Jesus Reveals the Inner Thoughts of All

Scripture: Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too." Luke 2:34-35

Observation: Simeon - a man well known in Jerusalem and whom the Lord told would see Messiah - acknowledges Jesus as that Messiah. His clarity of the true purpose of what that means is amazingly accurate and complete. He first declares Jesus as a "light" for the gentiles and a source of glory for the Jews. Then he explicitly points out to Mary that the manner in which people interact with Jesus will effectively determine their long-term status with the Lord.

It is by the Messiah that everyone stumbles and falls, or accepts and rises. Eventually, the act of opposing the Messiah or Christ will become the most important barometer in revealing the 'inner thoughts' of people. Most pointedly in this is the idea of rejection ... it is by rejecting Jesus that people will show their true selves when it comes to the question of obedience to the Lord, or desiring the ways of the world. This is the one true mission of the Messiah - to fully define that delineation in people and to thus provide salvation by faith alone - and Simeon well understood this fact about Messiah.

Application: I know this to be true ... that deciding what to do about Jesus is not only the most important decision of anyone's life, but also the one true measure of their human lives. While believing in Jesus doesn't make someone good, rejecting Jesus places them into a completely different category where, from the perspective of eternity, good and bad doesn't even matter. Rejecting Jesus means they reject God and thus choose to lean into a life fully embracing the material and physical world. They become fully self-reliant, to be victims of random chance and evil intent, living a life that is nothing like what God desired for them.

As Simeon said, rejecting Jesus is actually about one's inner thoughts. It is about desiring self-importance and self-reliance, believing only in what is in the world before them, and rejecting any outcome of life that extends beyond their own mortal timeline. All meaning is found within ... even being 'good' is just about wishing to be known a certain way. Concepts of morality, love, honor, and happiness become logically created within the individual's framework of experience and learning; to the extent these personal frameworks align to other people's framework, an earthly community can form ... or be torn apart.

Jesus truly reveals the inner thoughts of everyone based on the only question that matters: Is Jesus your Lord and savior?

Prayer: Jesus, you are my Lord and savior. I know you are the Messiah, the Christ, and as a gentile you are my light of hope and joy and love. Thank you for your sacrifice and for creating the way for our eternal reconciliation with our father in heaven. Amen.