Word@Work Luke28 - Luke 2:21-24
Published: Fri, 01/29/10
Word@Work from BeaconLight
NOT ABOVE THE LAW
Luke 2:21-24 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons". (NIV)
Lawyers and judges are occasionally brought to court to account for some alleged crime; they are sinful human beings like the rest of us. But it makes the headlines, because even law-makers are not higher than the law, they are there to serve it. The same is true for Jesus. The laws of God applied to Him and had to be fulfilled by Him: Matthew 5:17 says "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them."
Jesus was circumcised, and Mary was declared clean after child-birth, according to God's law given through Moses (see Leviticus 12:1-8). Jesus was named according to God's Word through the angel (see Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:31). The offering of two doves was the legally prescribed sacrifice for their sin (instead of a lamb because they were so poor). So, circumcision was the symbolic and bloody removal of 'sinful flesh'. It placed the child under a lifetime obligation to keep the law. Sin-offerings were a physical way of admitting that both the parents and the child would fail but accepted God's provision of a substitute death as a proxy punishment.
All this was prophetic of the ministry of Jesus Christ. He would accept responsibility for the sins of the world, and bear in His body the full weight of God's punishment under the law (2 Cor 5:21) - see www.crosscheck.org.uk. So Mary and Joseph did everything the law required (see Luke 2:39) for Jesus, so that He could rescue us from the law's impossible demand of perfection, and its final penalty of death. As Gal 4:4-5 says, "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons."
In any organisation, the person in charge must bear responsibility for the mistakes of the company. So it is interesting to read 1 Peter 2:24: "He Himself (that is Jesus) bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." This is the reason for Christian peace and joy; for fellowship and service; for worship and evangelism; for hope of heaven and confidence in the face of death. It is the best news in the world! If you believe it; praise the Lord, tell others, and encourage those who follow Jesus not to give up, but to keep trusting. And the best place to start is right where you are, today!
Prayer: Dear Lord. Thank You for this assurance that Jesus has fully satisfied the law against my sin, so that I may be free to worship, work and witness to the glory of Jesus. In His Name. Amen.
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You can read the verses around this Bible passage from the Internet Bible: - in English, and many other languages
Lawyers and judges are occasionally brought to court to account for some alleged crime; they are sinful human beings like the rest of us. But it makes the headlines, because even law-makers are not higher than the law, they are there to serve it. The same is true for Jesus. The laws of God applied to Him and had to be fulfilled by Him: Matthew 5:17 says "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them."
Jesus was circumcised, and Mary was declared clean after child-birth, according to God's law given through Moses (see Leviticus 12:1-8). Jesus was named according to God's Word through the angel (see Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:31). The offering of two doves was the legally prescribed sacrifice for their sin (instead of a lamb because they were so poor). So, circumcision was the symbolic and bloody removal of 'sinful flesh'. It placed the child under a lifetime obligation to keep the law. Sin-offerings were a physical way of admitting that both the parents and the child would fail but accepted God's provision of a substitute death as a proxy punishment.
All this was prophetic of the ministry of Jesus Christ. He would accept responsibility for the sins of the world, and bear in His body the full weight of God's punishment under the law (2 Cor 5:21) - see www.crosscheck.org.uk. So Mary and Joseph did everything the law required (see Luke 2:39) for Jesus, so that He could rescue us from the law's impossible demand of perfection, and its final penalty of death. As Gal 4:4-5 says, "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons."
In any organisation, the person in charge must bear responsibility for the mistakes of the company. So it is interesting to read 1 Peter 2:24: "He Himself (that is Jesus) bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." This is the reason for Christian peace and joy; for fellowship and service; for worship and evangelism; for hope of heaven and confidence in the face of death. It is the best news in the world! If you believe it; praise the Lord, tell others, and encourage those who follow Jesus not to give up, but to keep trusting. And the best place to start is right where you are, today!
Prayer: Dear Lord. Thank You for this assurance that Jesus has fully satisfied the law against my sin, so that I may be free to worship, work and witness to the glory of Jesus. In His Name. Amen.
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