People say, “Seeing is believing!” but talking spiritually it’s actually the believing that enables the seeing.
Sermon Transcript
In Luke chapter 2 it tells us that, after the circumcision of Jesus, His parents took Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord according to the Law of Moses.
On that day, an old man named Simeon, a resident of Jerusalem, was in the Temple. He was a good man, very devout, filled with the Holy Spirit and constantly expecting the Messiah to come soon. For the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah—God’s anointed King.
The Holy Spirit had impelled him to go to the Temple that day; and so, when Mary and Joseph arrived to present the baby Jesus to the Lord in obedience to the law (like so many other couples were probably also doing that day) Simeon was there and upon seeing Jesus, he took the child in his arms and praised God saying, “Lord, now I can die content! For I have seen Him as You promised me I would. I have seen the Savior You have given to the world. He is the Light that will shine upon the nations, and He will be the glory of your people Israel!”
Joseph and Mary just stood there, marveling at what was being said about Jesus. It just so happened that Anna, a prophetess, was also there in the Temple that day. She was the daughter of Phanuel, of the Jewish tribe of Asher, and was very old, for she had been a widow for eighty-four years following seven years of marriage. She never left the Temple but stayed there night and day, worshiping God by praying and often fasting. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she also began thanking God and telling everyone in Jerusalem who had been awaiting the coming of the Savior that the Messiah had finally arrived.
I love this ancient account of 2 very old people (a man and a woman – Simeon & Anna), who honoured and feared God, they knew the Scriptures and were waiting for the birth of the Messiah. And when they saw Jesus as a tiny wee babe, they knew exactly who He was.
They saw Him and they knew Him, and their hearts were filled with joy.
Simeon said, I’m now ready to die, because I’ve seen what I’ve been waiting for, for a long long time. I’m finally content. You can take me LORD! And old Anna, the prophetess had pretty much the same reaction as Simeon. I reckon they probably both died of excitement not too long after this incident with a big smile on their faces. They’d seen Jesus, that’s all they needed, and they were ready to go.
Me and my family witnessed a wonderful scene this week which reminded me, very much, of this beautiful account. And I feel led to share it with you today. My family decided to perform a Christmas carols concert at my mum’s nursing home on Monday evening.
My older brother David and his wife and son, my younger brother Steven and his son, Timothy, my dad, my adult children Ryan, Daniel, Alyce, Diana, Jacqui and a decent amount of my grandchildren, including myself, put on a lovely Christmas service with many of us wearing our happy Birthday Jesus t-shirts. But when we first arrived, the residents were finishing their dinner, so we had to wait. We couldn’t see my mum in the normal dining area, she gets taken to a different room to eat because she requires one on one care as she can no longer feed herself. So, we were all waiting excitedly for mum to be brought through. Ryan, Alyce and Diana had not seen their nanna for around 3 years because of all the COVID restrictions.
Now they weren’t expecting anything from nanna, they’d been warned about her declining state, but they had this inner need just to see her. It had been too long, and she had been a monumental part of their childhood.
I really believe it was the prayers of nanna that brought my son, Ryan, through. Without going into any detail, she prayed for Ryan more times than I’ve had hot dinners. She prayed and prayed and prayed for him and he seriously needed it believe you me! Not because Ryan was a bad kid but because bad things always seemed to happen to him.
Well, finally our waiting was over, and dad carefully walked her into the large lounge area, steadily holding her arm as they moved together.
When she entered, my mother, in her advanced stage of dementia, who doesn’t know her name or my name, who can’t speak, who can’t feed herself, who mostly just sits there staring into nothingness looks up and locks eyes with Ryan, her grandson. Now she hasn’t seen him for years, but her face immediately began to glow with this huge radiant smile, and then the smile was accompanied with her crying as she started saying over and over again – Ryan, Ryan, Ryan.
Dad started tearing up as he walked mum to Ryan. When she got to Ryan she held his hands tightly as if she was never going to let him go. Well, my big tough son Ryan began to cry, and Alyce began to cry, and Diana began to cry while Jacqui got it all on video!! Bless her cotton socks!
It was so amazing that my mum recognized him let alone remembered his name, and have her brain instruct her mouth to say it over and over again. It was miraculous. It was a spiritual moment for my whole family. It was, we were all moved!
She stayed alert for the rest of the evening keeping a close watch on Ryan, Alyce and Diana. Steven sat with her as were performed and he loved the fact that she was so alert.
It was like she’d been waiting for this moment for a long time, and finally her eyes beheld her precious grandchildren who she loved with all her heart.
We’ve got some of this on video
Next show the photo (see how she’s still looking at Ryan? I only have eyes for you 😊)
Seeing those you love is a wonderful thing. It would be awful not being able to see. Wouldn’t it? Our eyesight is a gift from God. It’s sad when something goes wrong with it.
Who has ever heard of the condition ‘scotoma’?
A scotoma is a spot in the visual field in which vision is absent or deficient. In other words, people with scotoma have blind spots which may look something like this… Please show the picture Jordan….
This is how people with scotoma may view the world… It would be pretty awful to have your eyesight marred with such a horrible affliction, wouldn’t it?
Not being able to focus on people’s faces, particularly the faces of loved ones. I’d hate it.
I read an article which mentioned that we all, at times, suffer from scotoma. Not because we have a physical condition of a blind spot, but because we have mental blind spots. This article was saying that we often don’t see what’s in front of us because we don’t believe it’s there.
For example, a wife asks a husband to grab the salt from the pantry. Husband walks over to the pantry thinking “I don’t know where she’s put the salt in the pantry, I can never find anything in that pantry”. Husband opens the door, takes a quick look and shouts, “There’s no salt here, I can’t find it!”
Wife gets up from the dining table, walks straight over to the pantry and immediately grabs the salt off the shelf right in front of the husband, right in his line of vision.
Who’s had this experience? It happens people, it happens often.
By the way, that scenario happens in reverse when the wife is sent to get some tool out of the shed. I’ve been there, it’s happened to me on numerous occasions! I recollect moments where I’ve thought…
“There’s no way I’m going to find anything in that shed let alone a tool” And because I’m thinking this way before I begin to look, I don’t find it. It’s like I have scotoma! I don’t see what is there, right in front of me, because I don’t believe it is there. I don’t see what is there, right in front of me, because I don’t believe it is there. They say, ‘seeing is believing’ but in many cases it’s actually the believing that enables the seeing. The believing enables the seeing.
This is SO true for spiritual matters. Jesus said to one of His disciples, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen Me and yet believe.” (John 20v29) Blessed are those who have not seen Me and yet believe. There are so many things that can block our spiritual eyes from seeing Jesus. The world suffers from spiritual scotoma.
But the Christmas story holds many examples of people seeing Jesus! Mary and Joseph saw Jesus; they wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger. The angels saw Jesus and they sang, they rejoiced. The shepherds saw Jesus and they worshipped Him.
Old Simeon and the elderly widow, Anna, saw Jesus and they excitedly prophesied!
The wise men saw Jesus and they gave Him gifts. Much later, the disciples saw Jesus and they followed Him. The crowds of people saw Jesus and they listened to Him. The sick saw Jesus and received their healing.
The Roman establishment, and the Jewish authorities, saw Jesus and they crucified Him.
Many, many people saw Jesus when He was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven… and as a result, they spread the good news THAT THEY HAVE SEEN JESUS!!
Hundreds and hundreds of people saw Jesus when He came to this earth and there was a reaction with each person. Christmas time is a chance for you to see JESUS and react.
The truth is, if you look AND believe, YOU WILL SEE JESUS! YOU WILL SEE JESUS!
Jesus is as real today as He was 2000 years ago. He’s knocking on the door of your heart,
Will you say, ‘No room’ as the inn keeper did. Or will you say, ‘Come into my heart, make it your home, Jesus, because I see YOU!’
Don’t miss this opportunity, this Christmas time, to see Jesus and react with joy.
Look for Him believing you will find Him. In Jeremiah 29:13, God says, “If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me.” Fairly regularly, I get to see some of our children play hide and seek in this church building. Particularly the children of parents who have to hang around because their mum and dad are doing voluntary work in the church café.
Sometimes I hear one child count aloud as the rest of them run off to hide in the nooks and crannies of this old building. It’s a great building for hide n seek!
Well, I want you to know that you don’t have to play hide and seek with God. He sees you no matter what, and He calls you to Himself. He wants you to look for Him. He doesn’t make it difficult for you to find Him. He’s there, you just need to believe.
And when you really find Him, when you really see Him, you can’t help but react with exceedingly great joy. Like old Simeon and Anna, and my mum, for that matter, when she saw her grandson Ryan.