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Writer's pictureDeborah

New New Purification



Luke 2:21-35 ESV

Hebrews 9:11-14 ESV


I never ceased to be amazed by the wonder of God. Sometimes that’s in my own life but most of the time (daily) it’s found in scripture. 


For example, are told in Luke 2:21-24, “And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.  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 (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.” 


Mary was given the name Jesus for her son and she listened and gave him the name the angel gave to her. 


God did a similar thing each time when I conceived, I had a dream and in the dream I knew the sex of the child and the name of the child. 


I saw them in a dream. I knew my first born would be a girl with sandy brown hair and her name was to be Sandy. 


I knew my second born was a red headed boy and I was given a name. The same was true for my third born, a son. 


The fourth dream I had was very puzzling. I did not understand the dream. I did not know the sex or the name of the child. 


I miscarried that child within the first three months. 


My doctor advised me to let my body rest and I took his advise. Two years later I conceived again. At the same time God was opening doors to new gifts. God was teaching me to use my instincts. The fifth time I conceived I knew the sex and the name of the child. This time I instinctively knew who God was sending. 


I had a third son and I knew his name. 


Then I had a fourth dream, but it was different than the others. It was very puzzling. I did not understand the dream. I did not know the name or the sex of the child. 


I miscarried that baby within the first three months. 


My doctor advised me to let my body rest and I took his advise. Two years later I conceived again. At the same time God was opening new doors to new gifts. God was teaching me to use my instincts. The fifth time I conceived I knew the sex and the name of the child. This time I instinctively knew who God was sending. 


I had a third son and I knew his name. 


In addition to naming the child, Mary and Joseph followed the Law of Moses and did everything that was required by Jewish Law. The Law required that a son would be circumcised and given a name. 


God also spoke clearly to others about the one who was coming. There was a man named Simeon who lived in Jerusalem at the time Jesus was born. God had promised him that he would not die before he saw the ONE who was to come to Israel.


Luke 2:25-35, “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”


I would imagine like any parent preparing to give birth to their child Joseph and Mary hoped for the best for their baby. They would have followed the Torah (the first five books of scripture) as they prepared for the coming child. In the Torah, male children were to be circumcised and given a name. Joseph and Mary would have studied and asked questions about what was required according to Jewish Law. 


They probably had also made plans how they would discipline the child. They probably talked about their son learning to be a carpenter. 


They would have been intent on studying and learning everything that was required for their boy. 


More than likely they would not have expected that God would send others to notice their child. When they entered the Temple they didn’t anticipate someone like Simeon who prophesied over Jesus. 


Even if they thought someone would notice Jesus, like many Jews in the first century they had an expectation of Hope in Yahweh (God) who was their deliverer.


Jesus’ parents were like other parents. They wanted the best for their son. 


When Simeon took Jesus in his arms and proclaimed He was salvation, they would have thought it meant Jesus would be a great helper to the Jews. When Simeon said the baby would bring light to reveal God to the Gentiles they would not have understood that because of Jesus, an entire shift would occur in the religious community. They could not have imagined what Simeon meant when he spoke about Jesus bring glory to Israel.


Mary and Joseph would not have imagined the meaning of the rise and fall of Israel or what he meant by a sign that is opposed. 


It would have been especially puzzling when Simeon told them a sword would pierce through their very souls that the thoughts of other hearts would be seen. In the Koine Greek it translates ‘of her the soul will go through a sword so that may be revealed of many hearts thoughts.’


We know in the end when a sword pierced Jesus on the cross, Mary’s heart was pierced. Mary, his mother was there. The truth of God was revealed to many hearts. 


Through Jesus we were and are purified. Through Jesus we are made spotless and refined. We are purified through the blood of Jesus. Hebrews 9:11-14 says, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”


We have been made pure by the cross so that we may serve the living God.


Spiritual Practice: Purification


Turn to God. Receive purification. Go in peace and serve the Lord. 


In God, Deborah

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