The Tuesday after the Sunday within the Octave of the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord
Posted on December 31, 2024 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
All men are conceived and born in sin. Sin affects everything man does. This is reflected in the Levitical purification laws. A woman who conceived and gave birth was considered unclean (Lev. 12:2). Inherited sin was passed on to the child and she bore this sinful child in her womb. A sacrifice and atonement needed to be made after bringing a sinful human being into the world.
But our Lord Jesus was not conceived in sin. The Holy Ghost overshadowed her, and Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Law testifies about the Lord, as He is the only One who has “opened up the womb” of a virgin by His birth. He is the only One who can truly be called “holy to the Lord,” for He is the only One who is truly holy, that is, born without sin.
Then why the need for a sacrifice? There was no law of Moses governing a child born without sin, but still His parents subject themselves and their Child to the law of Moses. In doing so, they and the Redeemer of the world are under the same Law to which all mankind is subject. Just as He was placed under the Law at His circumcision, now at His presentation in the temple He is under the Law too. He Himself would be the sinless sacrifice through which the world would be purified.
Collect: 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 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.
