Daily Devotion for Lent - Day 4

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:25-52

Maybe it is because I usually don't read this passage in Lent (when we think more about the cross), but it really struck me today about the encounter with Simeon.  Luke utilizes Simeon's prose in verses 29-32 to really foreshadow the Christian mission to the Gentiles.

As we see this proclaimed about Jesus at the beginning of the Gospel through Simeon, I am drawn to the end of the Gospel when Simon of Cyrene is forced to carry the cross of Jesus: 

"As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus." (Luke 23:26, NRSV)

Safety Simon probably wouldn't
advise carrying the cross!

Of course, Simon (Peter) is the first disciple Jesus calls in Luke's Gospel (although his brother Andrew holds this distinction in John's Gospel).  

In all of these ways, it may be that we are Simon.  Like Simeon, our own encounter with Christ gives us peace.  And like Simon, we find that we are called by Christ to follow him and that sometimes, like Simon of Cyrene, this even leads us to carry the cross.

Luke's Gospel dispels any notion that if we only have enough faith, our suffering will cease.  Simeon tells Mary, the mother of Jesus, "and a sword will pierce your own soul too."

But as we have faith in Christ, it is this faith which allows us to endure the suffering that is a part of all life.  And this is the faith which Luke reminds us at the end of the Gospel in 24:34, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!”  May this be so for us as well!

Prayer for the day:

Lord, we would seek to glorify you for your grace which spans a world.  May we not be in opposition to your love or put our own ends above your will for the world.  Let all of our actions be life-giving to those we encounter this day.  Amen.

Photo by Old White Truck via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.