Purified and Redeemed

"The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple" by James Tissot

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And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons” (Luke 2:22-23).

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Purified and redeemed. That is our theme for today. Two important words of Law from the Old Testament and two important words of Gospel from the New Testament. Purified and redeemed.

In our Epistle, St. Paul tells us that at a specific and appropriate time in human history, God acted to fulfill His eternal saving purpose: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that you might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians. 4:4–5). On a date set by His Father, the preexistent Son of God became fully human to redeem sinful humanity.

In our Gospel, St. Luke begins, “When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, [Mary and Joseph] brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22).

At forty days of age, the Lord comes to His temple to fulfill the Law. His family makes the short trip to Jerusalem for the purification of Mary and the presentation of the child. The five-fold repetition of the word “Law” in this section (Luke 2:22, 23, 24, 27, 39) suggests that fulfillment of the Law is a primary theme of this text. Jesus’ parents are keeping the Law. They are also fulfilling it by bringing Jesus to His true home.

The Law of the mother's purification after giving birth is found in Leviticus 12. Moses’ instructions outline the ritual transition of a mother from childbirth to everyday life after the birth of a child in three stages. Immediately after the birth of the child, the mother remained in social seclusion for a week if she had given birth to a son (Leviticus 12:2) or for two weeks if she had given birth to a daughter (Leviticus 12:5). During this stage of separation, the mother remained in a state of ritual impurity. She could not engage in the preparation of food or any other domestic activities.

This period of social separation was followed by a more extended period of ritual quarantine. If she had a male child, that lasted for an additional thirty-three days. If she had a female child, it was sixty-six days. During this time, the woman’s ritual status was somewhat in limbo. She was no longer considered ritually unclean, but neither was she ritually clean because she was not allowed to have access to anything holy. She was not allowed to touch any holy thing in her household, such as the meat from a peace offering or anything that had been dedicated to the Lord or, if she was the wife of a priest, any of the holy food from the sanctuary. She was also forbidden to enter the sacred precincts of the Tabernacle and participate in the sacrificial ritual there.

An act of sacrifice concluded the period of religious quarantine. The woman who had given birth to a child offered a lamb as a burnt offering and a turtledove or pigeon as a sin offering (Leviticus 12:6). If she was too poor to afford a lamb, she brought a bird instead (Leviticus 12:8). She entered the sacred precincts and brought the offerings to the priest on duty at the entrance. These two sacrifices performed two specific functions. Through the rite of atonement with the blood from both sacrifices, the woman was cleansed from any impurity that she had incurred for her flow of blood (Leviticus 12:7). Through the burning up of the lamb on the altar, she was accepted by God and reinstated as a member of the congregation. She was once again ritually clean. She, therefore, had access to God’s holiness and His blessing. That also meant that she was again open to the gift of another child from Him.

The observance of this rite of purification had a profound impact on every mother's life. It connected her life as a mother with her participation in the divine service and her reception of blessing from God. Negatively, it ensured that she did not become involved as a woman in pagan practices that affirmed her status as a child producer and sought to empower her by giving her access to cosmic life power. Positively, it affirmed her status as a full member of the holy congregation and recognized her role as a bearer of blessing from God.

Childbirth made a woman ceremonially unclean. These rules would exempt the new mother from the rigors of the Law and her typical role in family/community life. They also promised cleansing and restoration. In these ways, the Lord acts mercifully toward His daughter, even as He remembers us in kindness. The Lord purifies the mother, and He purifies her by sacrifice.

But there’s even more happening here.

The Law also required that a firstborn male be consecrated to the Lord (Exodus 13:2). This requirement goes back 1,400 years before Jesus’ birth to Egypt in the hectic aftermath of the first Passover. The Israelites had been slaves for four hundred years, but God did not forget His people. He sent Moses as His spokesman, warning Pharaoh repeatedly, “Let My people go.” Pharaoh stubbornly refused, so the Lord afflicted Egypt with nine plagues to persuade him that rebellion against God is very foolish.

For all people, the wages of sin is eventually death, and when Pharaoh refused to submit to God, he learned this terrible lesson the hard way. The Lord declared that He would come through the land and take the lives of the firstborn males of Egypt, both man and beast.

Every firstborn would die… unless. The Lord declared to His people that their firstborn sons could be saved. They were to take a lamb without blemish and sacrifice it. They were to put the blood of the lamb on the lintels and doorposts of their dwellings, and they were supposed to roast the lamb and eat it for dinner. The people followed the Lord’s instructions about His Passover to the letter, and when the Lord came through Egypt to take the lives of the firstborn males, He passed over every home marked with the blood of the lamb and spared those firstborn who dwelt inside.

 The tenth plague—the death of the firstborn—finally moved Pharaoh to submission, at least for the moment. He ordered the people of Israel out of his land. After years of slavery, they were free and on the move. One can only imagine the chaos as an entire people packed up to leave. And as the Lord commanded them to remember the Passover every year. He also said, “Consecrate to Me, all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and beast, is Mine” (Exodus 13:2). The firstborn males of animals were to be sacrificed as an offering to God. The firstborn males of the people were to be redeemed by sacrifice, consecrated by the blood of a lamb—or a pair of turtle doves or pigeons for those who are very poor. This Law was to be remembered for the generations to come. He went on to say in Exodus 13:

“And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt” (Exodus 13:14–16).

So, the people were to remember that the Lord redeems the firstborn, and He redeems by sacrifice.

Centuries later, Mary and Joseph come to the temple in obedience to the Law. They bring Jesus to the temple for the first time to include Him in Mary’s purification on the fortieth day after His birth, even though the Law did not require the son to be present. Since Jesus is her firstborn son, He is offered to God at the same time as the sacrifice purifies her of two birds (cf. Exodus 13:2, 12; Nehemiah 10:36). Yet no mention is made of His redemption then or later. Luke thereby indicates that the whole of His life was consecrated to the service of God (cf. Luke 1:35). Luke quite deliberately connects Mary’s purification to  Christ’s consecration, for her Son purifies her—as are all the saints—for access to the heavenly sanctuary.

This is the mystery that makes this text such a stunning one for meditation. The Lord has commanded His people to redeem their firstborn sons for two reasons: to remember how He delivered them out of Egypt and to proclaim how He will deliver them from sin, death, and hell. He will deliver them by redeeming them, and He will redeem them with a sacrifice, with the shedding of blood. The shedding of His own blood. That’s why Jesus is born of Mary: God becomes man so that He has blood to shed for your redemption.

So what happens when the Lord comes suddenly to His temple that day, incarnate as a forty-day-old boy? The mystery of the Incarnation is in full flower here. A sacrifice is made for Jesus—and that sacrifice is made to Jesus. By this sacrifice, this firstborn Son is declared redeemed, and because of this sacrifice, it is the firstborn Son who is declaring redemption. But He does it to keep the Law perfectly for you, to give you the credit for His obedience; and later on, the One who needs no redemption will instead be the Sinner whom His Father condemns on the cross for the sins of the world, including yours. The eternal Son of God and Lord of life will die so that you might be purified and redeemed.

So if you ask someone to point to the sacrifice in our text and they point to the pair of birds, they’re right. And if they point to the Baby who isn’t sacrificed that day, they’re right, too: they’re even more right because the sacrifice of birds is to foreshadow the shedding of Jesus’ own blood. Likewise, if you ask someone to point to God’s location in our text and they point to the Holy of Holies in the temple that stands before Mary and Joseph, they’re absolutely right. If they point to the Baby in Mary’s arms, better yet! He is God become man and manifest, to purify and redeem us from sin.

That’s what happens at this dedication of the firstborn. Colossians 1 also calls Jesus the firstborn of creation, for the eternal Son of God is now incarnate, born of Mary. Colossians also calls Jesus the firstborn of the dead because the One who once was the Sacrifice for sin is also now the risen Son of God. Crucified for the world's sins, He lives again to give life forever.

From conception to resurrection, Jesus kept the Law perfectly in your place.

The Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed you, a lost and condemned person. He has purchased and won you from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver; not with the blood of birds or a lamb, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death; that you may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.

The Lord has purified you through the water and Word of Holy Baptism. Baptism works forgiveness of sin, rescues you from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.

Christ saved you through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on you generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, you might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-8). Baptism “indicates that the old Adam in you should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge to live before God in righteousness and purity forever” (Small Catechism, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, fourth part).

In the Sacrament of the Altar, Christ gives you His very body and blood to forgive your sins and strengthen your faith.

Having seen your salvation, you may depart in peace to your own homes, faithfully serving your neighbors in your particular callings. Go in the peace of the Lord and serve your neighbor with joy. You are redeemed and purified; that is to say, you are forgiven for all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen,

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.