2 - Bible Commentary | Karuna Sadan

MALE CHILD

Say to the Israelites, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be unclean seven days, unclean as during her monthly discomfort. (Leviticus 12:2)

Then she shall remain [separated] thirty-three days to be purified [from her loss] of blood; she shall touch no hallowed thing nor come into the [court of the] sanctuary until the days of her purifying are over. (Leviticus 12:4)

GIRL CHILD

But if the child she bears is a girl, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her periodic impurity, and she shall remain separated sixty-six days to be purified [from her loss] of blood. (Leviticus 12:5)

Exactly double for the girl child

Mary must have come to the temple after 33 days

Mary the mother of Jesus was a godly and blessed woman, but she was not without sin. Jesus was the only human without sin. Jesus “had no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). “In him is no sin” (1 John 3:5). Nothing of the sort is ever said of Mary or anyone else.

The following verses make it crystal clear:

Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to 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 following verses instruct us as to the law Mary the mother of Jesus was fulfilling.

When the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb a year old for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering to the door of the Tent of Meeting to the priest;

And he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has borne a male or a female child.

If she is unable to bring a lamb [for lack of means] then she shall bring two turtledoves or young pigeons, one for a burnt offering, the other for a sin offering; the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean. (Leviticus 12:6-8)

It is clear the Mary and Joseph did not have the means to bring a lamb as this is the reason they brought two turtle doves or two young pigeons.

According to the law, even Mary was considered unclean and she need a burnt offering and a sin offering for her to be declared clean.

Now Jesus did receive the baptism of repentance though He did not need repentance, because it was “fitting … to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt. 3:15). In Mary’s case scripture is silent.

Chapter 12