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Chapter 5—Joseph and Mary Dedicate Jesus
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. As man’s substitute Christ must conform to the law in
every particular. He had already been circumcised, as a pledge of
His obedience to the law.
As an offering for the mother, the law required a lamb for a
burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. These
offerings were to be without blemish, for they represented Christ.
He was the “lamb without blemish and without spot.”
1 Peter 1:19
.
He was an example of what God designed humanity to be through
obedience to His laws.
The dedication of the firstborn had its origin in earliest times.
God had promised to give the Firstborn of heaven to save the sinner.
This gift was to be acknowledged in every household by the conse-
cration of the firstborn son. He was to be devoted to the priesthood,
as a representative of Christ among men.
What meaning then was attached to Christ’s presentation! But
the priest did not see through the veil. Day after day he went through
the presentation of infants, giving little heed to parents or children,
unless he saw some indication of wealth or high rank. Joseph and
Mary were poor, and the priest saw only a Galilean man and woman,
dressed in the humblest garments.
The priest 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. Little did he think, as the babe lay in his arms,
that he was enrolling the name of the Majesty of heaven, the King
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of glory, the One who was the foundation of the Jewish economy.
This babe was He who declared Himself to Moses as the I AM,
He who in the pillar of cloud and of fire had been the guide of Israel.
He was the Desire of all nations, the Root and Offspring of David,
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