Festival of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
Posted on December 27, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 2:22-24 (NKJV)
2:22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Devotion
“Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male who 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.’”
These words may seem insignificant to us, but they are of utmost importance. Why? Because it was necessary that Jesus, the sinless Son of God in human flesh, fulfill all the righteous demands of God’s Law in our stead. So, as required in Old Testament Law (Lev. 12), Mary offered the prescribed sacrifice for her purification following the birth of a son.
Having fulfilled the Law in our stead, our Lord Jesus was the sinless Lamb of God, “without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:19), a perfect and holy sacrifice offered up to God for our sins. He redeemed us, “not with silver and gold, but with His holy and precious blood, and with His innocent sufferings and death” (Small Catechism, 2nd Art. of the Creed).
Prayer: Almighty and everlasting God, direct our actions according to Thy good pleasure, that in the name of Thy beloved Son we may be made to abound in good works; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Festival of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
Merciful Lord, we beseech Thee to cast the bright beams of Thy light upon Thy Church, that it being instructed by the doctrine of the blessed Apostles, may so walk in the light of Thy truth, that it may at length attain to the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord
Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that the new Birth of Thine Only-Begotten Son in the flesh may set us free who are held in the old bondage under the yoke of sin; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
