January 1, 2012

It is the Jewish custom, in accordance with the Law of Moses, to give a child its name on the eighth day, one week after it is born. It would be a day when the whole family would come together and celebrate, as we see from the story when John the Baptist was born. People would try to give a good name for their child. In the case of both John and Jesus, the name was given to the child by the angel even before they were conceived. This shows that both John and Jesus were part of God's plan of Salvation. In the case of Jesus, the name gJesush means gGod Saves.h And so it was. Naming a child also means that this child is accepted into the family. Perhaps this is when the child is also formally registered at the city office. In the case of Jesus, he would be registered in the family of Joseph, a descendent of King David. God had promised that the Messiah would be born in the family of David, and so it was.

Then when Jesus was 40 days old, Mary and Joseph took him to the temple in Jerusalem, not too far from Bethlehem. There were two important religious ceremonies that day: The purification of his mother Mary and the presentation of the first born child to God. In the Old Testament, there are two things that separate a person from God. The first is sin and the second is impurity. There are many things that make a person ritually unclean: eating certain meats, touching certain things that are unclean, leprosy, blood, childbirth and others. Sometimes a person can become ritually clean by washing or waiting till sunset or by giving a special offering to God. In the case of childbirth, a sacrifice was necessary. The sacrifice, according to Leviticus 12:6-8 was a lamb a year old, but if the woman was poor, two young pigeons or two turtledoves were acceptable. Two things I want to point out. First, that Mary and Joseph were counted among the poor. This is the sort of family that Jesus was born into, not the rich. And this is why Jesus is always concerned about the poor. Why he is always concerned with us and why we are always concerned about the welfare of the poor and disenfranchised. By the way, this shows that the Wisemen did not arrive on Christmas Eve, but came sometime later with their treasures for Jesus. And it is interesting, that when Jesus, the Second Member of the Holy Trinity was born on this earth, He came into a situation that was not clean and so required a sacrifice. Later, Jesus will take upon himself all the sin and uncleanness of the world when he is on the cross. That sacrifice will not be a pigeon, but rather his holy blood and precious suffering and death.

The second ritual that day was the Presentation of the child to the Lord. Jesus was the first-born of Mary. In the Old Testament, the first-born child belongs to God and the parents must buy the child from God, the price being a lamb or a pigeon if the parents are poor. Do you remember the story of Moses, the Exodus, and the night of the Passover? The angel of death passed over the land of Egypt. The angel was to kill every first-born of both people and cattle. However, the people of Israel, rather than having their child killed, killed a lamb and put some of the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts of their houses (Ex.12:7). When the angel of death saw the blood of the sacrifice, saw that death had already occurred in that house by sacrifice, he passed over that house and those inside were spared. Those children were spared, but now God laid his claim on them. And so, now the parents must buy the first-born child back from the Lord. And when they do that, they remember how God saved them from slavery in Egypt and how God brought them to the Promised Land. And so when Joseph and Mary present Jesus to the Lord at the Temple, they offer the sacrifice to buy him from the Lord. They raised the child and Luke 2:40 tells us that gthe child became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.h

When Christian parents present their children to God, it is though the rite of Baptism. And at that time, the child becomes a member of Godfs family, a child of God; the child is given the family name of the Triune God, gFather, Son and Holy Ghost.h And the parents have the duty to raise the child to know its Heavenly Father. In the New Testament, it is God who buys the child, not with silver or gold or a pigeon or turtledove, but by the blood of the Lamb, the Lamb of God who is Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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