Fresh Bread

Guest (Male): You are listening to Fresh Bread, Dr. Harry Reeder's daily devotional from the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

Harry Reeder: We're in the narratives of the Gospel of Luke. Now, we don't know how long Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem. We know that Herod, after encountering the Magi, will send people to kill children from two years below. It's my opinion that you can safely say that Jesus, as a baby, was in Bethlehem and likely was there long enough to be in the house, no longer in the stable.

My guess is it's somewhere from three months to two years they're in Bethlehem. They'll leave from there to go to Egypt, and then when Herod has died, they will then come back and will return to Nazareth. And Jesus will be raised as a little boy in Nazareth all the way up to age 30 when he begins his public ministry through his baptism by John at the River Jordan.

So, here are these initial days. He's still in Bethlehem, and he's not only been circumcised, but now something else happens at 40 days of his life. When the time came for their purification—that would be baptism, 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 or sanctified 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. 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.

We're going to pick up with Simeon next week. What I want to do today is to simply show to you the intentional commitment that Mary and Joseph have to do that which is obedient to God's law. On the eighth day, they had him circumcised. Now, in the day of purification, there are two things that would happen. One, Mary would be sprinkled clean with water. There was a specific baptism that she would have participated in that would be a cleansing rite that was declared and revealed in God's Word.

And then, secondly, not only do you have Mary's purification, but the firstborn of a family was to be presented at the temple. So, now they've left Bethlehem for this one-day journey up to the temple. They're going to encounter a couple of people, Simeon and Anna. Join me next week as we look at the implications of Simeon and Anna's encounter with Jesus at the temple.

But here's what I simply want you to see today: that Jesus will be obedient to God's Word in thought, word, and deed, and it will be from his birth on. Jesus will be born of the virgin. Jesus will be circumcised in obedience to the law on the eighth day. Jesus will be presented according to the law on the first day, with the rites of purification for him and his mother, the firstborn consecrated.

Why is that important? Because you are not only saved through the death of Jesus whereby he bore the penalty of your sins; you are also saved through Jesus' active obedience. He, in obedience to the Father, took your sins upon himself at the cross. And then his active obedience—everything he did throughout his entire life—was perfectly righteous according to God's law, so that you are not only forgiven because your sins have been removed, you are accepted because of his righteousness that clothes you. So, we stand forgiven of our sins, and we stand commended by his righteousness.

That's another slice of Fresh Bread. Join me on Monday. You be with God's people to worship this Lord's Day, and I'll be with you for another slice of Fresh Bread next week.

Guest (Male): Do you find it a challenge to study, pray, and grow in the Christian faith? This month's free Fresh Bread gift offer is Dr. Reeder's series, "Cultivating a Heart for God." Call 1-800-488-1888.