Committing to the Christ of Christmas always involves a mixture of experiences and outcomes, all entered into by faith. This is because the message of the Christ is both a precious one because it is news of the Son of God entering the world to reveal the Father, and a costly one because it involves suffering the hostility of a world that resents the exposure of its sin in the light of the Savior’s perfect life and death. Simeon, an aged believer in the Coming Messiah, captures this tension of joy and suffering in his song of the Savior, for all generations of believers.