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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
When the time came for
the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took Him
to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the
Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a
sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves
or two young pigeons.”
Now there was a man in
Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the
consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to
him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s
Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents
brought in the child Jesus to do for Him what the custom of the Law required,
Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as You
have promised, you may now dismiss Your servant in peace. For
my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the sight of all
nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people
Israel.”
The child’s father and
mother marveled at what was said about Him. Then Simeon blessed them and said
to Mary, His mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of
many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the
thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul
too.”
There was also a
prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old;
she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a
widow until she was eighty-four. She
never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
Coming up to them at
that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who
were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:22-38
This ends
today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In yesterday’s devotion, we looked at the
first significant event in the life of the new born baby of Joseph and Mary,
His circumcision and naming. We gained understanding that under the Jewish
customs and law, a baby boy would not be named until his eighth day of life
after he was circumcised. And in the case of Jesus, Joseph and Mary gave the
Son God had granted the name told them by the angel Gabriel.
As we move forward from this event in the
scriptures, we come to the next main event in Jesus’ young life, His dedication
in the temple, something that was also mandated by Jewish law. Look at this excerpt
from the Book of Leviticus:
The
Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and
gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she
is unclean during her monthly period. On the eighth day the boy is to be
circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her
bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the
days of her purification are over. If she gives birth to a daughter, for two
weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait
sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding.”
“‘When
the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to
the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt
offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. He shall
offer them before the Lord to make atonement for her, and then she will be
ceremonially clean from her flow of blood.”
“‘These
are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. But if
she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one
for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest
will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’” Leviticus 12
This passage is very critical for
understanding why things happened the way they did within the first several
months of Jesus’ life.
Here we see why the eighth day was set as
the day of circumcision for a baby boy. By law, the woman was deemed “ceremonially
unclean for seven days” and so the circumcision was set for the first day after
that week period ended.
Then we read where the woman would again
enter a period of ceremonial uncleanliness, this time for thirty-three days.
During this time, the woman would not be allowed to enter the sanctuary of the
temple until after the required time for purification had been met.
Once all the stipulations were met, we see
from the law that the newborn son or daughter was to be brought to the “entrance
of the tent of meeting” where two offerings would be presented, a year old lamb
for the burnt offering and a young pigeon or dove for the sin offering. These
sacrifices would be made as an atonement for the baby’s mother to make her
ceremonially clean again.
One more thing to note. Not every mother
would be financially well off enough to be able to afford a lamb and so the law
would allow two birds, either pigeons or doves, to be offered instead. This is important
as we look at our scripture passage today from Luke 2 as Jesus is taken to the
temple by Joseph and Mary to dedicate Him to the Lord. Look at these verses
again:
When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of
Moses, Joseph and Mary took Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it
is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated
to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law
of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and
devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was
on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die
before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the
temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him what
the custom of the Law required, Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God,
saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, you may now dismiss Your servant
in peace. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have
prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and
the glory of your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about Him. Then
Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His mother: “This child is destined to
cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be
spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a
sword will pierce your own soul too.”
There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of
Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her
marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night
and day, fasting and praying.
Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke
about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:22-38
Here we see where Joseph and Mary go to the
temple of the Lord for two purposes: (1) Mary’s purification rite and (2) Jesus’
dedication to present Him to the Lord to satisfy the Law of Moses. Here was
that Law:
The
Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male.
The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether
human or animal.”
“…you
are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb.” Exodus 13:1-2,
12
Joseph and Mary, both being faithful Jews,
were very focused on meeting the requirements of the Law of Moses and this is
why they were at the temple in Jerusalem, obedient to what God called them to
do.
Note that they came with two birds, an
obvious sign that they were in one of the lower socioeconomic levels within
Jewish society. Jesus didn’t grow up in the lap of luxury by any means.
So indeed Joseph and Mary were very
dedicated to the Lord and His commands and they had come to dedicate Jesus to
the Lord in obedience to the Lord’s commands. This is why our devotion is
titled dedication because it is a common theme throughout this word from Luke.
We find two other examples in the two people Joseph and Mary encountered in the
temple: Simeon and Anna.
In the case of Simeon, the scriptures tell
us that he was righteous and devout, while “waiting for the consolation of
Israel” which simply meant that he was anxiously awaiting the coming of the
Messiah. He knew he would see that day through a promise made to him through
the Holy Spirit, a promise that assured Simeon that “he would not die before he
had seen the Lord’s Messiah”. And so Simeon waited, dedicated to the promise
that had been given him.
That promise came to fruition when Joseph
and Mary ended up at God’s holy temple in Jerusalem and moved by the Spirit,
Simeon entered the temple courts where he would have his dream come true. For
when Jesus was brought by His parents to “do for Him what the custom of the Law
required”, Simeon took Jesus in His arms and brought praise to God saying:
“Sovereign
Lord, as You have promised, you may now dismiss Your servant in peace. For my
eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the sight of all
nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people
Israel.”
Imagine that you were Simeon. You had
waited and waited and waited. You could have given up hope but you didn’t. You
were dedicated to trusting in what the Holy Spirit said would happen. And
finally, it did and you were holding the Messiah in your arms. It was an
incredible moment, one that left Joseph and Mary marveling over what Simeon had
said about their son.
But Simeon wasn’t finished addressing Jesus’
parents. For we read where he said this to Mary after blessing her and Joseph:
“This
child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be
a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be
revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Here we find Simeon turning into a prophet
and opening a window up to the future that was ahead as Joseph and Mary raised
up their son. Indeed, Jesus would bring a new teaching and message of salvation
to the nations and there would be rising and falling, His life culminated with
such a horrific suffering and execution that Mary would find her heart pierced,
something that would happen at the cross.
Well, Simeon wasn’t the only person in the
temple on Jesus’ day of dedication. For we read that a woman who was a
prophetess was present, a woman named Anna.
There
was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She
was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and
then was a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and
praying.
Coming
up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the
child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Unlike Simeon who was guided to the temple
by the Holy Spirit, Anna lived in the temple. In fact the scriptures tell us
that she “never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and
praying”. In other words, Anna was completed dedicated to the Lord.
We don’t know what exactly led Anna to
single out Joseph, Mary, and Jesus but she showed up to them in the spur of a
moment and “gave thanks to God”, speaking about Jesus and speaking to anyone
present “who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem”. The Messiah
had indeed come.
In today’s devotion, we see four specific
instanced of dedicated people:
1. Joseph and Mary were dedicated and
obedient to the law.
2. Jesus was being dedicated to His Father
who sent Him.
3. Simeon was dedicated to the promise that
He would see the Lord’s Messiah before he died, a promise that came true.
and
4. Anna was dedicated to the Lord as she
spent all her time in the temple worshiping Him. She was rewarded with getting
to see the Messiah.
As we close, I believe the Lord is asking
each of this today:
“In what was are you dedicated to Me?”
For me, I try to show dedication in many
ways, which include the work I do through the ministry the Lord called me to,
The Christian Walk. I pray the words He places on my heart every day, words such
as the ones in this devotion, will be a blessing to the reader who is looking
to grow in their faith, trust, hope, and knowledge of their Lord.
Thanks for reading today.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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