Day 131: Luke 2:21–24

When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were finished, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (v. 22).

Jesus’ parents had Him circumcised on the eighth day of His young life. Then they presented Him at the temple and offered the sacrifices required of new parents. Each of the steps Mary and Joseph took after Christ’s birth was typical of devout Jewish parents. What made these events atypical is that their infant would ultimately fulfill the prophetic representation of each of these rituals. Let’s take a brief look at all three rites: circumcision, redemption, and purification.

The Rite of Circumcision. We read about circumcision in Genesis 17:1–14. It was so important that verse 11 says it would serve as “a sign of the covenant between me and you.” Verse 14 says an uncircumcised male “will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” The rite of circumcision was God’s way of requiring the Jewish people to become physically different because of their relationship to Him.

A careful reading of Colossians 2:9–15 sheds light on how the infant Jesus would later be used to fulfill a different kind of circumcision in believers. Verse 11 says: “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature.” If you have walked with Jesus for any time, you can point to ways in which our spiritual circumcision results in proof that we are different than the persons we originally were.

When the infant Jesus was circumcised at eight days of age, I’m not sure His parents could fathom that He was the physical manifestation of the covenant God had made thousands of years earlier. Second Corinthians 1:20 says, “No matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.” The infant that Joseph held during Jesus’ circumcision was the very Yes of God to the promise of the covenant being symbolized.

The Rite of Redemption. In Luke 2:22–24 two distinct rites were observed by Mary and Joseph. Before we research them, please note that a segment of time has passed between the circumcision and the presentation. According to Leviticus 12:1–8 a woman was to wait thirty-three days after the circumcision before presenting a son at the temple. Exodus 13 tells us the reason why every firstborn male was to be redeemed. The redemption was a reminder that “the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand” (v. 16).

Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem in obedience to this command. Like all devout Jewish parents, they presented their infant to the Lord to depict sacrifice and redemption. When Jewish parents presented their firstborn son to the Lord, they were symbolizing the act of giving him up by saying, “He is Yours and we give him back to You.” Then they would immediately redeem him or, in effect, buy him back.

Few teachings are more important and consistent in God’s Word than the doctrine of redemption. The Hebrew word is padhah, meaning “to redeem by paying a price.” The New Testament tells us Christ came to fulfill for us the very rite Mary and Joseph observed as they presented the Christ child to the Lord.

Ephesians 1:7 says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Consider this verse from the apostle Paul’s Jewish perspective. He drew a parallel to our entrance into the family of God. Since most of us are Gentiles, we are considered the “adopted ones” in God’s family. What was true in a tangible sense after the birth of a Jewish son is true of us in a spiritual sense after our rebirth as “sons” of God. We all must be redeemed. The wonderful picture for us, however, is that we are not bought from God by our natural parents. Rather, Christ buys us from our natural parentage, which is sinful flesh, to give us to His Father. If the concept is too confusing, just celebrate that Christ has redeemed you!

The Rite of Purification. The rite of redemption was distinct from the rite of purification. This purification is described in Leviticus 12:1–8. The prescribed sacrifice included a lamb, but the law made provision for impoverished parents. Verse 8 says, “If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons.” Luke told us that Jesus’ parents offered the poverty version of the sacrifice.

Have you ever considered what Christ’s earthly poverty has to do with us? Second Corinthians 8:9 proclaims that “though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

Mary and Joseph offered the least sacrifice permitted by Jewish law for the rite of purification. How fitting that they held in their arms the greatest sacrifice a holy God could ever make for their eternal purification. Titus 2:14 tells us that Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own.”

The Word made flesh first entered the temple wrapped in a baby blanket. His earthly parents lifted Him to His Father and, in essence, purchased Him from heaven—for a while—for a lost world. One day that baby would buy them from earth for the glory of heaven. Wow.