Luke 2:22

Her purification. [Presentation at the Temple, Luke 2:22-38. See Childhood and Youth of Jesus.] Textual evidence favors (cf. p. 146) the reading “their purification.” The word “their” could refer to Jesus and Mary, or to Joseph and Mary. If the word “their” includes Jesus, it is probably in the sense that His dedication in the Temple was closely associated with her purification. If it includes Joseph, it is probably in the sense that, as head of the household, he was responsible for Mary’s fulfillment of the ritual requirements involved. It seems most natural to have the pronouns “their” and “they” (including Joseph) refer to the same persons. The Levitical code stipulated that the time of the mother’s “uncleanness” for a male child was 40 days, for a female child, 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. This visit evidently occurred before the visit of the Magi, because thereafter Joseph and Mary would hardly have dared to visit Jerusalem. Furthermore, they left Bethlehem for Egypt almost immediately after the visit of the Magi (see Matt. 2:12-15).

According to the law. Being born “under the law” (Galatians 4:4), Christ obeyed the laws He Himself had given to Moses 1,500 years earlier (PP 366, 373; see on Luke 2:21). As man’s substitute, it was necessary that Christ should “conform to the law in every particular” (DA 50). It is interesting to note that the word “law” appears five times in this chapter (vs. 22, 23, 24, 27, 39), and only four times in the rest of the book of Luke.

To present him. 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 at the time of the Exodus (see on Ex. 13:2, 12; Num 3:12, 13). The first-born was to be redeemed, or bought back, by a money payment, the amount 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).