About forty days after the birth of Christ, Joseph and Mary took Him (Jesus) to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord and to offer sacrifice. This was according to Jewish law, and as man’s substitute, Christ must conform to the law in every particular. He had already been subjected to the rite of circumcision as a pledge of His obedience to the law.
As an offering for the mother, the law required a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. But the law provided that if the parents were too poor to bring a lamb, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering, the other for a sin offering, might be accepted.
The offerings presented to the Lord were to be without blemish. These offerings represented Christ, and from this, it is evident that Jesus Himself was free from physical deformity. He was the
Desire of Ages, p. 50
“lamb without blemish and without spot.”
1 Peter 1:19.
His physical structure was not marred by any defect; His body was strong and healthy. And throughout His lifetime, He lived in conformity to nature’s laws. Physically as well as spiritually, He was an example of what God designed all humanity to be through obedience to His laws.
The dedication of the firstborn had its origin in the earliest times. God had promised to give the Firstborn of heaven to save the sinner. This gift was to be acknowledged in every household by the consecration of the firstborn son. He was to be devoted to the priesthood as a representative of Christ among men.
In the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the dedication of the firstborn was again commanded. While the children of Israel were in bondage to the Egyptians, the Lord directed Moses to go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say, “
Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even My first-born: and I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-born.”
Exodus 4:22, 23.
Moses delivered his message, but the proud king’s answer was,
“Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.”
Exodus 5:2.
The Lord worked for His people by signs and wonders, sending terrible judgments upon Pharaoh. At length, the destroying angel was bidden to slay the firstborn of man and beast among the Egyptians. That the Israelites might be spared, they were directed to place upon their doorposts the blood of a slain lamb. Every house was to be marked so that when the angel came on his mission of death, he might pass over the homes of the Israelites.
After sending this judgment upon Egypt, the Lord said to Moses,
“Sanctify unto Me all the first-born, . . . both of man and of the beast: it is Mine;” “for on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto Me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast: Mine shall they be: I am the Lord.”
Exodus 13:2; Numbers 3:13.
After the Tabernacle service was established, the Lord chose the tribe of Levi in the place of the firstborn of all Israel to minister in the sanctuary. But the firstborn were still to be regarded as the Lord’s and were to be bought back by a ransom.
Thus the law for the presentation of the firstborn was made particularly significant. While it was a memorial of the Lord’s wonderful deliverance of the children of Israel, it prefigured a greater deliverance to be wrought out by the only-begotten Son of God. As the blood sprinkled on the doorposts had saved the firstborn of Israel, so the blood of Christ has the power to save the world.
What meaning then was attached to Christ’s presentation! But the priest did not see through the veil or read the mystery beyond. The presentation of infants was a common scene. Day after day, the priest received the redemption money as the babes were presented to the Lord. Day after day, he went through the routine of his work, giving little heed to the parents or children unless he saw some indication of the wealth or high rank of the parents. Joseph and Mary were poor, and when they came with their child, the priests saw only a man and woman dressed as Galileans and in the humblest garments. There was nothing in their appearance to attract attention, and they presented only the offerings made by the poorer classes.
The priest went through the ceremony of his official work. He took the child in his arms and held it up before the altar. After handing it back to its mother, he inscribed the name “Jesus” on the roll of the firstborn. Little did he think, as the babe lay in his arms, that it was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory. The priest did not think that this babe was the One of whom Moses had written, “
A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you.”
Acts 3:22.
He did not think that this babe was He whose glory Moses had asked to see. But One greater than Moses lay in the priest’s arms, and when he enrolled the child’s name, he was enrolling the name of One who was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. That name was to be its death warrant, for the system of sacrifices and offerings was waxing old; the type had almost reached its antitype, the shadow of its substance.
The Shekinah had departed from the sanctuary, but in the Child of Bethlehem was veiled the glory before which angels bow. This unconscious babe was the promised seed to whom the first altar at the gate of Eden pointed. This was Shiloh, the peace giver. It was He who declared Himself to Moses as the I AM. It was He who, in the pillar of cloud and fire, had guided Israel. This was He whom seers had long foretold. He was the Desire of all nations, the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star. The name of that helpless little babe, inscribed in the roll of Israel, declaring Him our brother, was the hope of fallen humanity. The child for whom the redemption money had been paid was He who was to pay the ransom for the sins of the whole world. He was the true…
“…high priest over the house of God,” the head of “an unchangeable priesthood,” the intercessor at “the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 10:21; 7:24; 1:3.
Desire of Ages, Pages 50-52