Reflecting on Luke 2:21-24
"The purification rites required by the Law of Moses." (Luke 2:22)
"Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord." (Luke 2:23)Sorry, my reflections today take the long way around to make my point.
As I read these verses, my questioning mind is activated.
Why was a woman considered ‘unclean’ after childbirth, needing purification?
You can read about uncleanness for women in Leviticus 12 and 15.
To be unclean means to be unfit for the worship of God.
You could not approach the temple, or touch anything sacred.
To do so would defile the temple, and put them at risk of death.
“You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.” (Leviticus 15:31)
I try to imagine what this was like for a newborn mom.
When I look it up in Leviticus 12, I have more questions.
Why was a woman unclean twice as long for a girl than for a boy?
* For boy, 7 days plus 33 days = 40 days of isolation.
* For girl, 14 days plus 66 days = 80 days of isolation.
So was the mother in isolation for up to 80 days?
Anyone who touched them would be unclean for the day (Leviticus 15:19-31).
If their family loved them, would they join them in their isolation?
What if people were more concerned about purity than compassion?
Think of the the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).
Or the bleeding woman, who was unclean for 12 years (Luke 8:43-48).
My questioning mind also thinks about consecrating the the firstborn son?
This was established after God rescued Israel from Egypt (Exodus 13:1-16).
It reminded Israel how God killed Egypt’s firstborn, but spared their own.
It was a symbol of redemption, being spared by grace.
But again, why were the sons redeemed, and not the daughters?
All of this reminds us that we are in a fallen, messed up world.
These are reminders of the curse that divides and plagues us.
God did not design men to be prioritized above or before women.
The bible starts with Adam and Eve created as equal image-bearing rulers.
It is sin and its curse that turns men against women, sons against daughters.
It is the curse of patriarchy and misogyny that twists our world up.
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16)
“If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7)
I’ve placed these two verses together to make something clear.
Genesis 3:16 is not setting up patriarchy as a good thing.
Like Genesis 4:7, to ‘desire’ and to ‘rule over’ are negative activities.
The woman’s desire is a negative desire, to overcome the man.
And the man’s ruling is a negative ruling, to crush and control the woman.
As I see it, the Law of Moses is exposing the curse, not God’s creation design.
The Law of Moses does not elevate men over women, it differentiates them.
The male experience is different from the female experience.
Men sin and suffer differently than women, yet both sin and suffer.
Men are guilty in different ways than women, but it is all negative.
Life under the curse is a burden, and no one is able to break it.
Despite all the sacrifices and consecrated males, the curse remains.
We are doomed… unless someone can break the cycle of sin and the curse.
Luke does not say it, but he is setting the stage for Jesus the curse-breaker.
Jesus is unclean, in contact with an unclean woman.
Jesus is a firstborn son, under the curse of Egypt’s firstborn.
But Jesus is the one who will end this cursed situation.
He is the promised human seed who would crush the serpent (Genesis 3:15).
He is the one that can consecrate the condemned firstborn sons.
He is the one that can cleanse the unclean bleeding daughters.
What Joseph and Mary do here is NOT God’s creation will and design.
These are all symbols in the Law of our accursed, messed up, divided world.
Jesus does not come to reinforce these OT symbols, but to save us from them!
He is the one to save us from the division and misery of patriarchy and oppression.
He is the one that restores us as equal sons and daughters.
Jesus changes everything!
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I find many of the laws and practices in the Moses Law cruel and oppressive. They seem to defend the curse, and justify the favouring of men before women. Thank You for reminding me that Moses was not setting up what was right, but showing what was wrong. Thank You for being the curse-breaker, and restoring us all equally as sons and daughters of God.