Good Morning, Siblings!

Today’s readings are Luke 2-3

Read today’s Bible readings at BibleGateway by clicking here.

Rabbit Trails 

I shared my notes on the birth of Messiah in Matthew 1 and we discussed myths about His birth versus what the Bible actually says. Click here to read those. In those notes we also discussed what He was named at birth, beyond the Anglicized translation of His name.

Luke 2:22-24 shows us that Joseph and Mary were kingdom folks, followers of YHWH in word and deed. They knew His law and they kept it. Check out this passage:

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “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. 3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 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. 5 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.

6 “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, 7 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. 8 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.” Leviticus 12:1-8

Now let us look at Joseph and Mary’s actions:

22 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 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Luke 2:22-24

Obedience. YHWH’s love language. Of course He chose a couple who knew how to speak it to be the parents to His only son.

While at the temple with their baby boy, the Holy Spirit identifies Messiah to two well known followers of YHWH. The first, righteous and devout Simeon, who had the Holy Spirit* upon Him and had prayed to see the Maschiach before he passed on. He came to Messiah and immediately took the baby in his arms and blessed the Father, speaking a most wonderful prophecy!

29“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:29-32

A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. Wow! Did that sentence jump out at you, too?

The second person was a prophetess named Anna. We are told that Anna was from the tribe of Asher, so she was an Israelite. (There are at least 8 female prophets spoken of in the Bible, by the way) Anna pretty much walked up to the temple and immediately began giving thanks to YHWH and speaking to all there about the redemption which this child would bring to Jerusalem.

Luke 2:40 And the child grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of YHWH was upon Him. Luke 2:40

I have nothing to add to that, just wanted to share it so we can all read it and smile today. 

Luke 2:41 And His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of Passover.

Doesn’t the thought of young Messiah keeping all of YHWH’s Feasts make your heart feel good?

Luke 2:51 records the first recorded statement by Yeshua (as far as His age goes) and He states:

And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

Even then, Yeshua was surprised to find folks thinking he would be doing something other than seeking and serving the Father.

But after that, he returned home with them and was submissive to his parents. What an absolute model of humility. He was submissive to them.

And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. Luke  2:51

We see a similar statement in Luke 2:19: But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

To me, pondering things in your heart is like finding a diamond and slipping it in your pocket until the Father shows you what to do with it. It is a person at peace with something as yet unfolding, satisfied living in the moment rather than anxiously trying to hurry in the revelation. We sure could use a lot more pondering in our heart these days.

We covered much of this already in Matthew so I’m going to skip ahead a bit at this point.

Luke 3:23 tells us that Messiah was thirty years old when He began His ministry. In Numbers 4:2-3 the Father set up the age of thirty as the age a priest could begin serving.

Conflicting genealogies: If you’ll notice, the genealogy in Matthew 1 has some noted differences from the genealogy in Luke 3. Most believe (and this is a great rabbit trail with lots to back this up if you choose to take it) that Luke was actually giving the genealogy of Mary, which is why he began with the language of “as was supposed” with regards to Joseph as Messiah’s Father. The thought is that Matthew gives the genealogy of Joseph, and Luke gives the genealogy of Mary (her name was really Miriam ?), thereby proving that Messiah was a descendant of David no matter how the world viewed Him. I freely admit that the way the text reads at the start of this appears to lead us to believe it was the genealogy of Joseph but after searching it out, I have also come to the conclusion that the Gospels share the genealogy of both parents, with this being the final one to prove Messiah meets the required lineage markers on both sides of His family, with Joseph being chosen to be His earthly father.

So did you catch the last line of the genealogy in Luke 3:38? … the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

WOW! And no, this was not a strange thing to be able to trace ones genealogy back that far in their time. Lineage was a very important matter.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

-1 John 3:1

Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21

We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!

May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!

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Christy Jordan
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