Remembering to Remember

The more I reacquaint myself with the gospels, I am amazed how very little I know about many of the characters.  For example there must be more to the story of the woman who knew that if she could just touch the fringe of Jesus’ robe she would be well.  There has got to be more to tell about the woman who anointed Jesus with a jar of perfume, or the thief who hung beside Jesus on the cross.  Yet, I find that only they will be remembered.  And they are.  However insignificant their lives were to society, they have been captured in the pages of history as people worth remembering, people who had a role in the story of God on earth; people remembered by God when multitudes wished them forgotten.  It is becoming a kind reminder that my fleeting life is remembered by God long before anyone else has noticed and will continue long after they will stop remembering after my death.

As much as I have researched the man named Simeon, I have found very little, except he was in the temple when he realized that God had remembered him.  Reaching for the baby in the arms of a young girl, Simeon was moved to praise.  As his wrinkled hands cradled the infant, Simeon sang to God:  “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.  For my eyes have seen you salvation”  Luke 2: 29-30.

Simeon uses the language of a slave that has been freed.  There is a sense of immediacy and relief, as if a great iron door has been unlocked and he is now free to go through it.  God had remembered his promise even as God remembered the aging Simeon.  The Lord had promised he would not die before he saw the Lord’s salvation.  Now seeing and holding the child named Jesus, Simeon knew he was dismissed to death in peace.

I think that Mary and Joseph probably stood in awe ant the bold reaction of a stranger.  Upon laying eyes on their child this man blurts out  that he can now die in peace!  I’m sure they were well aware of God’s hand upon Jesus; yet here, I think they may have discovered that the arm of God, which is not too short to save, extends far beyond anything imaginable.  

And then with this stranger’s blessing and words to the couple, nailed certainty when he says: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.  And a sword will pierce your own soul too” Luke 2: 34-35.  I can’t imagine the awe that probably overtook their souls.

Now, well into the Lenten season, I’m reminded of the symbol of the cross, the sword that pierced a mother’s heart, and the passion of the one who will continue to be spoken against.  An old man in the temple hundreds of years ago, through a fraction of a scene in his life, reminds me this morning that to look at Jesus is to look at the salvation of God.  Whether peering at the child in the manger or the God Man on the cross, my aging heart is revealed in its response to Him.  This, in fact, is most a memorable feature.

I wonder if these small excerpts of the fleeting lives found in the gospels, these days, are meant to capture this very sentiment.  As the thief peered into the bruised eyes of Jesus, life Simeon, he saw the salvation of God.  “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”  Luke 23:42.  And it was and is so!