Dedication
33
The priest went through the ceremony of his official work. He took
the child in his arms, and held it up before the altar. After handing it
back to its mother, he inscribed the name “Jesus” on the roll of the
first-born. Little did he think, as the babe lay in his arms, that it was
the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory. The priest did not think that
this babe was the One of whom Moses had written, “A Prophet shall
the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me;
Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you.”
Acts
3:22
. He did not think that this babe was He whose glory Moses had
asked to see. But One greater than Moses lay in the priest’s arms; and
when he enrolled the child’s name, he was enrolling the name of One
who was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. That name was
to be its death warrant; for the system of sacrifices and offerings was
waxing old; the type had almost reached its antitype, the shadow its
substance.
The Shekinah had departed from the sanctuary, but in the Child
of Bethlehem was veiled the glory before which angels bow. This
unconscious babe was the promised seed, to whom the first altar at the
gate of Eden pointed. This was Shiloh, the peace giver. It was He who
declared Himself to Moses as the I AM. It was He who in the pillar
of cloud and of fire had been the guide of Israel. This was He whom
seers had long foretold. He was the Desire of all nations, the Root and
the Offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star. The name of
that helpless little babe, inscribed in the roll of Israel, declaring Him
our brother, was the hope of fallen humanity. The child for whom
the redemption money had been paid was He who was to pay the
ransom for the sins of the whole world. He was the true “high priest
over the house of God,” the head of “an unchangeable priesthood,” the
intercessor at “the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Hebrews 10:21
;
[53]
[54]
[55]
7:24
;
1:3
.
Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. In the temple the Son of
God was dedicated to the work He had come to do. The priest looked
upon Him as he would upon any other child. But though he neither saw
nor felt anything unusual, God’s act in giving His Son to the world was
acknowledged. This occasion did not pass without some recognition
of Christ. “There was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon;
and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of
Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto