There’s a lot of weirdos around isn’t there?  A lot of strange looking people who reckon they’ve heard from God.  A lot of unlikely folk who claim to have God’s Twitter address and that God DM’s them direct with information.

When Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple as was required they ran into two unusual people.

The first was Simeon, an old guy who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.  He praises God effusively when he sees the baby Jesus.

The second was Anna who was a prophetess, a widow, and also very old.  She stayed in the temple and worshipped day and night.

Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Remember this was in a culture and at a time when women were not even allowed in the same parts of the temple as the men for worshipping.  This was the same culture that prompted Paul to tell the Corinthian church that women shouldn’t speak in church.  This was a culture where the law courts wouldn’t accept testimony from a woman.

Yet people were obviously willing to listen to Anna about the Messiah and the redemption of Jerusalem.

And of course to make matters even more interesting, when John the Baptist started spreading the word of Jesus Christ he wandered around in strange clothes eating nothing but locusts and honey.

Two very important points

1. Don’t presume that a word doesn’t come from God because the messenger isn’t who you would choose to deliver it.
2. Check their message doesn’t contradict Scripture.  Simeon’s, Anna’s and John the Baptist’s messages were in complete agreement with Scripture.

Photo credit: brymo