Those First Few Days

Luke 2

Last time we looked at those first few hours at the manger.  Now let’s consider those first few days.

Deuteronomy gives us this principle: Any testimony should be confirmed by the mouth of two or three witnesses.  Even today in the jurisprudence of western civilization, a story corroborated by two or three witnesses is considered to be credible and believable and true.  That goes back to that biblical affirmation, that testimony had to be confirmed in the mouth of two or three witnesses.  And the testimony of Luke has been that Jesus has been born "Son of God, Son of Man, Son of Abraham, Son of David." 

That testimony needs to be confirmed. Last time we saw the testimony of the angels, and then the shepherds, and now there is the testimony of Joseph and Mary, the parents.  Then, there is the testimony of a man named Simeon.  Next, there is the testimony of a woman named Anna. And finally, there is the testimony of God Himself. 

There's something you want to know about someone called to testify.  You want to know that they're honest. And so you want some indication of their character. 

The parents of Jesus:  We already know they are righteous because in Matthew 1:19 it says, "Joseph, being a righteous man." That is to say he was right with God.

And secondly, we know that Mary was righteous because of what came out of her mouth in chapter 1 verse 46. God was her Savior.  She too was a righteous girl.

Their commitment to God is indicated.  It tells us in verse 21 here that they circumcised Jesus, according to the law of God. It tells us in verse 22 that according to the law of Moses she had her purification.  Verse 23 says they dedicated Him.  Verse 24 says this was about the law of the Lord."  Down in verse 27 it says the phrase “the custom of the law," again the law of the Lord. Verse 39 says again “the law of the Lord”. Five times it mentions that they were committed to the law of the Lord.

James says, "Faith without works is dead."  And true saving faith shows up in obedience.  And these people were obedient. 

And then in introducing Simeon to us Luke takes great pains to establish how righteous he is.  And then the way Luke introduces Anna, we can't imagine that there was any woman in all of Israel who was as righteous as she was. 

Leviticus chapter 12 verse 3 says on the eighth day the child is to be circumcised.  Every male child born into Israel was to be circumcised on the eighth day.  Circumcision was more than a physical protection.  It was a symbol of a need for spiritual cleansing.  And that's why the Bible commands to circumcise your hearts. 

You could take the law of God and all the law of God did was, break them and crush them. The law of God laid out before for the Jew rendered him a sinner.  For instance:  The Jew would look at the Sabbath which is the fourth commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." He would not work.  He would not leave his house.  He would not cook anything, not carry a load, not do anything. But he would sit, and he would contemplate that day.  He was aware that everything above the fourth commandment, one, two and three, had to do with God.  Everything below had to do with man.  So right there in the middle of the Decalogue, he would look up and see how he had violated all the laws against God.  Then he would look down and see how he had violated all the laws against man.  So the Sabbath then became a contemplation point for violation of the law of God. The same could be said for the endless feasts that filled their calendar.

On top of that, life was a bloody mess because all those sins called for sacrifice.  That's why we've said that priests were nothing but butchers.  They were, you know, chin deep in blood slaughtering animals, because sin just kept coming and coming and with it came sacrifices. 

Every time a baby was born into the world, circumcision on the eighth day was another bloody reminder of the depth of sin, that they were so deep in sin they needed a cleansing at the deepest level.

So why circumcise Jesus?  He didn't need His heart cleansed from sin.  He was sinless.  He was numbered with the transgressors, it says in Isaiah 53:9, but there was no deceit found in Him.

In fact, when He died on the cross He was bruised for our iniquities, punished for our transgressions.  He is called in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "Him who knew no sin."  He is absolutely sinless.  So why was He being circumcised?

There's one very good answer: Because that's what the Law of God required.  And Galatians 4:4 says, Paul writing, "Jesus was born of a woman, born under the law."  Whatever the law of God prescribed at that time, He would do.

Jesus was born under the law and Jesus was going to obey every aspect of God's law whether He obeyed it as a baby passively or whether He obeyed as an adult actively when He went to the river Jordan and He said to John, "You need to baptize Me."  And John said, "I don't need to baptize You, You've got to be kidding me.  You need to baptize me."  And John was saying, You don't need cleansing so why the symbol?  And Jesus responded in Matthew 3:15 and said, "I must fulfill all righteousness. Whatever the law requires, I do that.”

Consider a little scenario.  It would have been conceivable that the Father could have said to the Son, "Now You have to go down and redeem humanity.  And I know that's a tough thing, but I really only need You for a weekend. You know, go down there. Go down Friday morning, they’ll crucify You Friday evening, actually You can come out of the grave Sunday morning, be back late Sunday afternoon, I really only need the weekend."

This is true.  I mean, that is the issue, isn't it?  It's the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ that purchases our justification. The Father could have said that and you ask the question, well why the thirty-three years?  I mean, if you only need a weekend, what's the thirty-three years of being mocked and resented and embattled with the Pharisees and hated by the Sadducees and all the fuss and hassle?  And His own brothers don't believe in Him and He has to deal with a bunch of blockheads called the disciples. 

Answer: Because He had to live an entire righteous life.  He had to come into this world and live as a child, a young person and as an adult under the law so that He could live a perfect life, an entire perfect life into His adulthood.

Why did He have to do that?  So that perfect life could be credited to your account.  You see, in the doctrine of substitution, on the cross God treats Jesus as if He lived your life so He could treat you as if you lived His.  That's why He was circumcised and everything else.

Now at the point that they had Him circumcised it says, "His name was then called Jesus."  Apparently it was at the circumcision that they did the official naming. They called Him Jesus.  That wasn't a hard choice to make.  That was the name given by the angel before He was ever conceived in the womb.  You remember that Joseph was approached by an angel and the angel says, "When the child is born,” Matthew 1:21, “call His name Jesus for He'll save His people from their sins."  Mary is approached by the same angel, Gabriel, and she is told the very same thing.  Chapter 1 of Luke verse 31, "You're going to bear a Son and You are to name Him Jesus."  You know what Jesus means?  It means Yahweh saves, God saves. That was the 8^th day.

vv. 22-24.  Now it is the 40^th day.

The first testimony came in circumcision and naming.  The second comes in purification and presenting.  This is a fascinating thing. 

Two things had to happen in Jewish law.  First of all, a mother who had born a child had to go through a purification ceremony.  Secondly, any firstborn child had to be given to the Lord. 

She goes back to the temple for the time of purification.  Then she dedicated Him.

In Exodus 13 God said, "I want every firstborn male devoted to me. I want you to take that firstborn male and I want you to offer him to Me."

There was a price that had to be paid if the child was not a Levite, five shekels.  You can read about this in Numbers 18 verses 15 and 16. Every male child born to the Levitical tribe became a priest.  But all the rest of the tribes were freed from priestly duty. But in order to be freed from priestly duty, they had to be ransomed, or redeemed. 

Five shekels is a lot.  That would have been equivalent to many days' wages.  These people aren't wealthy.  They're not destitute but they're not wealthy.  Isn't it interesting to think about the fact that even the Redeemer was redeemed?  Even He went through a picture of redemption.  Did you know that there was an even lower choice for the offering?  The very poor could bring 1/10^th of an ephah, usually of flour, if they couldn’t afford the birds.  This couple probably could qualify at their age, and especially after spending many weeks on the road, having a baby in a hardship situation.  They weren’t even required to make the dedication at the temple…they could have done that anywhere, but they went above and beyond for their child, and for God!

Those first few days and weeks must have been surreal.  I feel like every day is a journey with God.  Imagine literally being on a journey with God every day!

So the first wonderful, confirming testimony is given by Joseph and Mary.  And if you think that's fascinating, wait till you meet Simeon next week.