From Heaven With Love

Chapter 5—Joseph and Mary Dedicate Jesus

This chapter is based on Luke 2:21-38.

About forty days after the birth of Christ, Joseph and Mary took Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, and to offer sacrifice. As man's substitute Christ must conform to the law in every particular. He had already been circumcised, as a pledge of His obedience to the law. HLv 29.1

As an offering for the mother, the law required a lamb for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. These offerings were to be without blemish, for they represented Christ. He was the “lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:19. He was an example of what God designed humanity to be through obedience to His laws. HLv 29.2

The dedication of the firstborn had its origin in earliest times. God had promised to give the Firstborn of heaven to save the sinner. This gift was to be acknowledged in every household by the consecration of the firstborn son. He was to be devoted to the priesthood, as a representative of Christ among men. HLv 29.3

What meaning then was attached to Christ's presentation! But the priest did not see through the veil. Day after day he went through the presentation of infants, giving little heed to parents or children, unless he saw some indication of wealth or high rank. Joseph and Mary were poor, and the priest saw only a Galilean man and woman, dressed in the humblest garments. HLv 29.4

The priest took the child in his arms and held it up before the altar. After handing it back to its mother, he inscribed the name “Jesus” on the roll. Little did he think, as the babe lay in his arms, that he was enrolling the name of the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, the One who was the foundation of the Jewish economy. HLv 29.5

This babe was He who declared Himself to Moses as the I AM, He who in the pillar of cloud and of fire had been the guide of Israel. He was the Desire of all nations, the Root and Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. That helpless babe was the hope of fallen humanity. He was to pay the ransom for the sins of the whole world. HLv 30.1

But though the priest neither saw nor felt anything unusual, this occasion did not pass without some recognition of Christ. “There was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, ... and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.” HLv 30.2