Luke 2:22 Commentary and Bible Study

(Synoptics: Luke 2:22-39a)Two distinct obligations under the ceremonial law are dealt with in these three verses. The first has to do with ritual purification of the mother following childbirth. Leviticus 12 taught that after the birth of a child there should be a period of ceremonial uncleanness which would be different for male and female children. In the case of a male child a period of seven days should pass and the child should then be circumcised on the eighth. The mother should continue to be unclean for a further thirty-three days, making a total of 40 days, during which she was not allowed into the sanctuary. This is how long Joseph and Mary waited before coming to the temple. In the case of a female child the period was twice as long. Immediately after that she should come and offer a sacrifice of a lamb for a sin offering and a pigeon for a sin offering, and if the family was unable to afford these, then either two turtledoves or two young pigeons, again, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. It was this option for poorer people that Joseph and Mary chose to follow. They were away from home and, though not destitute, it was right that they should take this second option. As many point out, the lesson from this is that our Lord is ready to associate with the poor and needy. He was himself born into a humble family, and brought up by Joseph and Mary in relatively obscure Nazareth in a simple village home, Joseph being one who worked with his hands as a carpenter.Ritual purification from ceremonial uncleanness associated with the discharges resulting from menstruation and childbirth were both dealt with under the law. There was ceremonial uncleanness in connection with these things, and especially with childbirth because God was teaching his people that human nature is fallen. Bonar asks, ‘The woman is made unclean by the birth of a child. Why is this? Because the child is born a sinner, an heir of hell! … Iniquity is imputed to the mother for having brought a sinner into the world.’ Man needs this constant reminder that every child coming into the world is in this same condition, and that the fall continues to operate in each new generation. The child was circumcised on the eighth day to signal the ritual removal of sin, and to bring the Israelite child into the covenant, circumcision being a mark of the covenant. We ask however, why were these things done to Christ when he was without sin, as the Scripture tells us often (John 8:46; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 1:19). Why did one who was without sin need this ritual cleaning to be performed on him (in circumcision) and on his mother (in undertaking this ritual purification)? Because he came in the likeness of sinful flesh. He came with a body subject to pain and sickness and ageing and death. His flesh was no different to look upon to every other fallen human being born into this world. Every Israelite was under these ritual obligations, and Christ came to fulfil the law on behalf of his people. Because he was born under the Old Testament dispensation, the keeping of the law included the keeping of all aspects of the ceremonial law that applied to him, and to his parents while they were responsible for him as a child. His parents, as pious Jews were careful to observe all aspects of the law that they came under. He took our place before the law, and like all children born into Israel, this too needed to be obeyed. Christ must be circumcised in order to be in that covenant which God had made with the nation. The warnings against failure to do so were severe (Genesis 17:14).The second obligation under the ceremonial law was to pay the redemption price to the temple. This originated in the time of Moses, following the exodus from Egypt. The last of the plagues had resulted in the firstborn of every family in Egypt being destroyed by the Lord. The firstborn of Israel had been spared when each Israelite family obeyed the Lord’s instruction and painted the posts and the lintel of the door of the house with the blood of the passover lamb. God seeing the blood on the door had not destroyed the firstborn in those houses. Consequently the Lord claimed all the firstborn as his own, but rather than take the firstborn of every tribe of Israel, he took the Levites as a whole tribe and they were to serve him (Exodus 13:12-15). But because the count of the Levites was less than the count of the firstborn of every tribe, a redemption price was paid by the two hundred and seventy-three, a price of five shekels per individual (Numbers 3:39-51). This became the redemption price paid by the parents of every firstborn child in Israel. It was the equivalent of a few pounds in today’s money. The money was paid after the forty days of purification when the child was presented at the temple.