The Holy Spirit was upon [Simeon] and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,
“Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised.
I have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared for all people.
He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
Lee,
I’ve always like this verse, where
God’s Spirit tells Simeon he wont “taste death” till he’s seen Jesus in his first appearance, and I have wondered about the significance of its echo in a seeming parallel in Mt 16:28 where
God’s Son also reveals to his disciples they won’t “taste death” till they see Jesus (or his spiritual presence) at his second appearance:
“Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
I wonder if you have noticed a similarity and if you have any thoughts about it?
Riley
Hmmm, I had never made the connection. The Greek wording does differ; the verse in Luke is more precisely translated “see death”, (eidÅ) not “taste” (geuomai), does that make any difference?