Rev. Michael Holmen's Sermons

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:Our Gospel reading this morning tells the story of what happened not long after Jesus’s birth. The Law of God, given to the Old Testament people, required that eight days after Jesus’s birth he needed to be circumcised. Then, forty days after Mary gave birth, she needed to offer sacrifices. This marked the end of her time of ceremonial uncleanness from giving birth. Our Gospel reading describes this. Mary and Joseph went up into Jerusalem. Jesus was presented to the Lord as the firstborn, and they offered two pigeons in the Temple. In a way, these activities were unremarkable. Jewish people had been obeying these Laws for many hundreds of years. Since Mary and Joseph were devout Jews, they did what was expected of them according to the Law. What was unusual about the situation was that Jesus wasn’t just an ordinary Jewish boy. He was also God’s Son. Since Jesus was and is God’s Son, he is the originator of the Law. He is Lord of the Law. He was free. He didn’t need to