Luke 2:21-23
21And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord
24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
Circumcism
Today, the covenant of circumcism is known as Bris (or Brit) Milah. It was a covenant initiated by God to Abraham and his descendants. Early tradition showed that the act of circumcising was a family event which in later tradition, the act of circumcising was performed by the priest or a member of the Levitical line in the Temple as in Second-Temple period.
A Bris Milah is performed on the eighth day of life which has proven to be the one time when the coagulation of the blood in an infant is at its highest. It is performed on the eighth day even if that day falls on a Sabbath or on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.1
Circumcism means cutting around, and is the act of surgically removing a portion of the foreskin as a "sign of the covenant" with God. Abraham had his entire household circumcised without exception (Genesis 17:12, 18, 24-27).2
Moses' wife demanded that their male children be circumcised. The practice was random during the wilderness trek, but it was reinstituted by Joshua before leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. The New Testament church was under a new covenant with Christ with the institution of the Lord's Last Supper. While Christ was certainly circumcised as a practicing Jew, the Gospel of Christianity taught a covenant of faith and grace and no longer a covenant of works--a covenant of the "inner man" rather than the "outer man."
"Circumcism was a sign and seal of the covenant of grace a well as of national covenant between God and the Hebrews. It sealed the promises made to Abraham ... which included the promise of redemption (Galatians 3:14)3
1 1,301 Questions and Answers about Judaism, David C. Gross, 1998. Hippocrene Books
2 The New Manners and Customs of the Bible, James M. Freeman, page 22.
3 ibid. page 23
The days of her purification according to the law of Moses
The time involved before the purification ritual was forty days after the birth of a son, or eighty days after the birth of a daughter. Mary and Joseph would have separated before entering the Temple area, and Mary would have to enter a ritual bath under the observation of a rabbi.
To present him to the Lord
Every first-born son had to be redeemed from the Lord. A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
Think for a moment here about the number of sacrifices that were made just in one twenty-four hour period. The sacrifice burned continually with as many as 20,000 sacrifices being made a day. This necessitated some new occupations unique to the area around Jerusalem... there was a need to raise animals for the purpose of sacrifice, and there was a need for "bird farmers" to raise birds to be sold for use as sacrifices.
Of course, every creature was taxed by the Roman government as well.
Some would imply that making a sacrifice of two young pigeons or turtledoves indicated a state of poverty for Mary and Joseph, but another thought might be that the expenses of staying in the area of Jerusalem may have stretched their finances unless Joseph found work for the weeks that they were spending in the area of Jerusalem/Bethlehem. If Joseph did work in Jerusalem as the "tekton", he could have been working a a builder of stone, metal, or wood. There would have been a need for "tektons" as a stone mason for the work being done on the temple area. Thousands of men were hired as stone masons to do the work Herod had ordered for the improvements on the Second Temple.
~serapha~
22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord
24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
Circumcism
Today, the covenant of circumcism is known as Bris (or Brit) Milah. It was a covenant initiated by God to Abraham and his descendants. Early tradition showed that the act of circumcising was a family event which in later tradition, the act of circumcising was performed by the priest or a member of the Levitical line in the Temple as in Second-Temple period.
A Bris Milah is performed on the eighth day of life which has proven to be the one time when the coagulation of the blood in an infant is at its highest. It is performed on the eighth day even if that day falls on a Sabbath or on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.1
Circumcism means cutting around, and is the act of surgically removing a portion of the foreskin as a "sign of the covenant" with God. Abraham had his entire household circumcised without exception (Genesis 17:12, 18, 24-27).2
Moses' wife demanded that their male children be circumcised. The practice was random during the wilderness trek, but it was reinstituted by Joshua before leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. The New Testament church was under a new covenant with Christ with the institution of the Lord's Last Supper. While Christ was certainly circumcised as a practicing Jew, the Gospel of Christianity taught a covenant of faith and grace and no longer a covenant of works--a covenant of the "inner man" rather than the "outer man."
"Circumcism was a sign and seal of the covenant of grace a well as of national covenant between God and the Hebrews. It sealed the promises made to Abraham ... which included the promise of redemption (Galatians 3:14)3
1 1,301 Questions and Answers about Judaism, David C. Gross, 1998. Hippocrene Books
2 The New Manners and Customs of the Bible, James M. Freeman, page 22.
3 ibid. page 23
The days of her purification according to the law of Moses
The time involved before the purification ritual was forty days after the birth of a son, or eighty days after the birth of a daughter. Mary and Joseph would have separated before entering the Temple area, and Mary would have to enter a ritual bath under the observation of a rabbi.
To present him to the Lord
Every first-born son had to be redeemed from the Lord. A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
Think for a moment here about the number of sacrifices that were made just in one twenty-four hour period. The sacrifice burned continually with as many as 20,000 sacrifices being made a day. This necessitated some new occupations unique to the area around Jerusalem... there was a need to raise animals for the purpose of sacrifice, and there was a need for "bird farmers" to raise birds to be sold for use as sacrifices.
Of course, every creature was taxed by the Roman government as well.
Some would imply that making a sacrifice of two young pigeons or turtledoves indicated a state of poverty for Mary and Joseph, but another thought might be that the expenses of staying in the area of Jerusalem may have stretched their finances unless Joseph found work for the weeks that they were spending in the area of Jerusalem/Bethlehem. If Joseph did work in Jerusalem as the "tekton", he could have been working a a builder of stone, metal, or wood. There would have been a need for "tektons" as a stone mason for the work being done on the temple area. Thousands of men were hired as stone masons to do the work Herod had ordered for the improvements on the Second Temple.
~serapha~
posted by ~serapha~ at 6:47 PM
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