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The beautiful verse there, describing Simeon waiting for the consolation of Israel, and in the passage about taking the baby Jesus in his arms, now found as a direct quote from the 4th Century Codex Sianiatuicus, engraved in stone, on the monument that earlier this year was also verified as the burial place of John the Baptist's father, Zacheriah; now asserted also as the burial site of Simeon, just announced today...

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/package.jsp?name=fte/lukesgospel/lukesgospel

What a nice Christmas message--a part of the Christmas story.

    :)

I guess Herod is mad now! >:(

Oops, actually, the inscription is of Luke 2:25.  Pretty cool discovery.


They're thinking too that somewhere on this same tomb will be an inscription of James, the brother of Jesus, also being buried there(his bone box discovery was announced one year ago).  James by tradition was martyed in 62 A.D.

According to tradition from the 4th century A.D., this tomb housed the remains(thot long since gone now, of course) of Zacheriah,(John the B's father), James, and Simeon.

Simeon was already an old man, when he blessed the baby Jesus there.  Also, so was Zacheriah, when his wife gave birth to John the Baptist.  So they both must have died shortly after this Luke 2:25 scene.

That being the case, this would mean they died long before Jesus was a mature man.  Tradition, also, has it Zacheriah was martyred.

That means already, before Jesus began his preaching, that at least Zacheriah was in trouble, for something that happened there.

This might mean persecution was already beginning, perhaps by Zealots, long before there were even Christians--just for the sake of being visted by the angel Gabriel, as Zacheriah was.  

Apparently, everybody must have known something was up, long before Jesus' actual ministery.  Zacheriah couldn't speak until John was born, and the whole circumstances there.  Plus, Zacheriah was a priest, in the Temple.