INTRO: Welcome to another Christmas day. Since 1998 I have given 12 messages on Luke 1:26-2:38. I have called this extended section of Scripture on the account of Christ's birth the, “Four Great Visits of The Christmas Story.” They are:
I. THE VISIT TO MARY (Luke 1:26-38)
II. THE VISIT TO ELIZEBETH (Luke 1:39-56)
III. THE VISIT TO BETHLEHEM (Luke 2:1-21)
IV. THE VISIT TO JERUSALEM (Luke 2:22-38)
In this morning's message I will give the last message in the section I have called ‘The Visit To Bethlehem.' The fourth visit is to Jerusalem. I had originally given Luke 2:1-20 as covering the third visit, but have found I was in error. It goes to verse 21. Some 32 days pass between verse 21 and 22. For this morning's message we want to focus in on this 21st verse. In verses 21-24, I find in these verses the fulfillment of four rites required in the Jewish ceremonial law. A rite, in light of the passage we are considering this morning is the performance of a divine or solemn service as established by religious laws or the customs of a certain group of people.
For example, we have marriage rites, or funeral rites. A rite is the process of performing weddings or funerals. These vary greatly from belief to belief and from culture to culture. However, the rites performed in our passage are those required by the law of Moses that were kept by the Jews. These are rites that are not required by God of the Church.
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