Luke 2:30 Commentary and Bible Study

What Simeon saw with his bodily eyes was been made real to him by the eye of faith which believed the word of God that accompanied the sight. That sight comforted him because faith gave him the evidence of things not seen. He could not see with his bodily eyes Christ’s future ministry – his miracles, the great crowds that come to him, band of faithful disciples many of whom would give their lives for their Lord, Christ’s victory over death, and his setting up a fountain of life for all who are thirsty. Sight did only a little, and the much greater work was done by faith that looked beyond the immediate appearance of things. What justifies faith? Is every claim to truth to be accepted? Are the people of God liable to excessive credibility? No. In such great matters, only the word of God justifies belief. But on the basis of his word we may safely believe the most wonderful of things. Faith brings joy to the believer, a joy that transforms a person’s view of life.Christ is called the salvation of God – salvation is embodied in a person; Christ is the salvation of God. There is salvation in no one else. For him to be called salvation, he must successfully accomplish all the work that the Father has given him to do. He must deal with the hostility that exists in God towards man, and in man towards God. He must reconcile them to each other, by paying the price for sin. He must invite sinners to come to him, and give them the assurance that he can solve their greatest problems. He is not a limited Saviour. He does not leave the greatest of our enemies still walking about the battlefield. He must subdue and conquer all his and our enemies, and leave no existing threat against us. He must satisfy the justice of God and quieten the fierce anger of the Lord. This salvation has been seen by Simeon, but he knows that it will be seen by many others. It will be seen by those in far off lands, and in seeing it, they will not see something that is inaccessible to them, but they will see it as something that is available to them also. Therefore the statement implies that Christ will be preached throughout all the earth. He will be preached as the Saviour who is ready to save any who come to him, for the terms of salvation will not be that a person is descended from Abraham or that they are within the national covenant made with Israel. If those were the terms then the vast majority would be excluded. But God does not save on the basis of anything as narrow as ethnic background. He saves all on the same basis, and the terms of salvation in one sense exclude all, but in another sense make possible the salvation of all. We are saved by faith, and no one is capable of exercising faith, for faith is the gift of God, and none have faith as a natural gift. So in one sense all are excluded. But because it is by faith and not by blood, nor by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man, then it can be given to all without distinction. God has prepared this salvation before the face of all people. Not all will see it immediately, but the statement looks on the grand scale of things. The gospel will be preached in all the world. ‘And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people’ (Revelation 14:6). The disciples will be given the great commission and it will take time to fulfil it, but eventually all people will hear it. But from the beginning it is as if it has been prepared for them. The preparation comes with the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even before that it is announced through the prophets, and indeed it is prepared from eternity, for God has planned all things from before the foundation of the world. Those who look on see God’s careful placement of each part of his plan. They study how the various parts fit together and relate to each other. They admire the Master Builder. Isaiah says, ‘The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God’ (Isaiah 52:10), and the Psalmist says, ‘The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen’ (Psalm 98:2). So this lofty statement looks forward to the end of time when the gospel will have been preached to all, and the elect will be gathered in from every nation, and they will consider how firm a foundation has been laid in God perfectly constructed plan.