EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
4/9/2026 6:35 PM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-2“The Purification and
Presenting”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
2:22-24
Message of the verses: “And when the days for their purification
according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem
to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord:
“Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),
and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the
Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
I would like to finish this SD in this evenings
SD.
Now it is not explicitly stated in
the text, I think it is safe to assume that Josehp and Mary paid the
five-shekel redemption fee for Jesus, since they ‘performed everything according
to the Law of the Lord” as seen in verse 39.
That fee, coupled with the expense of traveling to Bethlehem and staying
there for an extended period of time, was a significant financial burden for
this very young couple. We can surely tell according to what we will be looking
at later that Joseph and Mary were not a wealthy couple, but we know that God
will provide, and it seems to me that sometime soon after the birth of Jesus
that there were some men who had come from the middle east would bring them
gifts, but I think that would be a bit later.
“11 And going into the house they
saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then,
opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and
myrrh.” Now I know that after this gift
that Mary and Joseph were instructed in a dream that Joseph had to take Jesus
to Egypt, and this could have been a fairly long time after the birth of Jesus,
and so they would have used the funds the wise men gave them to take care of
that trip to Egypt. The point is that we
know that God was taking care of the birth of His Son and the family He was
born into.
MacArthur writes “After his
parenthetical statement in verse 23, Luke returned to the other reason Joseph,
Mary, and Jesus went to the temple.
After her forty days of uncleanness following the birth of her Son, Mary
had to enter a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the
Lord. This again reveals her
righteous character and commitment to obeying the law of God.
“Just as her ceremonial uncleanness
pictured sin, so Mary’s sacrifice symbolized the ultimate sacrifice for
sin that her own Son would make on the cross.
That sacrifice granted direct to God (symbolized by the tearing of the temple
veil [Matt. 27:51]) by fully satisfying His
wrath and atoning for the sins of all who put their faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
“The normal sacrifice was ‘a one pigeon
or turtledove for a sin offering ‘ (Lev. 12:6).
For those whose means were not sufficient for such and offering an
alternative was provided: ‘But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take
two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the on for a burnt offering and the other
for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall
be clean’ (v. 8). Having made her
offering, Mary was once again ceremonially clean. That she offered the alternative offering, a
pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, showed that she and Joseph were
poor. It also indicates that they had
not yet seen the wise men (Matt. 2:11), since the valuable gifts they brought
would have allowed Joseph and Mary to afford a lamb for the sacrifice. That Mary offered a sin offering is
consistent with the reality that she was a sinner in need of a Savior (cf.
1:47).” “47 and my spirit rejoices in
God my Savior.” “The Catholic dogma that
Mary was immaculately conceived and lived a sinless life finds no support in
Scripture.
“Joseph and Mary’s obedience to the
law of God shines forth throughout the narrative of Christ’s birth. Giving Him the name Jesus in obedience to the
angel’s command (Matt. 1:21), presenting Him in the temple, paying the fee
required for a firstborn son, and Mary’s scrupulous observance of the law of
purification demonstrate that they, like Zacharias and Elizabeth, ‘were both
righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and
requirements of the Lord’ (Luke 1:6).
That righteousness validates their confirming testimony to their Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ.”
4/9/2026
7:00 PM
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