Tuesday September 10
“According To the Law of Moses”
Luke 2:21-24
21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. 22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD"), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."
For the past several days we have been talking about the experience of the shepherds hearing and responding to the message of the angels in verses 8-20. After they “found” the Baby Jesus lying in a manger in Bethlehem, verse 20 informs us that “they returned”. Where did they return? No doubt they went back to the fields where they were keeping their sheep. I’m sure they probably wanted to stay at the stable with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus! What a thrilling and breathtaking experience that must have been. But no! They returned to their place of responsibility, to their livelihood, to their families and friends. And verse 17-18 tells us, “Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” They became the first evangelist in the New Testament. We should follow their example!
Now in verses 21-24, Luke shares with us what happened in the first forty days of our Lord’s humanity. Someone said, our Lord's first experience on this planet was one of pain (v. 21). Jesus experienced this rite of circumcision on the eighth day. The rite of circumcision was the covenant sign between Abraham, his seed, and God. It symbolized the cutting off of the flesh as useless as a means of producing a sinless life. The Lord's circumcision identified Him with the ruined race that He had come to save. On the natural level, it identified Him as a member of the Jewish nation (Gen. 17:14) and a member of the Abrahamic covenant.
On this same occasion, Jesus was given His human name. Both Mary and Joseph had been told that "Jesus" was God's own choice of a name for the Child (Matt. 1:18-21; Luke 1:31). The Mosaic Law required other duties and ceremonies in connection with the birth of a child. The firstborn child had to be redeemed at the price of five sanctuary shekels (Num. 18:16). The earliest date for this particular function was thirty-one days after birth. Luke refers to the Law five times in telling this part of his story (Luke 2:22, 23, 24, 27, 39).
Luke’s intent was to make clear that Jesus was born under the Law. He, the Lord Himself, however, did not need to be redeemed. He was immaculately conceived, sinlessly born, and wholly free from sin. He had come to fulfill all of the demands of the Law, so He was circumcised and ceremonially "redeemed" to identify Himself with us. Paul highlights this in Galatians 4:4-5: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Jesus circumcision and fulfilling these ceremonial rites symbolized the work the Savior did on the cross in dealing with our sin nature (Gal. 6:15; Phil. 3:1-3; Col. 2:10-11).
In verses 22-23, Dr. Luke tells us that when the days of Mary’s purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem, “to present him to the Lord". This was required by law in Exodus 13:2 and Numbers 18:15. They came to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in “the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons” (v. 24). This sacrifice was required according to Leviticus 12:2, 6. Rabbinic law fixed the date for this offering at forty-one days after the birth of a son. The Law called for the sacrifice of a lamb, but, in the case of the poor, the requirement was reduced to a pair of doves or pigeons.
Mary took her place as one who was ceremonially unclean and in need of cleansing by the shed blood of a substitute. One of the doves was offered as a sin offering, the other as a burnt offering. The sin offering symbolically transferred all of the sinner's guilt to the substitute. The burnt offering symbolically transferred all of the virtue of the substitute to the sinner.
Our Lord's relationship to the Law is an important part of His saving ministry. He was made under the Law (Gal. 4:4); and though He rejected man's religious traditions, He obeyed God's Law perfectly (John 8:46). He bore the curse of the Law for us (Gal. 3:13) and set us free from bondage (Gal. 5:1). Jesus Himself proclaimed in Matthew 5:17, that He “did not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill”.
What a wonderful Savior we have! Jesus did all this to satisfy God’s law so that we could be saved! Amen!!!!!
God bless!
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