Luke 2:25-35

Simeon. As the family enters the Temple they are met by Simeon, an aged man whose devout life and expectation of Messiah had been rewarded by a Divine intimation that he should live to see the Christ. He has been guided by the Spirit, and taking the child in his arms thanks God for the fulfilment of his heart's desire. He blesses the astonished parents, and tells the mother that the babe is destined to be a stumbling-block (Isaiah 8:14; Matthew 21:44) to many in Israel, a token (Isaiah 11:12) that shall be disputed, and a touchstone of hearts. The astonishment of Joseph and Mary, and the mention of them as parents, point to a different source from that of the narrative of the annunciation. With the Nunc Dimittis cf. Psalms 98:2; Isaiah 52:10; Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 49:6; Isaiah 46:13. As the Magnificat is charged with personal feeling, and the Benedictus with national aspiration, so the Nunc Dimittis is the expression of hope for the world. The phrase and rising up (i.e. through repentance and pardon, Luke 2:34) may be a later addition; so also the reference to Mary's sorrow (Luke 2:35), which is in any case a parenthesis.