Chapter 5—The Dedication
This chapter is based on
Luke 2:21-38
.
About forty days after the birth of Christ, Joseph and Mary took
Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, and to offer sacrifice.
This was according to the Jewish law, and as man’s substitute Christ
must conform to the law in every particular. He had already been
subjected to the rite of circumcision, as a pledge of His obedience to
the law.
As an offering for the mother, the law required a lamb of the first
year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin
offering. But the law provided that if the parents were too poor to
bring a lamb, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a
burnt offering, the other for a sin offering, might be accepted.
The offerings presented to the Lord were to be without blemish.
These offerings represented Christ, and from this it is evident that
Jesus Himself was free from physical deformity. He was the “lamb
without blemish and without spot.”
1 Peter 1:19
. His physical structure
was not marred by any defect; His body was strong and healthy. And
throughout His lifetime He lived in conformity to nature’s laws. Phys-
ically as well as spiritually, He was an example of what God designed
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all humanity to be through obedience to His laws.
The dedication of the first-born had its origin in the earliest times.
God had promised to give the First-born of heaven to save the sinner.
This gift was to be acknowledged in every household by the consecra-
tion of the first-born son. He was to be devoted to the priesthood, as a
representative of Christ among men.
In the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the dedication of the first-
born was again commanded. While the children of Israel were in
bondage to the Egyptians, the Lord directed Moses to go to Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, and say, “Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even
My first-born: and I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve
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