“And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him 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). Under the law, the regular sacrifice was a lamb, but there was a provision for poor mothers: “If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons” (Leviticus 12:8). This is what Mary brought. Jesus, who had all the riches of the world at his disposal, chose to be incarnate into a family that could not even afford a regular sacrifice. Let us not love riches.–Bethany Jenkins

It is true that Jesus, the owner of the whole universe, chose to be born into this world he created, into a poor manger. The most stunning thing to me is that when the time came for offerings to be made for the dedication of the baby to God, his parents Joseph and Mary were in the category of the poor as they couldn’t afford a lamb offering. I guess, in today’s terms, Jesus would have been raised in the low cost housing of New York, The God of the universe grows up in the low cost housing. Is that incarnation? Is that implication for our lives?

I pray for myself and my church and my christian friends to know the incarnation of Christ.