Luke 2:39

Performed all things. [Return to Nazareth, Luke 2:39, 40=Matthew 2:19-23. Major comment: Matthew and Luke. See Childhood and Youth of Jesus.] Jesus was born “under the law” (Galatians 4:4), a Jew, and therefore fulfilled all requirements of the “law of the Lord,” as the Levitical laws pertaining to purification and presentation (Luke 2:22-24) are here called. Although given to Israel by the hand of Moses, these laws had originated with God (see Deuteronomy 5:31-33). The Ten Commandments alone were given directly by God to the people (see Deuteronomy 5:22).

They returned. Luke does not mention the visit of the wise men or the flight into Egypt, both of which preceded the return to Galilee (see Matthew 2:1-23). A similar omission of narrative detail occurs in Acts 9:26, where Luke implies that Saul went immediately from Damascus to Jerusalem. But it is evident from Galatians 1:17, 18 that there was an interval of three years before Paul returned to Jerusalem. It is apparent that the visit of the wise men followed the dedication in the Temple, for it would seem incredible that Joseph should take Mary and Jesus to Jerusalem after being warned to flee to Egypt to escape from Herod. When the family returned to Nazareth, Herod was dead, and his son Archelaus ruled in his stead (see Matthew 2:19-23). Archelaus reigned from 4 B.C. to A.D. 6: Therefore the return to Nazareth must have come within this time, probably shortly after the beginning of the reign of Archelaus.

Nazareth. See on Matthew 2:23.