so many living in New Testament times, it is equally true of those living in our day. So few recognize Jesus as the "sign from God" that He is. So many reject Him and, more particularly, the way of life that He commanded us to live. Indeed, the spiritually "sick" nature of our world evidences that Simeon was right, that many would "fall" because they "will not accept" Jesus and His ways. Christ has what this world desperately needs. Are you willing to accept and live that? Or will you, like so many others, "fall…because of this boy" who is the "sign from God"? Those who, like Simeon, are Spirit-directed in their lives will recognize Jesus for Who He is. Those who do not have His Spirit with them will grope in the darkness of our sin-sick world, missing the "sign" and limiting their own access to the blessings He freely offers.