Blake Allen
Dunbar Cave Campus Pastor
Luke 2:22-24
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 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.”
I don’t know about you but its hard to believe that Christmas has already passed us by. Seems like the year has flown by. While back home in Louisiana, we had a chance to spend time with our families. We enjoyed spending time with family, eating good food, opening presents, and observing our Christmas traditions.
It’s interesting to read about certain Christmas traditions people have. One family I read about has a fruit cake eating competition every year. The winner does not have to participate in the future years to come. This is a tradition I wouldn’t mind breaking away from if it was one of ours! When I think about the Christmas account from Luke 2, I think about how Jesus came to break tradition.
Jewish tradition says that after a woman gave birth she would have to observe a few practices. She must observe the purification rituals after 40 days of giving birth since she is considered ceremonially unclean. The child must be presented to the Lord, and pay a redemption price of 5 shekels. Finally, a sacrifice must be made.
The good news is Jesus breaks the tradition! We were unclean because of our sin but Jesus came to make us clean. We owed a debt we could not pay but Jesus paid the redemption price! Because of our sin, death was what we deserved. But Jesus was the substitute, the sacrifical lamb, the offering for our sin! Thank the Lord that Jesus fulfilled what we could not.