John Calvin Commentary Luke 2:31

"Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples;" — Luke 2:31 (ASV)

Which thou hast prepared—By these words Simeon intimates that Christ had been divinely appointed, that all nations might enjoy his grace; and that he would shortly afterwards be placed in an elevated situation and would draw upon him the eyes of all. Under this term, he includes all the predictions which relate to the spread of Christ’s kingdom. But if Simeon, when holding a little child in his arms, could stretch his mind to the utmost boundaries of the world and acknowledge the power of Christ to be everywhere present, how much more magnificent ought our conceptions regarding him to be, now that he has been set up as a standard to the people (Isaiah 49:22) and has revealed himself to the whole world.