Waiting Patiently for Consolation
In Ruth 4, a son, Obed, is born to Ruth, yet the focus is on Naomi: the neighbour-women say to her, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life…” (4:14-15a).
Naomi then takes Obed and becomes his nurse. Given her bitter suffering, losing both husband and sons, it’s a beautiful picture of a baby boy taken up by one who has had to wait patiently for consolation, the boy named a redeemer and restorer of life. And this took place in Bethlehem…
So too, centuries later, another baby boy is taken up by one who has waited patiently for consolation, this time in Jerusalem. Simeon, “righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25), takes up the baby Jesus in his arms and blesses God.
This boy is the redeemer—“my eyes have seen your salvation,” he says (2:30)—and such is Simeon’s confidence that the boy is the restorer of life—that is, resurrection life—that he confidently prays, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace” (2:29).
“What is our hope in life and death? Christ alone, Christ alone.”
