“658. THE PRESENTATION—LUKE 2:22-24”

The Presentation—Luk_2:22-24

There were two ceremonies under the law which required that Mary, with her husband and child, should be present in Jerusalem, and at the temple, within forty days after the birth of the latter.

The first was the presentation of the child as the first-born before the Lord in the temple, for which the presence of father and child were needed; the other was the ceremony of the purification of the mother, for which her presence alone was necessary. Had not the child, therefore, been the first-born, the presence of the father and child would not have been needed; both were, however, usually present at Jerusalem even in that case. The child, because it could not be parted from the mother’s breast; and the father, to take care of his wife and child.

There was legally ten days’ interval between the two ceremonies—the presentation of the first-born being on the thirtieth day, and the purification on the fortieth. But these times were not rigidly enforced. The woman, however, was subject to considerable inconvenience by remaining in a state of ceremonial uncleanness until she had undergone legal purification, and therefore was always anxious not to protract the time, which simply could not be earlier than the fortieth day; so the presentation could not be before the thirtieth day, but might be after. On the thirtieth day the fee of redemption for the first-born became due, whether the child were presented or not, but it might be paid later, and if it were paid sooner in anticipation, as was sometimes done, and it happened that the child died meanwhile—the priests might be required to refund the money, as it had not become due until the child was thirty days old.

This being the case, persons who lived at any distance, and did not wish to prolong their stay in the metropolis by the ten days’ interval, were content to go up in time for the purification, when both the ceremonies were gone through at once—the father first presenting the child; and the mother then standing forward for purification. The delay was further desirable, as the mother and child were by that time stronger for the journey, which was often from a considerable distance.

The reader will desire some information respecting these observances. First, then, of the presentation—

When the Lord destroyed the first-born of the Egyptians, and in distinguishing mercy spared the first-born of Israel from the common doom, He decreed that the first-born of man and beast should be consecrated to Him. The beasts of lawful kind were to be offered in sacrifice, and the unlawful (such as asses) to be redeemed, by the substitution of a lawful victim; and the first-born of man were to be set apart for the service of the Lord. But when afterwards the whole tribe of Levi was appointed to such services, it pleased the Lord to direct that this circumstance should still be commemorated by the presentation of the first-born at the tabernacle, when he was to be redeemed from the service by a money-payment of five shekels. This was a considerable sum for a poor person; and the theory was, that if the parents were too poor to redeem him, he became liable for the lower offices of the temple service. But this never, we think, happened; as there were generally persons willing to make up the sum for a very poor person; and, if not, the priests, although they could not excuse the payment, yet of course suffered the infant to remain with its mother, and the parents found means of raising the sum before the services of the child would be required.

The other ceremony was that of the purification.

In legal recognition of the fact of our being born in sin, a woman was accounted ceremonially unclean for forty days after the birth of a son, and eighty days after the birth of a girl; and from this, which involved some disabilities, she was delivered by appearing before the priest at the east gate of the temple, where, after making the usual offerings, she was slightly sprinkled with the blood by the officiating priest, and declared clean. The proper offering was a lamb; but as this might have been heavy upon the poor, the law considerately provided that in this case two turtle doves or two young pigeons should be substituted; and, indeed, we are told that practically, where the poverty was too extreme to reach even to this, the tenth part of an ephah of meal might be accepted as an oblation. The offering made by Mary and Joseph—“two turtle doves, or two young pigeons”—it is not stated which, implies narrow circumstances indeed, but not the most abject poverty which some suppose. In case of such offerings as this, one of the doves was used as a burnt-offering, and the other as a sin-offering.

It may be remarked that the provisions of the Levitical law in these respects had no application to such a case as this.

“So remarkable a birth might have precluded the necessity of Levitical purification. The ransom which had to be paid for other first-born sons, in view of their original obligation to the priesthood, could hardly be necessary in the case of an infant who was one day to occupy the summit of the theocracy. It would be natural to suppose that Mary must have hesitated, and laid her scruples before the priests for decision, before she could make up her mind to perform these ceremonies. But we cannot judge of such extraordinary events by common standards. Mary did not venture to speak freely in public of these wonderful things, or to anticipate the Divine purpose in any way; she left it to God to educate the child which had been announced to her as the Messiah, so as to fit Him for his calling, and at the proper time to authenticate his mission publicly and conspicuously.” Note: Neander. Life of Jesus, p. 25.

The writer whose words we have here cited, powerfully applies these circumstances to the refutation of the misbelieving authors who contend for the mythical character of our Lord’s early history. A myth generally strives to ennoble its subject, and to adapt the story to the idea. If, then, the gospel narrative were mythical, would it have invented or even suffered to remain a circumstance so foreign to the idea of the myth, and so little calculated to dignify it? A myth would have introduced an angel, or at least a vision, to prevent Mary from submitting the child to a ceremony so unworthy of its dignity; or the priests would have received an intimation from heaven to bow before the infant, and to prevent its being thus reduced to the level of ordinary children. Nothing of this took place; but, instead of it, simply and unostentatiously, the high dignity and destiny of the child were revealed to two faithful souls.

Autor: JOHN KITTO