Devotion

Wonderful Sight  

Luke 2:21-40

How good is your eyesight? As we get older, our eyesight diminishes. A few years ago, I found words on screens were a bit blurry. I needed reading glasses!

But there were no glasses in Jesus’ day. As people got older, sometimes their vision kept getting worse until they went blind. 

When Jesus’ was 40 days old, his parents took him to the Jerusalem Temple. While there, two old people – Simeon and Anna – recognised Jesus as God’s promised Messiah and Saviour of the world. 

That day, there would have been hundreds of people coming and going from the temple. I wonder: How did they know this little baby was God’s promised Rescuer? Because the Holy Spirit revealed it to them. The Holy Spirit gave them wonderful sight to recognise him as the promised Saviour of the world.

Jesus grew up and became a carpenter. Around the age of 30, he spent a few years telling people about the kingdom of God, healing the sick, raising the dead, and feeding the hungry. He even healed a man born blind. 

Tens of thousands of people saw Jesus and listened to him. Some thought he was a teacher. Others regarded him as a holy man - or a prophet. Not everyone in Israel recognised Jesus as God’s Son and Saviour of the world.  They refused to believe in him. They rejected him.

2000 years later, we still need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes see Jesus is God come to save us and make us his. We need the Holy Spirit to open our hearts to receive Jesus, trust Jesus, do life with Jesus, and follow Jesus all the way home. 

Jesus has shown us the love of God. He has died for our sins. He has risen to conquer death for us. One day Jesus will bring us into our Father’s house in heaven. I hope and pray that we will never lose sight of Jesus as our Saviour, Lord, and Friend. 

Pr Rolly Stahl