I. Introduction
It’s Sunday morning, January 2, 2011. It’s also the eighth day after Christmas. Could there be a more appropriate day to open our Bibles to Luke 2:21 and read, “And when eight days were completed before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus…”?
Two thousand years ago a new life began in a manger in the city of Bethlehem. It was a life that would be marked by obedience to God. Yesterday a new year began for us right here in Lake Geneva. Will it be a year marked by our obedience to God?
I’m not talking about making a “New Year’s resolution,” a personal promise to exercise more or to lose weight or to engage in some other particular discipline. How long do such resolutions last? How often do they become a permanent part of your life? What I am talking about is a commitment to God, one that will have eternal benefit and reward.
While the dictionary defines a resolution as a decision, it defines a commitment is an obligation. This morning our focus will be on an obligation. What is the obligation in question? It is the commitment to obey God. As always, Jesus is our example. In today’s passage we will see that He was obedient from the beginning.
Someone may say, “Wait a minute! Luke 2:21 says Jesus is eight days old. How can he commit Himself to obey God at that age?” That’s a good question. Here’s the answer. He can’t! But Joseph and Mary can. Just as the first two people we met in Luke, Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s sight, so too are Joseph and Mary. God is giving these two righteous people the task of seeing to it that Jesus obeys the Law of Moses even from His birth.
Here is a great lesson about obedience for all of us. We don’t need to have children living with us to see what God is teaching. Despite the prevalence of the modern view that salvation in Christ requires nothing more that an intellectual belief in the existence of the historic Jesus, the Bible clearly teaches that the one who does not have faith in Him, and obey Him, is not a Christian, regardless of what that person chooses to call himself or herself. In fact, in John’s gospel, obedience is pointedly equated with saving faith.
John 3:36
36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The writer of Hebrews, speaking of Jesus’ qualification as our Great High Priest, says…
Hebrews 5:8-9
8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation…
So the test of true faith is this: Does it produce obedience? If your belief in Jesus Christ is not producing obedience, it is not saving faith.
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II. Text
In the beginning of Jesus’ life on this earth God entrusted His obedience to godly parents. Again, they made sure that He would fulfill the Law of Moses entirely and completely.
In these four verses we will see three specific things that Joseph and Mary did to obey God’s Law. First, they had Jesus circumcised and they named Him. Second, Mary was ritually purified. Third, they took Jesus to the temple and presented Him to God.
*Luke 2:21-24 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
21 And when eight days were completed before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every first-born male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”),
24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
You may say, “All right, I see what’s going on here, but why is any of this necessary? Isn’t Jesus without sin? Why do His parents have to do any of these things for Him?” The answer should be obvious. But the problem is it’s so simple and so basic that we easily miss it. It’s like not seeing the forest because there are too many trees in the way.
Here’s the answer. In order for Jesus’ sacrifice to be effective for you and for me He had to be fully human. He had to live an entire life. It had to be a perfect and a righteous life. He had to come into this world through a normal birth. He had to grow up as everyone does, He had to go through childhood, adolescence, and then live as an adult so that everyone could see that He lived a perfect and sinless life.
It had to be that way. Otherwise, there would be no perfect and sinless human life to credit to your account and to mine. This is what the doctrine of the “substitutionary atonement” is all about. Jesus became our substitute on the cross because He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. In simple terms, Jesus traded places with us.
The facts are these. You and I live sinful lives, but His was without sin. You and I fall short of the glory of God, but He is the glory of God. You and I were destined for suffering and death, but He took that suffering and death upon Himself and gave us blessing and life.
Do you see? On the cross God poured out on Jesus the same punishment that you and I deserve for the lives we have lived. God did that so He could pour out on us the same blessing that Jesus deserves for the life that He lived. That’s the point. The Scripture teaches this again and again. The OT prophecies it.
Isaiah 53:5
5 He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities, the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.
The NT testifies to it.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 (God) made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, (so) that we might become the righteousness of God.
1 Peter 2:24
24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, (so) that we might die to sin and live to righteousness…
Luke 2:21-24 tells us that Jesus’ earthly life began in complete obedience to God and His laws. He lived every moment of His earthly life in obedience. And, at the last, just as Jeff read this morning from Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, Jesus ended His earthly life in the very same way.
Philippians 2:8
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
The first acts of obedience in Jesus’ life are revealed in this morning’s first verse.
*Luke 2:21
21 And when eight days were completed before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
Circumcision was introduced by God as a sign of His covenant with Abraham.
Genesis 17:10-11
10 “This is My covenant, which you shall keep between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
11 “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.”
Circumcision had both practical and spiritual purposes. First, it had physical purposes. It identified a Jewish man. It also helped to keep him clean and keep bacteria and infection from being passed on to his wife, and ultimately to his children. This, along with dietary and other laws, helped to preserve the Jews in an age when many horrendous diseases and plagues wiped out entire nations.
Second, circumcision had spiritual ramifications. It was a symbolic of the need for spiritual cleansing. The point was made that, in the end, what really mattered was “circumcision of the heart.” In Deuteronomy God tells Moses that believing Jews will have their hearts cleansed.
Deuteronomy 30:6
6 “…the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.”
This prophecy will reach its ultimate fulfillment at the Second Coming when every living Jew will be saved. But in the meantime, circumcision is intended to remind the Jews that they are a deeply sinful people in need of a clean heart…just exactly like us Gentiles.
When David confessed his sin of adultery with Bathsheba, he used that very term in his plea for God’s forgiveness.
Psalm 51:10
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God…
So circumcision was introduced to Abraham. However, he was an adult. It was the Law of Moses that laid out God’s instructions and gave the details for Jewish babies.
Leviticus 12:3
3 “And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.”
This is what Joseph and Mary did. Jesus was born under the Law of Moses. In fact, that is exactly what the Apostle Paul says in his letter to the church at Galatia.
Galatians 4:4
4 But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.
Jesus was born under it and He lived His life to fulfill it. Remember what He said in the Sermon on the Mount?
Matthew 5:17
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.
18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.”
So in Jesus’ first opportunity to fulfill the Law of Moses, God saw too it that He did so by being circumcised on the eighth day.
Directly connected to this first act of obedience Luke 2:21 tells us that Jesus was named as well. “…His name was then called Jesus…” This required neither thought nor debate. The angel Gabriel had told already Mary that His name would be “Jesus.” God had named Him even before His conception.
In Matthew’s gospel it is recorded that this same instruction was given to Joseph.
Matthew 1:21
21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.”
Jesus’ name literally means, “Yahweh saves.” It is the Greek equivalent of Joshua, which is pronounced “Yeshua” in Hebrew. Thus you’ll often hear believing Jews refer to “Jesus the Messiah” as “Yeshua ha Mashiach.” But regardless of how you say it – Yeshua, Joshua, Jesus – it means the same thing. God saves His people from their sins!
So Jesus has been circumcised and He has been named. But there’s more. The Mosaic Law requires something from His mother.
*Luke 2:22-23
22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every first-born male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”),
The purification here refers to that of the mother. The word “their” in v. 22 speaks of the presence of Joseph and Jesus. Mary did not go up to Jerusalem alone. Again, all of this was done in keeping with the Law of Moses.
*Leviticus 12:1:5
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘When a woman gives birth and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days, as in the days of her menstruation she shall be unclean.
3 ‘And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
4 ‘Then she shall remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed.
5 ‘But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her menstruation; and she shall remain in the blood of her purification for sixty-six days.’”
This passage raises at least two obvious questions, doesn’t it? First, what exactly is meant by unclean? Second, why were women required to wait twice as long for their ritual purification to be completed if the baby was a girl?
The answer to the first question, “What is actually meant by unclean?” is pretty straight-forward. For the first seven days after giving birth a woman was considered to be unclean in the same sense that she was unclean during her monthly period. The cause was not the birth itself. It was the by-products of the birth that made for this uncleanness.
But in the context of Leviticus 12 it also refers to a ceremonial uncleanness.
This was a reminder that in bringing a new life into the world, the child, just like his or her parents, was a sinner. In King David’s psalm of repentance he speaks of that as well.
Psalm 51:5
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
In the case of a son this ceremonial uncleanness lasted another thirty-three days beyond the first seven. But that leads to the second question raised by Leviticus 12:5. “Why did women wait twice as long for their purification to be completed if the baby was a girl?”
Nowhere does Scripture directly address this question.
There are all sorts of possibilities for the requirement of an eighty day purification after the birth of a female child, while only forty days were required after the birth of a male child. However, the best explanations are no more than what might be called “sanctified speculation.” Here are a few reasons that may have some credibility.
• Some say that since a female could not be circumcised, the extra time would in some symbolic way take the place of circumcision.
• Some say it was symbolic of the fact that a female baby would eventually take part in the same uncleanness.
• Some even believe that, for some obscure reason, thirty-five hundred years ago, when Moses wrote Leviticus, postnatal discharges lasted longer after giving birth to females.
• Finally, some believe it may be symbolic of the stigma on women because of Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden. However, that stigma has been removed by Christ.
In any case, we do not have a clear biblical answer to the question of why women who gave birth to girls waited twice as long for their ritual purification to be completed than did women who gave birth to boys. We simply don’t know.
But we do know this. While women are often considered to be second-class citizens (or worse) in many of the world’s religions, women are most certainly not second-class citizens in the Church of Jesus Christ. In Christ we are all one.
*Galatians 3:24-28
24 …the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
So we have seen that, in obedience to the Mosaic Law, Jesus was circumcised, named, and His mother went through the required ritual purification. But there is still more.
In Luke 2:22 it says that Joseph and Mary brought Jesus “to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord.”
Exodus 13:1-2
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.”
So, according to the Law, Jesus was sanctified, set apart from the world and set apart to God. This is essentially what we do when we dedicate a child here at LIGHTHOUSE. We present the child to God, recognizing that our children are not our own, but are in fact, His. That truth extends beyond the firstborn male, doesn’t it? It applies to all our child-ren, regardless of how many He may “loan to us” until they leave our homes.
In Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus he instructs both children and their fathers.
*Ephesians 6:1-4
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise),
3 that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.
4 And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Notice that it is fathers who are to discipline and instruct their children. If circumstances prevent them from doing so then they are responsible to see to it that it is done.
Would we exercise our God-given duties as parents differently or more carefully if we always remembered that our children belong to God? Joseph and Mary knew to Whom Jesus truly belonged. So, in strict obedience to God’s Law, they brought Him to the temple and presented Him to God. They dedicated themselves to raise Him “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Well, at this point Joseph and Mary had done nearly everything that was required of them. There was just one more detail.
*Luke 2:24
24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
Jesus had been presented to God but what about His redemption? What about atonement for sin? Let me say it once more, just so there is no misunderstanding. Jesus was with-out sin. He did not need redemption from His own sin because He had none. He did not need someone to atone for His sin because He had none. But as we have seen, Jesus had to live a perfect human life. He was fully human and had to obey God’s Law in its entirety so that He could trade places with us. Remember the substitutionary atonement?
*Leviticus 17:11 (The law concerning the sacrifice.)
11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”
So in obedience to God’s Law, Mary saw to it that blood would be shed for her redemp-tion. The sacrifice she brought was symbolic of the sacrifice Jesus would later make for her. And let’s be clear. If the Roman Catholic Church teaching of the Immaculate Conception were true – that is, that Mary was born without original sin and consequently didn’t need a Savior – why did Mary make this atoning sacrifice for her own sin?
*Leviticus 12:6-8
6 “And when the days of her purification are completed, for a son or a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting, a one year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering.
7 “Then (the priest) shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, whether a male or a female.
8 “But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for the burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.
Have you got all that? In Luke 2:24 we’re told that Joseph and Mary had to bring a pair of turtledoves or a pair of pigeons. The magi had not yet brought their gifts of gold, incense, and perfume from the East. Therefore, Joseph and Mary couldn’t afford a lamb.
But they did bring a Lamb, didn’t they? They brought the Lamb of God! His blood would not be shed on that day. That was still at least thirty years in the future. How poignant is it that Mary was there on Calvary’s hill the day that the Lamb of God’s blood was shed, not just for her, but for you and me as well?
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III. Conclusion
So Dr. Luke has carefully laid out a picture of obedience to God’s laws that marked even the very first days of Jesus’ life on this earth. Godly and righteous parents saw to every detail until the Boy was old enough to obey God Himself. If these four seemingly obscure verses (Luke 2:21-24) were not here, we’d never know that Jesus was obedient from the beginning. But they are. And He was.
Just as Jesus was born and grew into maturity, so too must we be born again and grow up in Christian maturity. His obedience is the model for us. Joseph and Mary obeyed God and were used greatly by Him and for His glory. It is my prayer today that that would be our legacy as well. Will you make that commitment to obey God today?
~ Pray ~