Awaiting His Coming
Jesus is coming again. Of course, that shouldn’t be a surprise to us Christians. In fact, 75 percent of American Christians surveyed in April of 2022 said they believe Jesus is coming again. Perhaps the more surprising takeaway from that survey is that 25 percent of those Christians don’t believe He is coming again while 55 percent of all U.S. adults believe He is! So, let me say once more, and this time with greater gusto—Jesus is coming again!
When I think about His second coming, I’m reminded of Jesus’ first coming. I’m reminded of how the prophets foretold the Savior’s birth and so many other details about His life, including where He would be born and what lineage He would come from. Then decades and centuries went by before He finally appeared, born of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem, and many failed to recognize Him when He came.
I mean, the people had talked about their coming Messiah. They had looked for Him. They had waited for Him through the generations even, but when Jesus finally came, many either missed Him or did not believe He was the Promised One. There were a few, however, who knew who Jesus, the Babe in the manger, was. There were the Magi (the three wise men) and the shepherds, of course, and John the Baptist who jumped in his mother’s womb when his mother saw Mary then pregnant with Jesus. But there were two other people who recognized Jesus in His infancy, only they recognized Him when He was brought to the temple by His parents. These two people were Simeon and Anna. Their lives are examples for us of how we should be waiting for Jesus’ second coming.
Simeon & Anna
We read about Simeon in Luke 2. Historically, he is often referred to as “the old man” or “aged Simeon.” The Bible doesn’t say his age, however. Instead, what we read as far as any description about Simeon is that he was “righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him” (Luke 2:25 ESV). Then we’re told Simeon was led by the Holy Spirit to the temple, and when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into the temple “according to the custom of the Law,” Simeon took Jesus into “his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:27–32 ESV). Simeon even prophesied over the Child and His mother (Luke 2:34–35 ESV).
The other person who recognized Jesus in His infancy was Anna the prophetess. We’re given a little more biographical information about her in Luke 2. Actually, we’re told a lot about her in just a few verses. She was “the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher,” and “she was advanced in years” (Luke 2:36 ESV). Furthermore, the Scripture tells us that her husband had died when they had been married for only seven years. She remained a widow to the age of 84 and never left the temple! What was she doing? She was worshiping “God with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37 ESV). “She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38 NLT).
Imagine the scene with me for a moment. Joseph and Mary were walking through a crowd, and one man amid the throng of people saw Jesus, the Baby, for who He really was. Mary and Joseph probably bumped into people as they made their way through the crowd, kind of like walking through an airport when its super busy. Everybody sees everybody else, yet looking past them and trying to quickly get to their gate or baggage claim or out the door.
But in the temple, all the people were there because of Jesus, whether they knew it or not. They were praying prayers to the God of Israel while totally unaware that the God of Israel was actually right there among them. He was the Baby in Mary’s arms. But Simeon recognized Jesus, and Anna recognized Jesus when she saw Him with Simeon, Joseph, and Mary. Why? Because both Simeon and Anna had been waiting for Him. Simeon had received a revelation and a personal promise. He was going to see the “consolation of Israel” before he died. Anna had been watchful in prayer and fasting for the One who would “rescue Jerusalem.
Actively Waiting
Both Simeon and Anna were actively waiting. They were committed to wait until they saw Jesus with their own eyes. And I just think it’s ironic that the entire generation at that time had been praying and waiting for God to send the Messiah to come and fix what was wrong, to come and break off the power of their oppressors, and to come and restore the promises that God had made to the nation through the prophets of old. Yet in the middle of a generation that needed His coming, were desperate for His coming, there were only two people in the crowded temple who saw and recognized Him.
When you’re living in the moment, there are reasons why you miss things or don’t see things as accurately as you should. And I can think of four reasons why people missed Jesus at His first coming:
They were ignorant. It could be they didn’t even know what they were looking for.
They were prejudiced. Maybe they thought their Messiah would come another way. Perhaps they were looking for a political or military leader who would win the day.
They were complacent. It could be they lost their hope of His coming because so much time had passed, or maybe they shifted their hope onto some other source of salvation like wealth or politics.
They were distracted. Perhaps they were caught up with what was going on in their own lives—their children, their business, their homes, their relationships, their pursuits.
These are the same four reasons why people may miss Jesus’ second coming. The survey I mentioned at the beginning tells us many are expecting His return, but the question that begs answering is what are they doing in the meantime? What are we doing in the meantime? We need to be actively waiting like Simeon and Anna. We need to be people of God’s house, people of prayer, people of fasting, and people of expectation. That’s how Simeon and Anna approached Jesus’ first coming, and that’s how they got to see Him while so many others did not.
Make no mistake about it. Jesus is coming again. As sure as the promises indicated Jesus would come the first time—and He did—there are precious promises indicating He will come again, and He will! The Bible clearly tells us Jesus is going to return physically to the earth, bringing history as we have known it to a conclusion while inaugurating the new heavens and earth and His earthly Kingdom. I don’t want to miss it. I don’t want you to miss it. Pray. Watch. Fast. Go to His house with expectation. Hope for His return. Wait for Him, for, “behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen” (Revelation 1:7 ESV).
