There is so much sorrow and suffering and waiting intermingled in the Christmas story. Zechariah and Elizabeth, righteous and faithful to God, yet old and childless. Elizabeth is barren we are told, surely a source of great grief to her in that culture where a woman's whole worth was tied up in her ability to bear children. All those baby boys killed in Bethlehem, at the order of the fiendish Herod. So many weeping, desolate parents.
And in the temple, when Mary and Joseph bring the baby Jesus for the rite of purification, there is old Simeon, also righteous and devout. He has been waiting all his life for the "consolation of Israel" and has been promised by God that he will not die until he has seen the "Lord's Christ," the Messiah. I loved the explanation of what that meant. To wait on the consolation of Israel meant "the hope that God would come to rescue and comfort His people." Rescue His people in this enemy-occupied nation. Rescue and comfort His people who have not heard from God for over 400 long years.
And now Anna, the prophetess. She too is at the temple. She, too, has been waiting, waiting, waiting. So much waiting in the Christmas story. Married for just 7 years, she has been a widow for 84 long years and has spent her life in the temple worshipping, fasting, and praying. I wonder what people thought of her? A woman, always at the temple, always praying and fasting. Did they think her a bit crazy? Did they give her a wide berth? No telling. But there she was, worshipping and alone. Alone and waiting.
But when both Simeon and Anna see Jesus, everything changes, for they both recognize that God has sent His Consolation. The Consolation of Israel has come. God has sent the long awaited "hope" of God's rescue and comfort. Finally. After all that waiting.
In the Greek, the word for consolation is "paraklesis" which means "comfort." That word sounded so familiar to me, and then I remembered the word for the Holy Spirit: "parakletos" which, of course, means the "Comforter, the Counselor, the Helper." He has given us His hope, His comfort, His rescue, His help in the Holy Spirit. We, like Simeon and Anna, have found our hope and consolation and comfort and help. If Jesus is our Lord and Savior, then He, our parakletos, is always with us. Always.
Luke 2:38 tells us, "And coming up at that very hour, she [Anna] began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem." How I pray that is our response to what God has done and is doing through the Gift of Jesus this Christmas. Giving thanks--in the big and the small, in the good and even in the hard. Giving thanks even in the waiting and the bewildering. Knowing that He--our Consolation, our Hope, our Helper, our Comfort--has come and is with us... even in those places of darkness and loneliness and wilderness of our lives.
And might we "speak of Him to all" who are "waiting." All who still wait for redemption and consolation. In a dark world, Lord, help us to be shine Your Light. Your comfort. Your love. Might we be conduits of Your Consolation even as You have comforted us.
I have to include the words to a Christmas song we just heard this year and that is now one of our very favorites. It's by Brandon Heath and is called, "The night before Christmas." Please try to listen to it on iTunes if you can. Here are the words, and they describe the world that Jesus, the Consolation, the Hope, the Helper, the Rescuer and Redeemer, entered:
Empty manger, perfect stranger, about to be born.
Into darkness, sadness, desperate madness, creation so torn.
We were so lost on earth, no peace, no worth.
no way to escape.
In fear, no faith, no hope, no grace ,and no light
but that was the night before Christmas.
Warm hay, cold sweat, a mother, not yet.
Praying godspeed the dawn.
She looks to her man, holding her hand. They wonder how long.
And the shepherds, wise men come to find them, and bow to a king.
One star above shining on love, so bright it lit up the night before Christmas.
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
CHORUS:
And the world didnt know mercy was meek and so mild.
And the world didnt know that truth was as pure as a child.
The night before Christmas.
The night before Christmas.
And the world didnt know, redemption was sweet and so strong. And the world didnt know salvation was writing a song.
The night before christmas.
The night before christmas.
The night before christmas.
Empty manger, perfect stranger, about to be born.
That was the waiting world into which He came. That is the world into which He still comes. A place of "darkness, sadness, desperate madness, creation so torn... fear, no faith, no hope, no grace, no light."
"But that was the night before Christmas."
Praise God for sending us His Son, our Savior. Our Comforter and Helper. Our Rescuer and Redeemer. Our Hope. To God be the glory.
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