Was Jesus Redeemed with 5 Shekels?

As preparations for Christmas are revving up in church, we decided to cover some of Michael Card's songs. Michael Card is a fantastic singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. I especially enjoy his acoustic guitar work but the main attraction has been his thoroughly Biblical lyrics. However, we encountered a bit of  a hitch when it came to "Simeon's Song", which is about the account in Luke 2:25-32. Here is an excerpt from the song:

Marry and the baby come
And in her hand five shekels
The price to redeem her baby boy

 Here is the narrative in Luke 2:25-32:

²⁵Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous 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. ²⁷And he came in 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  ³¹that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, ³²a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."

The question arose - was Jesus redeemed with 5 shekels? 

So what's happening here? Did artistic creativity get the better of Michael Card? Let's find out.

Now, the 5-shekels-for-redemption is mentioned in Numbers 18:15-16 -

¹⁵ Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the LORD, shall be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. ¹⁶And their redemption price (at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. [Emphasis mine]

So the Law does contain a commandment to do such a practice!

But it is a curious thing - why didn't Luke record this? After all, Luke records that Jesus was brought to be presented to the Lord at the Temple as was the Law (Luke 2:23-24) and a sacrifice was offered (Luke 2:24). This sacrifice is for the purification of Mary according to Leviticus 12.
Why omit one law and record another law? Does Luke's omission mean that Jesus was not redeemed according to the Mosaic Law? 

I am convinced that Jesus was indeed redeemed for 5 shekels for the following reasons:

Mary and Joseph were faithful Jews
Luke makes special mention of His parents' adherence to the Law (Luke 2:23) as they brought the Christ Child to the Temple at Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord. Further on in v39, it is recorded that they "had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord".
Therefore, it would be queer that they did not redeem Christ, who was their firstborn as was the requirement of the Law.

The Significance of 2 Turtledoves/Pigeons
According to Leviticus 12:8, those who could not afford a sacrificial lamb was to offer up 2 turtledoves or pigeons. From their choice of sacrifice, Joseph and Mary were definitely far from rich.
In contrast, to recount the exercise of the law of 5 shekels would not bring anything new to the table. After all, Luke recorded the faithfulness of Joseph and Mary (to the Mosaic Law) in other verses.

Therefore, I find that Luke has a clear rationale for recounting one Law and omitting the other.

And so I think Michael Card has good reason to write that Jesus was redeemed with 5 shekels.

VBS 2010 Preamble Report

Vacation Bible School is around the corner and I am the Camp Master once more. It is a joy to be able to serve the Lord in such a small way - I pray that this joy will remain over the years to come. :)

Here is the article I wrote for the church bulletin:

Vacation Bible School 2010 Preamble Report

“BE OUTSTANDING - Standing up for what is Right!”

The theme of our VBS, “BE OUTSTANDING”, is a call for the children to stand up for what is right; that is, what is right in the eyes of God. Often times, we find ourselves caught in situations where choosing what is good to God seems foolish because so many of the people around us choose otherwise.

What do we do with peer pressure? How should we respond to the truth claims of the Bible?

Lessons include a thrilling learning journey through the events of world history, past and present, and the biblical account of the life and death of Jesus Christ. We will explore how Man, in his limited and sin-flawed capacity, has lacked the knowledge and moral compass to reliably determine what is right, resulting in the false truth claims of Evolution, the Nazi regime, the disbelief at the idea of manned flight, and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Just as the crowd today was wrong in so many things, the crowd in Jesus’ day was wrong about Him.

This year, the VBS has been specially tailored for both Christian and non-Christian children. The Christian child will be challenged to live a life pleasing to Christ, to love God rather than the praise of their peers, while the non-Christian child will be shown the reality of the Saviour and their overwhelming need for Him.

VBS 2010 will also attempt to integrate the theme into all activities, reinforcing the lessons and hopefully making them more memorable. This is something new and we hope to be able to achieve this in a meaningful and fun way through songs, games, art & craft and the finale night presentation.

Pray for the children to come, so the lost can be saved and the Christians can be edified.

Pray for the volunteers as they labour in the harvest and pray for more to step forward!

Pray for the committee members, that we will not just plan well but also pray well.

VBS 2010 Camp Master

Daniel