Christmas
Exodus 13:1–3a, 11–15
1The LORD said to Moses, 2"Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine." 11"When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD's. 13Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14And when in time to come your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 'By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.'
God creates life out of nothing; raises up the living from among the dead; brings forth fruit out of barrenness. From the barren, virgin soil of the ground, God formed Adam and made a living being. From the barren soil of the earth he brought forth fruit, plants, and trees. From the barren womb he brings forth the firstborn child. The firstborn of every animal and person, the one who opens the womb belongs to the Lord.
It was by the blood of the firstborn sons of Egypt that God delivered Israel out of slavery. By the blood of a lamb, God delivered Israel from death. And so God decreed, "Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine." The firstborn of the animals were given to the Lord by sacrifice.
There was one exception, a firstborn donkey. A donkey was not sacrificed because it was an religiously unclean animal and could not be used as a sacrifice. So a donkey had to be redeemed by the sacrifice of a lamb. This has significance in Jesus riding a donkey on Palm Sunday, but that's a topic for another sermon on Palm Sunday.
If it was a human firstborn male, he belonged to the Lord. The firstborn son of a woman was the Lord's and had to be consecrated to the Lord. His parents could redeem him by the payment of five shekels of silver to the priest. Not all were redeemed by the parents, but instead were given to the Lord, as in the case of Samuel, Samson, and John the Baptist.
The birth of man or animal is always accompanied by blood. Just as the firstborn of the Egyptians died, and the Passover lambs poured out their blood to redeem Israel, so the birth of Mary's firstborn was accompanied by blood; the blood of innocent children slaughtered by king Herod. The blood at the birth of the firstborn points us to the blood shed by Mary's firstborn son on a cross.
What is significant about the firstborn as opposed to the second or third child? Because the firstborn is the life created in a formerly barren womb. The firstborn is the fruit given to the fruitless womb. You might say that this life we live in the world is like a barren womb, dead and without fruit. We are dead and fruitless people, separated from God by our sin. We are sinful by birth and deserve nothing but eternal punishment. We are worthless servants. By nature we are God's enemies and deserve his wrath and punishment. We are by nature spiritually dead! The world we live in is like a barren womb, empty, fruitless, devoid of meaning and light and life.
The barren, fruitless life we live needs fruit: we need a firstborn. The firstborn of Mary, brought forth life from death. Mary's firstborn was a sign given by God of the dead being raised from the tomb. It is a sign that we, who are born spiritually dead shall be raised to life by the firstborn of Mary, God's only begotten Son. It speaks comfort to us that out from our fruitless, barren life of sin and death, God shall bring forth fruit and life. Just as God created Adam from barren, fruitless soil, so he creates his children out of barren, fruitless people, born dead in sin and condemned to eternal punishment. Jesus, the firstborn of Mary, born of a virgin, a barren and dead womb, brings forth life and fruit into the world and to all people. And just as every birth involves blood, so by his very own blood shed in the cross we are born as God's firstborn sons.
Now, forty days after the birth of Jesus, he was taken to the temple in Jerusalem to be consecrated to the Lord. He belonged to God and was dedicated to God's service. If you pay close attention to our text, you notice that the offering of two turtle doves or two pigeons was offered. This is the offering for the mother's purification, but the price to redeem a firstborn boy is not mentioned. Jesus, like Samuel and John the Baptist before him, was not redeemed from the priest, but given to the Lord and consecrated to his service. Just as we are consecrated to the service of the Lord in Baptism.
So Jesus was consecrated to the Lord and his entire life was a life of dedicated service to God. He came into the world out of obedience to his Father, a perfect and complete obedience. He did not spurn death, but obediently went to the cross and shed his innocent blood to redeem us from the wrath and punishment of God. Just as the lamb was sacrificed to redeem the firstborn donkey because it is an unclean animal, so Jesus is the lamb that redeemed us from the uncleanness of our sin. The blood Mary shed at his birth reflects the blood he would shed on the cross to pay for our sins. This firstborn Son was dedicated to the service of his Father, as we see when he cleansed the temple of money changers because the zeal for the house of the Lord consumed him. Because of his zeal for his Father, at the age of twelve years he was found in his Father's house studying and learning the Scriptures.
He did not turn back from death. He did not flinch at the suffering and torture he received, but out of obedience and complete dedication to his Father he set his face on Jerusalem to go there to die. He was given to the Lord and consecrated to him entirely.
By his death he makes us the firstborn of God. When the Israelites were in Egypt, God said to Pharoah, "Israel is my firstborn son. Let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son." God called the people of Israel his "firstborn son." And to deliver them from Pharaoh, he killed Pharaoh's firstborn son. But we are Israel, the children of Abraham's faith, and so, we, the church of Jesus Christ, is the firstborn son of God. He calls us his firstborn.
And like all firstborn sons, we belong to the Lord. We are his. He is our God and we are his people. We are born by the death of the only begotten Son of God, the firstborn of the virgin. We are born in Baptism, the water of our Red Sea, where we pass out of slavery and into freedom. Out of the waters of Baptism we are brought forth as a baby is brought forth out of the womb of his mother.
We are God's firstborn sons. His Fatherly heart will never depart from us. He cares for us. He leads us through this barren wilderness of life. He restores and renews us.
We belong to him. We have been consecrated to him to live in love and service to him all the days of our life. He has brought us forth out of sin and darkness and shown us the light of life. Jesus is the light, the light who came into the world and into the darkness of our hearts, but the darkness could not put it out. He is the light shining in the darkness and by his light we can see. We have seen the salvation that God has prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.
He has claimed us as his own and made us his firstborn sons that we might be fully dedicated to him, and love him with all our heart, mind and strength. As he was born in Bethlehem and grew and became strong, filled with wisdom and the favor of God was upon him, may we grow and become strong as we wait for him to return. May we grow in the favor of God day by day as we are nourished in the Word and feed upon his body and blood at the altar.
Amen.