Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is possibly one of the most under-appreciated episodes in the whole of the Gospel and contains a wealth of content for contemplation and wonder. To properly contextualize this scene, it should be understood that, according to the Law of Moses, it was prescribed that an offering be made for a first-born son forty days following the birth. This offering ordinarily consisted of a lamb and a young pigeon or turtledove but there was a provision in the law (Lev 12:8) for poorer people who were permitted to offer a pair of turtledoves or young pigeons instead.
We should first take note of the external circumstances of Mary and Joseph in this passage: as poor people, they are permitted to offer pair of birds. The situation becomes truly interesting, however, when we consider the actual circumstances at hand in that Jesus is not an ordinary child who needs to be purified or justified by ritual sacrifice to God. Jesus actually is the sacrifice. Outwardly, Mary and Joseph could not afford a lamb but secretly they have brought the Lamb of God whose sacrifice will accomplish the purification and justification of every human being who ever has or will live.
In contemplating this scene, we may recall the words of Abraham to his son Isaac, “God Himself will provide the Lamb for the sacrifice,” (Gen 22:8). God spared Isaac, the son of Abraham, and provided an alternate sacrifice at the top of the mountain. This substitution is a prefigurement of the reality that God would actually provide his own Son, the Lamb of God, as a sacrifice instead. The passage of the Presentation foreshadows the fulfillment of Abraham’s words as the infant Christ, the true Paschal Lamb, was brought to the temple to be presented to the Lord. How beautiful and mysterious is this episode in which Mary and Joseph outwardly appear as poor people making a humble offering when in reality they are effectively offering the Son of God back to the Father in a prefigurement of the Redemption that He came to accomplish.