IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW

And when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Jesus to the temple.

On Thursday, February 2^nd, we celebrated a feast day, which today we solemnize. It is, as the Prayer Book says, commonly called The Purification of Saint Mary The Virgin.

The Holy Family was, as devout Jews do, fulfilling the requirements of the law. A woman was considered to be unclean for 40 days from the birth of a male child and 80 days from the birth of a female child. The mere suggestion of such a law today would no doubt produce strident screaming on every street corner of this continent, but I expect God had His reasons for giving such a law. As always with God, it is not for us to question His reasons.

In Leviticus 12, where you will find the entire Law of Purification, God does not offer any explanation. For Mary the law was, in and of itself, sufficient, which attests both to her obedience and to her total humanity.

Now, if you refer to p266 in the BCP, you will find that this feast day has another name, one which carries a greater theological significance. The feast is first called The Presentation of Christ in The Temple. This was also a requirement of the law, every first born male being sanctified to God. Later this was changed to mean only the firstborn sons of the tribe of Levi, but the others had to be presented in the Temple and redeemed back into their families.

The law written in Lev. 12 required that two creatures be offered for sacrifice, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. But there was no sin connected with the conception, birth or life of our Lord, so why did Mary do this?

First, a series of things were done to make it clear that Jesus Christ was fully human. After His miraculous conception, he grew in Mary’s womb for nine months, like any other baby. On the 8^th day after His birth, He was circumcised, in accordance with the law, like any other male infant. On the banks of the River Jordan He was baptized by John, like so many of his contemporaries. He grew up in a normal, if very poor, family and learned a trade from His stepfather.

He was, to all intents and purposes, just like any other child, unusually good, of course, but otherwise the same.

You can imagine what a field day the naysayers would have had if any doubt about Christ’s humanity had been allowed. For one thing, there would have been sneers about what happened on the Cross – He didn’t really suffer because God killed all the pain, that sort of thing. As it is there have been suggestions that He did not really die upon the Cross.

It was so very necessary, in light of the ultimate mission of the Son of God’s Incarnation that He be unquestionably, fully, human. As the writer of Hebrews said, He had to be made like His brethren in every respect.

With the one exception, of course, that Jesus was without sin.

The second reason Mary complied with the law is found in what her Son said later, during the Sermon on the Mount. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfil. Mt.5:17.

Given such a statement, it would be strange indeed if Jesus had not complied with the law of Moses fully and completely. And of course, had he broken the law, He would have been guilty of sin, because it was and is the law which describes and defines sin in its various forms.

Whether Mary knew these things in her heart, or was led by the Spirit to do what she did is less important than that they were done. Now, it is not often that the opportunity comes around to preach on the Law of Moses, so a few words on the subject would perhaps not go amiss.

It is no accident that our Holy Communion liturgy contains, after the Lord’s Prayer and the Collect for Purity, the Ten Commandments. The rubric on p67 says, The Ten Commandments shall always be read at least once in each month on a Sunday at the chief service of the day.

This gives us an opportunity to decide what we must lay before God in the confession. The Ten Commandments are like a mirror. When we look into it we will see ourselves standing beside the law or laws we have transgressed. If we do not see ourselves there, there is a very good chance that we are not looking deeply enough.

It is not enough to ask ourselves, what have I done?, as if we are playing trivial pursuit. If that is all we do, we are right there and then breaking what Jesus says is the first and great commandment, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might. You will find that first in Deuteronomy 6:5.

If we love God like that, we will pay to sin the attention it deserves. Jesus died on the Cross for our sins and that great sacrificial act demands that we treat even the possibility of sin with the utmost seriousness. Finding our sins, acknowledging them and repenting is not a trivial pursuit. Eternal life is at stake.

If we cannot desire eternal life that much, then we can surely try to love Jesus that much and be that thankful for His Passion and atoning death.

St. John wrote in his first letter, Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 1John,3:4.

Jesus was without sin, perfect man in every way. Since sin is defined by the law it follows that Jesus abided by every single tenet of the law. The law allow us to know what is right and what is wrong and Jesus, our example, shows us just how important that is to God.

The law is also enough. We do not have to try to improve on God by inventing sins of our own. That is not a worthy use of our God given creativity. Bishop Robert once cautioned me about this. I asked him about writing a rule of life. I think he suspected that I would try to construct something the size of the phone book, because his quiet, measured response was, “You already have a rule of life. We have to be very careful not to invent new sins.”

God described our sins to Moses and His Divine definition is all we need. And it is His Divine definitions against which we transgress. God beheld our weakness and in His mercy, sent His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.

But we will not see Jesus Christ as our Saviour if we do not first understand sin as defined by God and put that in the context of our sinful nature. Because if we do not understand our sinful nature, we will not begin to comprehend the need for our Saviour.

How blessed was old Simeon, who saw the child Jesus, took Him in his arms, blessed God and with unfettered faith said,

Lord, now lettest Thou thy servant depart in peace; according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy Salvation.

While we may, in the end, stand condemned under the law, the law has as its purpose exactly the opposite result, the avoidance of being found worthy of condemnation. The law was given, not to make our lives miserable, but to make them happy and free.

We turn to the law, not to burden ourselves with guilt, but to identify where we need the help of God to repent of and reject those things which make us guilty. The Grace of God will take our weakness and enoble us through it.

Our help standeth in the name of the Lord, Psalm 124 says.

Jesus Himself says, For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:17.

The law is not a lash with which to open our flesh. Christ’s flesh was opened for us.

The law is not the nails with which to pierce our hands. Christ’s hands were pierced for us.

The law is not the cross on which we should be slain. Christ was crucified once and for all for us.

The law is God’s framework through which and on which He gives our lives order.

The law is God’s love for us through obedience to which we can show our love for Him.

The law is to be loved, not hated; embraced, not feared.

And when we stumble, as we will, our prayer of faith shall be:

Mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of thy people Israel.

Peter Jardine +

Epiphany IV, 2006