The Law Giver Under the Law
Luke 2:21–39 — The Circumcision & Presentation
Join us as we sit with the Church Fathers in Luke 2:21–39, where the Lawgiver humbles Himself under His own Law and the Old Covenant hands its hope to the New. From the eighth day to the fortieth — from circumcision to presentation — we explore how Christ fulfills and transcends the Law, revealing the mystery of spiritual circumcision, the poverty of the Incarnation, and the meeting of promise and fulfillment in the Temple.
“In this episode, we follow the Church’s lectionary — slowly, in context, and in conversation with the Church Fathers.”
The Passage
21And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
22Now 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 23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
25And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; 30For my eyes have seen Your salvation 31Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 32A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”
33And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against 35(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
— Luke 2:21–35, New King James Version
Episode Breakdown
Two laws frame this passage. On the eighth day a male child was circumcised and named; after forty days the mother completed her purification and the firstborn son was presented to the Lord. The offering Mary brings — “a pair of turtledoves” — is the law’s provision for the poor, a quiet sign of the household into which God was born.
Into the Temple come two figures who embody the long patience of the Old Covenant: Simeon, “waiting for the consolation of Israel,” and (in the verses that follow) the prophetess Anna. They are the last watchmen of the promise, and they recognise its fulfilment in a forty-day-old child.
v. 21 — The Name. On the eighth day He is circumcised and named Jesus — “the Lord saves.” The One who gives the Law is enrolled beneath it.
vv. 22–24 — The Presentation. The firstborn is brought to the Lord with the offering of the poor. The Temple receives its own Lord, carried in by His mother.
vv. 25–35 — Simeon. The old man takes Salvation in his arms and asks to depart in peace. His song names the Child “a light to lighten the Gentiles” — and warns Mary of a sword: this Child will divide hearts even as He saves them.
The Church Fathers marvel at the paradox: the Lawgiver places Himself under the Law. He is circumcised, presented, and redeemed with the offering of the poor — “made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.” His obedience is already our redemption.
And circumcision on the eighth day, they teach, was always a shadow of something greater. On the eighth day Christ would rise; in baptism He gives the true circumcision — “made without hands,” cutting away not the flesh but the defilement of the soul. The sign passes; the reality remains.
On the eighth day Christ rose from the dead and gave us the spiritual circumcision. The spiritual circumcision takes place chiefly in holy baptism, when Christ makes us partakers of the Holy Spirit.
St. Cyril of Alexandria · Commentary on the Gospel of LukeCircumcision expressed nothing else but the stripping off of the old birth; and so it was done as a sign of the future baptism through Christ. When that of which it was a sign came, the figure ceased.
St. Athanasius the ApostolicSimeon waited a whole life to hold a single moment, and when it came he asked only to depart in peace. There is a quiet lesson here for the impatient: God’s consolation often arrives small, ordinary, forty days old — and recognising it is the work of a lifetime of waiting in the Spirit.
Take with you: To present ourselves to God — to come into the Temple “by the Spirit,” as Simeon did — is the path to peace. The Child he held still asks to be carried in our arms and named our Salvation.
~12 min read
Pavly: Welcome back. Today we’re in Luke 2 — the circumcision and the presentation of the Lord in the Temple.
Ramez: And the title we kept coming back to was this: the Lawgiver under the Law. The One who gave Moses the commandments is now keeping them, as a forty-day-old infant.
Pavly: Let’s start with that eighth day — because the Fathers see the whole Gospel folded into it…
— The full transcript continues for the length of the episode. Download the complete script below. —
Sources & References
- St. Cyril of Alexandria — Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 3
- St. Athanasius the Apostolic — on circumcision as a type of baptism
- St. Ambrose of Milan — Exposition of the Gospel of Luke
- Scripture — Luke 2:21–39 (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.