And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. (Luke 2:25)

Little is known about this man Simeon, but that he is mentioned is remarkable. Either he is to be taken as a representative sample of a certain category of Jews of similar characteristics or he was an exemplary case of one who stood out. It is noteworthy that a bit-role individual is mentioned at all—except when we consider his description and his reaction to the Christ Child when Mary and Joseph brought Him to the temple for the infant’s dedication.

Luke’s account of Simeon mentions no religio-political affiliation (in contrast with Niocodemus, who is noted in John 3:1 as a Pharisee, a ruler) and no family connections. Simeon is described as “righteous and just.” One thinks of Job, who was “blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:1). There are believers in every generation, in almost every dispensation, who get it right! They understand who God is and believe what He says.

Simeon was “looking for the consolation of Israel.” The word “consolation” (Greek: “paraclesis”) means encouragement, the act of giving relief or comfort in affliction. In the Greek OT in common use in that day, we find the verb form of the word (translated “comfort”) used to introduce the “suffering servant” section of Isaiah:

“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.“Speak kindly to Jerusalem;and call out to her, that her warfare has ended,that her iniquity has been removed ….” (Isaiah 40:1–2)

Then in that great passage that Jesus quoted in His first sermon:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord… (Isaiah 61:1, cp. Luke 4:18)

Simeon was a genuine OT believer. He looked forward to the fulfillment of God’s promised paraclesis, who would provide a solution to the difficulties of the Jews. As Luke further writes, “the Holy Spirit was upon him,” the Spirit who in John 14:16, 15:26, 6:7 is called the “paraclete,” a related word translated “helper” or “advocate.” Jesus Himself, and later the Holy Spirit, is God’s answer of “comfort and consolation” to all Israel’s problems.

Lord, I look to You as my comfort and consolation in time of need.