In fulfillment of the promise the Spirit brought Simeon into the temple at the same time as Joseph and Mary. Simeon was ‘in the Spirit’, which includes being inspired by the Spirit but seems also to indicate something more: a special sensitivity. Simeon blessed God by offering up a prayer of praise

²⁸ he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: ²⁹ “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, ³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹ which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” 

As with the hymns in chapter 1 (Bendictus and Magnificat), this little song is known by its opening words in Latin, namely Nunc Dimittis. Simeon’s now is important. He is ready to die peacefully now that he has seen God’s salvation, i.e. the Baby through whom God would in time bring salvation. His language is that of the freeing of a slave and he may be thinking of death as ‘his release from a long task.’ Simeon goes on to show that this salvation is not for any one nation but for all. This is clear enough in all the peoples‚ but Simeon spells it out by speaking of both the Gentiles and your people Israel. But as Leon Morris notes [p.105]: “It is probably only the poetic structure that links a light for revelation with the former and glory with the latter, for he would bring revelation to Israel as to others. But there is appropriateness in linking glory with Israel. There is much about glory in the Old Testament‚ particularly in connection with God’s manifestations of himself to his people. But Israel will see glory in its truest and fullest sense when it sees the Son of God (cf. John 1:14). His being a light to Gentiles means no diminution of Israel’s glory, but rather its full realization.”

Through the gift of the Holy Spirit Simeon had lived to recognize the Messiah in the infant Jesus and was now able to leave this life in peace knowing that the salvation long promised in the covenants and proclaimed by the prophets was coming to bear for the sake of the world. But the words of the prayer have many allusions to the history of salvation as revealed in the Old Testament scrolls.

• The promise to Abraham: “For my part, here is my covenant with you: you are to become the father of a multitude of nations.” (Gen 17:4)  It has long been the hope/prophecy that the fates of those within and outside Israel are connected. 
• It was a theme often repeated by the Prophet Isaiah: “In days to come, the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it.” (Is 2:2) When nations arrive their desire will be that God “may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” (v.3).  

So there is more at play than simply the fulfillment of a divine promise to one righteous man. It is a gift of wisdom and insight that this one righteous man recognized that all the promises of God were being fulfilled in the infant being carried into the Temple.

In these few verses, the focal point of the narrative involves the presentation of Simeon as a reliable witness: a righteous and pious man, an agent of the Holy Spirit, his physical location in the Jerusalem temple, and his understanding of the message of Isaiah not only in terms of covenant promise fulfillment but also in expressing his praise to God.

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Image credit: Giotto di Bondone, Presentation of Christ in the Temple | Lower Church in the Basilica of San Francesco, Assisi | PD-US