And the child's father and...
Illustration
"And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them ..." (Luke 2:33-34a).
In this text, God reminds us that older people still have a major role in the life of ministry to children. They can bless them, as Simeon and Anna did in this text. An example of that might be Miss Francis. She is an elderly woman in a nursing home who never had any children. Her husband died many years ago. Her niece manages her estate. Whenever the family has a baby, they take the child over to Aunt Francis so she can touch and affirm the baby. As Gary Smalley and John Trent suggest in their book, The Blessing, "everybody needs to receive a blessing as well as give a blessing."
Giving and receiving the blessing is what God is doing in this text through Simeon and Anna and the baby Jesus. His parents were amazed.
In this text, God reminds us that older people still have a major role in the life of ministry to children. They can bless them, as Simeon and Anna did in this text. An example of that might be Miss Francis. She is an elderly woman in a nursing home who never had any children. Her husband died many years ago. Her niece manages her estate. Whenever the family has a baby, they take the child over to Aunt Francis so she can touch and affirm the baby. As Gary Smalley and John Trent suggest in their book, The Blessing, "everybody needs to receive a blessing as well as give a blessing."
Giving and receiving the blessing is what God is doing in this text through Simeon and Anna and the baby Jesus. His parents were amazed.
