Joseph and Mary had been visited by Angels who told them that Mary would give birth to the Messiah. Just like every other Jew, Mary and Joseph had grown up waiting anxiously for the day He would come, but they never expected that two young, poor kids would be the ones chosen for such an honor. Bringing God's Son into the world was not only difficult, but it would also soon be very dangerous, and Mary and Joseph needed to be warned. On the night this baby was born angels sent shepherds to a stable to assure a weary mother that all heaven was rejoicing that night at the birth of her child (Luke 2:8-14). But now, forty days later, as the family entered the Temple to present the appropriate offerings for both mother and son, an old man named Simeon was there waiting for them. He was a very special person whom God had been preparing for this moment all his life. In fact, He had kept him alive for this very moment.