MARY DIDN'T HAVE A LITTLE LAMB ...

Luke 2:22

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.

In the twelfth chapter of the Book of Leviticus we are told"

'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.  And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 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’ (Leviticus 12:2-4).

Luke ties this verse to the birth of Messiah when he says, "And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to Adonai" (Luke 2:22). 

Miriam therefore came to make an offering at the end of the days of her purification as was prescribed by Moses and that is when she meets Simeon (Luke 2:25). Luke actually makes sure to tell us how Miriam and Joseph did everything according to the Levitical process.

It is important here to note that even though most English Biblical texts relate to Miriam’s post-natal state as unclean and therefore having to present an offering at the Temple; her condition has nothing to do with moral deficiency or spiritual unworthiness. A woman giving birth actually performs one of the highest of Hashem's commandments. She fulfills what she was created for. What the Torah refers to as the ritual unclean state is solely the reality of being human and therefore impure before. Ceremonial contamination is solely Temple related.

We are told in the Gospel of Luke that,

When the time came for their (Miriam and Joseph) purification according to the Law of Moses, they  brought him (Yeshua)  up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who first 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).

We see in Luke’s rendering of the story that Miriam and Joseph brought "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."’, and that is because they could not afford a lamb (Leviticus 12:6-8).

Little did young Miriam know, oh how little did she know that whereas she could not afford to bring Lamb to the Temple for her purification, she actually brought with her the ultimate Lamb, he  who would end up purifying not only her, but the whole world with her!

P. Gabriel Lumbroso

www.thelumbrosos.com

For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE in Kindle edition click here.http://www.amazon.com/Under-Fig-Tree-Messianic-ebook/product-reviews/B00ANS40FK/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending