The True Offering - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2026

They brought [Jesus] to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of 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."
Luke 2:22-24

The True Offering
The Child Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day after His birth. He was named "Jesus" according to the instructions the angel Gabriel had given Mary before she conceived Him through the Holy Spirit. Forty days after His birth, another ceremony took place when they brought the Child to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord" and to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons" (Lk. 2:22-24).

Mary and Joseph presented the Child Jesus to the Lord, who "is over all, God blessed forever. Amen" (Rom. 9:5 jnd). But Jesus is God! This unfathomable mystery demands our worship. The exalted Son of Man is the Lamb amid the heavenly throne, approaching the One who sits on the throne of God—and He is God (Rev. 5:6-7). This divine mystery is inseparable from another one: the Triune God, One in Three and Three in One, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We bow before Him and worship Him, forever (vv. 8-10).

The sacrifice that Mary presented for her ritual purification showed how poor she was, yet fully devoted to honor God. It reminds us of the sin offering, burnt offering, and peace offering that her Son would accomplish on the cross. Then, at that time would Simeon's prophecy be fulfilled, as a sword would pierce her soul (Lk. 2:35; Jn. 19:17-27).

Alfred E. Bouter
Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slainCould give the guilty conscience peace, or wash away its stain.But Christ, the heavenly Lamb, took all our guilt away,A sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they.

I. Watts