A Real Boy

We continue this week in Luke 2:

 21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

When Christ came to earth, He lived the life of a normal human boy.  He received the sign of the covenant with God; He was given a meaningful name - Jesus meaning savior or deliverer; He was taken to the Temple as a firstborn Son to present a special sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.  His parents were not rich or elite, as is shown by the sacrifice they were able to afford. His life in human terms was unspectacular. Yet this short description is meaningful.  The name choice was significant, indicating what His assignment was to be; He was a first-born Son, which carried with it not only greater honor, but greater responsibility; He lived on the earth in a place where it could truly be said he had no earthly advantages; everything He would do would come from within, not from the world around Him.  The world was waiting to see.