Two Turtledoves

Now when the days of her purification

according to the law of Moses

were completed,

they brought Him to Jerusalem

to present Him to the Lord

(as it is written in the law of the Lord,

"Every male who 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."

Luke 2:22-24, NKJV

 

What do two turtledoves tell us about Jesus, Joseph and Mary?

 

Fifteen-hundred years before Jesus was born, God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt's bondage and started them on their way to the Promised Land.  Along the way, He gave them the rules to follow by which they would honor Him and keep themselves separate from their pagan neighbors.  Those rules seem strange to us, thirty-five centuries removed from Sinai, for they are not part of our culture (speaking on behalf of Americans of Western European descent), and neither are they part of our religion (speaking on behalf of Christians everywhere).  Jesus gave His life to set us free from the bondage of the law, and we are instructed to honor him and keep ourselves separate from the world by being transformed into His image and likeness.  The rules don't apply here.

 

For Joseph and Mary, those were the deeply held beliefs that defined them as Israelites.  They followed the law.

 

In Exodus 13:13, the Lord said, "Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine."

 

In Exodus 22:29, the Lord said, "The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me."

 

In Exodus 34:20, the Lord said, "All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem."

 

And in Leviticus 12:1-8, the Lord said that on the eighth day after birth, a male child was to be circumcised, and that the mother would be considered ceremonially unclean for the next thirty-three days, until her purification was complete.  And "when the days of her purification are fulfilled...she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering.  And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons--one as a burnt offering and the other as a sin offering."

 

It was these laws that Joseph and Mary were obeying when they brought their offerings to the temple.

 

Before the institution of the priesthood, it was God's plan that firstborn sons would have a role of ministry to their families.  But once He designated the Levites as priests, he substituted every Levite born for the firstborn of every Israelite household.  In return, He required that the family redeem their firstborn son with the sacrificial offering of a year-old lamb.  While there is no mention of this particular ritual in the gospel narrative of Jesus' birth, we can be sure that Joseph and Mary followed the law and redeemed their firstborn son Jesus.  Whether this took place at his circumcision, or later at Mary's purification, it was certainly done.

 

In the nomadic wanderings of God's people in the desert, there were several regulations ordered by the Lord to maintain a clean camp and a clean people.  It wasn't like these folks could take a shower every day, and the issue of bodily fluids of any kind could be a health hazard if not properly taken care of.  So while a woman's body was restoring itself and recovering after childbirth, both for her benefit and everyone else's, she was to remain separated from the community.  After the prescribed period of time, she could present herself to a priest with an offering for ritual cleansing.

 

Forty days after Jesus was born, while Mary and Joseph were still living in Bethlehem, they made the short trip into Jerusalem for the celebration of Mary's purification rites.  Jesus had been circumcised on the eighth day according to the law, and named according to God's command.  Now they came to present him to the Lord as their firstborn son, and they likely redeemed him with the offering of a lamb.  But if what we have considered about their situation is correct, they were likely in a rather meager financial situation.  That the offering for Mary's purification was two turtledoves (or two pigeons) instead of a lamb and a turtledove indicates they may have spent what they had on the lamb for Jesus, resorting to the poorer offering for Mary.

 

But whatever the substance of, and whatever the reason for, the offerings, Mary and Joseph brought them to the temple.  As faithful Jews obeying the commands of their Lord, they continued to do as their law dictated.  In doing so, they continued to build a family and a home on the foundations of God's truth.

 

And though we are no longer under the commands of the law and its sacrifices, we should endeavor to do the same.  From the time our children are born, we should surround them with a godly atmosphere in a Christ-centered home, raising them in the training and admonition of the Lord.