Poor and Oppressed by Religion (Luke 2:21-24)

Luke 2:21-24 ²¹ And when eight days were completed before Jesus' circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. ²² And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every first-born male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord "), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." 

We learn two things about Jesus' family in this text.  First, his parents kept the Jewish law.  Secondly, they were poor (the bird sacrifice was only for the poor).  It is interesting to consider the impact of these two things on Jesus as he grew up.  And how they must have informed his ministry. 

Jesus was Jewish and brought up in the Jewish religion.  This means he had a large community with a rich heritage to identify with.  It also means that he was educated in and made to keep the Jewish law.  But the law was burdensome.  So many rules just to get through the day.  Rules about staying clean.  Food rules.  Rules about rules.  And so many ways to break them.  Always another sacrifice to make one's self right with God again.  What a constant endeavor it was to stay right with God.  Jesus knew first hand that being in relationship with God through a list of rules was overwhelming.  And unsatisfying spiritually.

If you grew up in a strict Christian family that practiced a lot of rules:  boys' hair must be trimmed to a certain length, girls' dresses must be so long, certain words are taboo, certain games are forbidden (no card games, no Dungeon and Dragons), no Harry Potter, no dancing, no working on Sundays, etc.  Then you know just the tip of the iceberg of what Jesus' life was all about.  The religion had become focused on knowing the right rules to follow and going to all kinds of extremes to follow them - especially the denomination called the Pharisees.  The rules were the most important thing you did.  Keeping them was your primary purpose in life - it was the way you controlled God.  If you kept the rules, God would bless you.  If you broke them, God would take it out on you and others around you.  Rules were the name of the game.  There became no time or place for walking in relationship with God - which was what God wanted from us all along.  One was way too busy keeping the law.

Jesus also intimately understood the plight of the poor - not as an outsider looking in, but as an insider living it out. We can only imagine the personal significance it had to Jesus when he talked about the poor widow who gave her coins to God.  Or when he preached about the King who invited the poor to his party when his friends wouldn't come.  Or when he taught, "blessed are the poor."  Being poor wasn't a theoretical concept to Jesus.  He was poor - he lived with the poor.

So we shouldn't be surprised when Jesus grows up and there are two important things that he focuses on in his teachings.  One is that Pharisee-ism does not please God.  And the other is that God loves the poor.

God put Jesus in this context of religion gone amok and poverty for a reason.  It was to inform him and shape him.  What context did God place you in growing up?  How has it informed you?  Have you learned the right lessons from it?  How can you apply them to your life today?  How have the talents and skills God has given you been shaped by your informative years?

As you go through your day - consider your past and how it shapes your future.  Is it shaping it for the good or is it holding you back?  Let it have a positive impact on you!