December 29, 2022: Luke 2:34-35 - That the Thoughts of Many Hearts May Be Revealed

“Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’ ” - Luke 2:34-35

After seeing the Child Jesus and blessing the Lord for His salvation, Simeon also had some sorrowful and prophetic words for Mary. He told her that a sword would pierce through her own soul, for many would reject Jesus and their hearts would be revealed. This makes me remember Judas Iscariot, who would be one of the 12 apostles chosen by Jesus to follow Him and tell Israel of the way to redemption of sins and to live in eternal glory in heaven with God the Father. Yet, Judas was the one who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Judas’ heart was revealed, and it was a heart of greed, pride, wickedness, and evil; it was the heart of a sinner in need of a Savior. Judas had eaten, walked, and talked with Jesus, listening to all that Jesus had told him and the other apostles from the start, and yet he did not ever really know Jesus and believe that Jesus was who He said He was.

Simeon, through the Holy Spirit, told Jesus’ mother Mary that a sword would pierce through her own soul, a level of pain and anguish a mother should never have to experience. As a mother, I cannot imagine the sorrow Mary must have experienced as she watched her son Jesus grow and be absolutely hated and despised by the same people to whom God had sent His only begotten Son to offer them salvation from all their sins. Perhaps Mary would hear when people said of Jesus, “He has a demon and is mad [insane]. Why do you listen to Him?” Maybe she had heard what the Pharisees had said of Him, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” As any loving mother knows, when our child hurts, we hurt. These words must have pierced her as a sword that cuts deep, for she knew the real purpose why Jesus had come to this earth. Perhaps Simeon’s words to her were also a foreshadowing of the spear or sword that would pierce the side of Jesus by a Roman solider after Jesus had given up His life. The horror Mary would have to witness as Jesus died and was then pierced by a sword would be for her like someone putting a sword straight through her soul.

There were so many people who absolutely hated and despised Jesus, just as there are today. This Child whom Mary loved so deeply would be the Man of sorrows, as foretold in Isaiah 53:3, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, Jesus had revealed about Himself to the apostle John. In Revelation 1:16 John had a vision of Jesus and wrote: “He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.” Jesus is the Word of God. As the Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The Word of God divides, separating those who have a heart for Jesus and those who are against Him. Jesus would later tell His disciples, “Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”

Jesus knew what was in Judas’ heart, just as He knows what is in the heart of every single person who has ever lived. It is the heart that causes us to believe or not believe in Jesus as Messiah. Will we have a heart like Simeon’s, full of hope, love, and peace for our Savior, or will it be hardened against Him, like Judas, refusing to know Him, rejecting salvation, and ready to betray Him? What do your thoughts about Jesus reveal about your own heart? ✝️