Rt lenst, there le no dwelling on the importo.nce of those through wl,om the homage le shown. The tribute of tbo human heart is sufficient for the Son of man. Of this man we know nothing more than ie told ue by St. Luke. His name is Simeon. Ha ls (vor. 26) "ri~hteous o.nd devout, one of those who looked for the consolation of Isro.el, o.nd the Holy Spirit ie upon him." The character-all that is memorable-is summed up in the title he himself takes (ver. 29), "Thy servant." For years he has been looking-a sharer in the expectation which ha<l become earnest and eager amon~ the pious. But he thinks and prays and hopes in a light that is peculiar to himself. Somehow-we o.re not told how-the intimation has been borne into his soul (ver. 26) that" he should not eee death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." Is not the picture of this " watcher for the morning " a beautiful one ? Do we not seem to see him, weary of the word-wranglinge, the fightings over pin-points of ceremonial, which abounded, piercing through the hypocrisies with which the religious world was honeycombed; amid confusions becoming worse confounded, breathin:i; the prayer, "0 thou Hope of Israel, come quickly"? Is not this man an exam rle to us? Is not this present time the watch-night to Christ's people? Are we watching as he watched-" not asleep in sin, but diligent In the Lord'~ service, and rejoicing in his praises"? 2. Regard next the scene in which the welcome is given. The watcher is In the temple-there in the spirit of David's psalm, "That I may dwell in the courts of the Lord, beholding the beauty of the Lord, and inquiring in his temple." He is there led by the Spirit. When "two unnoted worshippers" enter, his eye fixes on the two ; faster beats the heart, "It is he; that child is he-the Lord's Christ." An inci- dent that is indelibly photographed in the heart of Christendom is that in which the venerable seer takes the Babe in his arms, and lifts his eyes to heaven" in pr3i'P,r8 that struggle with his tears." (1) Behold the sign of the Babe realized. To welcome the true child-nature, as Simeon welcomed J esas; to see heaven in the Child, aad open the soul to the impression, becoming child-like, and therefore Christ-like ;-this is to receive the kingdom of heaven. (2) Note that in spiritual history there is a moment of discovery-the discerning of the hidden glory in Jesus. This moment is typified in the conjunction of the watcher and the watched for (ver. 27)-when the pareats brought the Child Jesus, then he received him into his arms. We may not be able always to distinguish the very time and way; but there is the morning hour in the life, the awakenment to the claim of God on the soul, to the fact "I am a sinner, and I need the Lord's Christ,'' and the answering fact, "He is the Saviour, and he wants me." Would that Simeon's joy were realized in all who read," Mine eyes have seen thy Salvation" I 3. Observe tht song, the familiar "Nunc dimittis." What sweet- ness, what beauty in this, the "swan-song" of the Christiau Church as it has been called I (1) How tenderly the heart asks the supreme release I What more can be desired I The servant has seen the Master. And yet it is no prayer of lo!lging initiated by the heart itself. Had it not been revealed to him that the hour of departure would follow the vision of the Lord? The human will touches the Divine. " Let me depart ... according to thy word}' (2) How the song thrills with the sense of a love free and universal as the light of God (vers. 31, 32) I So it is when the Lord's Christ is really seen. 'l'he place of Christ is "a place of broad rivers and streaws.P Christian love is necessarily a missionary love. 'l'he word which it sows into the innerwost desire is, "Let there be light." Christians may learn this, too, from Situeon-he, the faraelite, seeks the good of the Gentiles. 'l'he salvation in which be rejoices is one "for reve- lation to the Gentiles." Should not we Gentiles reciprocate by embracing in our prayer and effort God's people Israel ?-seeking that the whole thought of the venerable watcher may be fulfilled-the Lord's Christ, the Light for the Gentiles aml the Glory of Israel. (3) A soul thus filled out c f the fuluess of God's love is ready to depart. Death to it is only a departing, the dismissal of the servaut from the scene of earthly toil, that he may enter more fully into the joy of the Lord. "Lord, :.iow let test tbou thy servant depart in peace." The aged servant has still another word. He bas his blessing for the parents. 4. Mark the prediction addressed to Mary. (1) 'l'he more general announcement, which seems at variance with the exalted straii: of the song; but in this variance it harwonizes with the words of prophecy (e.g. Isaiah's forecasts), and inter- prets the experienco of tho ages. For" Christ, is both a Corner-stoue a.nd ~ Stumb1iug- ~tone, and perhap11, in some sense, hti is both the oue and the othi;:r to us all." (2) Tho 48 THE GOSrEL AOCORDING TO ST. LUKE. [cm. n. 1-52.
more Bpl'cial annonncC'ment. Ah I how often the love which is the source of the purest joy is the occa8ion of the most poignant sorrow I Many & mother can un,lc1·sto.nd the word of the seer to the mother, IC A sword shall pierce through thine own ~oul." Woll when the wound is that only of a holy sorrow I Thus (3) the prophetic word is attached to the ble~8ing, th&t, through the Lord's Christ, "the thoughts of many hel\rts should be reveR.led." It is true: the attitude of every bee.rt to Christ is the revelation of that heart in the roots &nd aprings of its thinkin~. 5. The sketch of Anna the prophete:is ia the ronrluding and ronsummating feature of the day. She, too, is &n interesting person, A widow, &ftn seven years of married life, a.nd now IC advo.nced in many days'' (ver, 36), at least four score and four. Devout, almost an inmate of the temple, and recog- nized as a prophetess. She, too, ba8 her thanksgiving, as she comes in "at that very hour." But the notable circumstance in regard to her is that she is the first preacher of Christ in the city of the great King. "She speaks of him to all them that are looking for redemption." She is the pioneer of the great host of women that publish the tidin_gs (Ps. lxviii. 11, Revised Version). In this host may many who read or bear be included I