Luke 2:21-24 Pigeons for the Prince
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: June 18, 2018 Luke 2:21-24
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
(Understanding the Text) These verses tell me that Joseph and Mary were careful to follow all the religious rules when it came to this special baby. When Jesus was eight days old, he was given His name and circumcised at the special Jewish ceremony. This probably took place in Bethlehem itself, probably after the shepherd’s visit. The shepherds most likely visited on the night after or on the very night that Jesus was born. This also shows the obedience of Mary and Joseph to God’s commands. The SDA commentary says that this event took place on the eighth day after birth with the day of birth counting as day 1.
The second event took place in Jerusalem. Bethlehem was near to Jerusalem, so it would be no problem for them to go to Jerusalem and return to Bethlehem. This was Mary’s first child, a son, so there was a sacrifice required at the temple. They were poor, so they gave the poor person’s offering of birds. “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days. “And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, and he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.” (Lev 12:1-8). Thus, this event would have taken place a little over a month after Jesus was born. F. F. Bruce’s commentary points out that the bird offering means that Joseph was really poor. I think that if Joseph could have afforded it, he would have paid for the top offering, so since he didn’t, I agree that he was very poor.
(Understanding the Text / Revelation of God) The SDA commentary says “The Levitical code stipulated that the time of the mother’s ‘uncleanness’ for a male child was 40 days, for a female child was 80 days (see on Lev. 12). During this time she was to remain at home, and was not to participate in public religious exercises. It was the mother, not the child, who stood in need of ‘purifying.’ Both mother and child were to appear at the Temple, for the ‘purification’ of the one and the presentation of the other. It was therefore a two-fold purpose that led Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to Jerusalem upon this occasion, a distance of about 5 mi.” I have to think that this was a protection for women giving their bodies time to rest and recover before a new pregnancy was started. My guess is that the longer time for girls was because it would be more likely that a man would want to try for another pregnancy again as soon as possible after a girl was born since male babies were desired. Thus, God ensured that women would be doubly protected after the birth of a girl and that the girl child would have the chance to be with her mother and survive. It’s funny how we can look at something from different viewpoints. I could look at this rule and say that God did not like girls because he was making a woman be unclean for longer after having a girl-child, or I could look at this and say that God loves women and tries to protect them from the cultures around them that would hurt their physical health with the push to have sons.
(Revelation of God) God’s timing is perfect. If the magi had come before this, Mary and Joseph would have not been able to come to Jerusalem for fear of being killed by Herod. This also shows that the priests had another witness to them that the Messiah had come. The priests should have been the ones to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. God gave them plenty of information that the Messiah had arrived. If they did not want to listen to the shepherds, they had two witnesses right in the temple, yet they did not check it out for themselves.
(Understanding the Text) The SDA commentary says about the presentation of Jesus in the temple that “Every first-born male child was to be consecrated to the Lord. This was done in acknowledgment of God’s promise to give His First-born to redeem man and in remembrance of and gratitude for the deliverance of the first-born the time of the Exodus (see on Ex. 13:2, 12; Num. 3:12, 13). The firstborn was to be redeemed, or bought back, by a money payment, the mount stipulated being 5 shekels (Num. 18:15, 16). This amount represented approximately 20 Roman denarii, or the equivalent of 20 days’ wages of a laboring man (see p. 49).” Thus, Jesus was undergoing a ceremony which was meant to point to His own mission here on earth.
How long did they stay in Bethlehem? Why didn’t they go back to Nazareth within a few weeks after Jesus’ birth? Did they plan on staying away from Nazareth for a long time when they left it? If Joseph had already been married before and had children already, were they grown and did not need him to watch, or were they young but staying with other family members?
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is that when God gives me a responsibility, I should be careful to follow all the instructions that go along with that responsibility. Jesus is my example. Jesus had not yet died, so it was appropriate to offer sacrifices even though Jesus did not need any sacrifice. He did the same thing with John’s baptism of repentance. I may not understand all the reasons why God asks me to do something, but I can know that they are good reasons. God help me to understand what I should do and give me the right attitude about doing it.