Luke 2:21-24
Find a place and time free of distractions for the next 7-10 minutes. Take a moment to settle into your surroundings and then begin to recognize your breath. As you breathe in, call on the name of Jesus and become aware of his presence with you. As you breathe out, open your mind and heart to receive whatever Jesus has for you today.
Read Luke 2:21-24 noticing the details and any questions that arise as you read.
Eight days after the shepherds conveyed the mind-blowing story of their angelic visitation, Mary and Joseph named her miraculous baby Jesus. The name Jesus (Y'shua in Hebrew) means, “to rescue,” and this child, born in obscurity, would indeed be the Rescuer of God’s people.
Take a moment to center yourself in the presence of Jesus. Let any tension in your body melt away as you become aware of Jesus presence with you. Breathe in the name of Jesus and exhale any anxiety or worry you are carrying today. As you breathe in and out, allow the Rescuer to do whatever needs to be done in you.
Read Luke 2:21-24 again.
The purification offering required by Jewish law (Leviticus 12:2-3) was an offering for the cleansing of sin, or “uncleanness,” and even though this child would never sin by rebelling against God’s good a perfect ways, he would ultimately take upon himself the rebellion of all humanity. This act of obedience on the part of Mary and Joseph was hugely symbolic though they may have had little or no idea. Jesus, the Rescuer of rebels, was identified with sinful humanity right from the beginning.
And the offering presented by Mary was not a lamb as primarily prescribed in the law but was the secondary offering of a “either a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons” (Leviticus 12:6) – the offering of someone too poor to bring a lamb. God-in-the-flesh was born into obscurity and poverty, and he was born into the midst of sinful humanity.
Only by becoming one of us could he understand our desperate need for a Rescuer.
Take a moment to think about times in your life when you felt unseen or when you didn’t have the material, physical or emotional resources you needed. Then consider what it means to you that Jesus, the Savior of the World, entered humanity in obscurity and poverty. Talk openly with Jesus about your thoughts and feelings, and then get quiet and listen to him.
What is Jesus saying to you today through this passage?
What do you plan to do in response?
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