The Long Wait Ends

On this Christmas Eve, we meet Simeon, an old man who had spent his life waiting. Luke describes him as "just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel," and tells us God had promised him "that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." For long years Simeon had waited, holding onto a promise, watching, hoping, growing old with his eyes on a future he had been assured of but had not yet seen. And now, on the day he takes the infant Jesus in his arms, the long wait is about to end.

Christmas Eve is itself a night of waiting, the last hours before the celebration, the hush before the dawn of Christmas Day. And Simeon is the perfect companion for it, for he embodies the patient, faithful waiting that Advent has taught us. He shows us how to wait well: justly and devoutly, holding God's promise, keeping watch, refusing to give up hope even as the years pass. And he shows us the end of all faithful waiting, the moment when the promise is fulfilled and the long-awaited One is finally held. Every faithful wait, kept with eyes on God's promise, ends at last in fulfilment.

Tonight, as Christmas Eve, wait well. Whatever promise of God you are still waiting on, hold it as Simeon held his, with patient devotion, for the One who keeps His promises does not fail, and the waiting ends in Him.