Here is a new Christmas poem:
The Witnesses
Luke -2: 25-39, Hebrews 12:1
There are many Advent stories told at Christmastide,
Of shepherds and the Wise Men, of Joseph and his bride,
There’s the baby in the manger and the angels in the sky
And the great star gleaming brightly hanging there on high.
They each provide a glimpse into what the answer is
To the most important question, “What Child is this?”
All of them attempt to catch the message of the season
And that is what compels us now and you shall know the reason.
For stories to be true they must have validation,
The evidence of two or three will give legitimation.
Together they make up what we could call the Christmas Lore
And here is a perspective that you mayn’t have seen before.
When Rome was in ascendancy and Athens in decline
Scribes still translated into Greek, the custom of the time,
Theirs was the word of culture of subtlety of phrase
And seventy men made transcriptions of Scripture in those days.
Five of those transcribers bore the name of Simeon
They wrote on vellum producing what is called the Septuagint.
They transcribed the Hebrew Bible, complete and faithfully,
A version of the Tanakh for the Alexandrian Library.
In Luke we read about a most devout and holy man
Who was very old, named Simeon, living in Jerusalem,
He’d been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die
’Till he had seen the Lord’s Messiah, and here’s the question - “Why?”
All we know is in the gospel and that must be our position
As we search for an answer, the rest is supposition.
Had he been working in Isaiah, it was speculated?
And on reading of the virgin birth his thinking was conflicted?
Simeon was then a young man filled with exegetical fire
And making the most accurate transcription his desire.
Did he falter when he read the line about the virgin birth?
And pausing asked himself the question, “How on Earth?”
Some even say that it was then he took a velum knife
And about to shave the word away that caused him to feel strife,
When an angel then appeared to him and made him still his hand
And promised complete fulfilment and consolation to the land.
But that was many years before, now Simeon was old,
He waited for the virgin birth of Messiah as was foretold.
He knew the Jewish tradition that every first born son
Must be brought to Temple for the rituals to be done.
Perhaps he heard about the shepherds and message they proclaimed,
And of Zechariah being struck dumb until his son was named,
Sifting through the snippets he assessed the information,
Knowing that parents must bring their son for purification.
Guided by the Holy Spirit he approached the Temple Court
And there he looked into the eyes of the great I Am he sought.
Smiling he took Him in his arms, he begged for “Peace to die...”
“I have seen Your salvation!” he began to prophesy.
“Lord, I see the Salvation that you now prepare,
A light to all the nations for people everywhere.
This babe will cause the rise and fall of many in the land
And many will oppose Him, just as you have planned.”
Mary and Joseph were astonished by what was being said
It caused them both to wonder, it caused then both to dread,
Turning to Mary, Simeon continued in this role,
“The thoughts of many will be revealed, and a sword will pierce your soul.”
Then upon the scene appeared another respected soul,
It was the widow Anna who was eighty three years old,
She was considered a prophetess and seeing Jesus she smiled,
And giving thanks to God told everyone about this Child.
Simeon confirmed that there was a virgin birth,
Anna confirmed redemption for Jerusalem and the earth,
Mary was His mother who had not known a man,
And Joseph was a witness from the moment it began.
So the result of these meanderings which we have contemplated
Is the fulfilment of prophesy for which Simeon had waited,
From the evidence which he and Anna gave us we acquire
The confirmation that the babe they blessed was our Messiah.
Now we join the “cloud of witnesses” who have seen the light,
Looking for His Second Coming, walking by faith not sight,
Like Simeon we are waiting, we are waiting for Christ’s return
To see Him come in Glory, it is for this we yearn!
Amen
