Luke2:22

1: “days of their purification:”

“Their” refers to Mary and the baby. Since the baby was a boy, he had already gone through his “special ceremony,” that of circumcision. Now it was Mary’s turn to have a ceremony just for her. While she was the only one that needed to be purified at this juncture, the baby had to be “presented” to a priest. The priest probably checked to make sure the baby boy had been circumcised, but that is only a guess on my part. Since there were two of them that needed to go the temple that day, the author puts them together and says “the days of their purification,” even though technically only she had to be purified.

The cleansing Mary had to go through required the shedding of blood; she was even sprinkled with some of that blood! Here was a picture of the blood Jesus would shed, which would be sprinkled figuratively on all those who believe in Him.

It is ironic that the cleansing for the uncleanness that came from bleeding required more blood to be shed. And you may wonder why she needed to be purified after something that is so natural and the bleeding involved was not her fault.

The Law was intended to teach, not to save. It taught by training the heart. What was the Law teaching by requiring cleansing after bleeding? I like to use the word “isolated” instead of “unclean” because it connects better with us today. There are multiple reasons why something might be “isolated.” Obviously, we isolate something if it is bad, so it does not contaminate other things. We also isolate something if it is valuable so it does not get stolen or ruined. The law required that two bodily fluids be “isolated” because they were so important, i.e. blood and “seed” – semen.

The law had several regulations related to blood, and all of them were intended to highlight the importance of blood as the symbol of life itself. The Israelite people had to be alert to the shedding of blood because if too much blood is shed a life is lost. By training their minds in this way they were training their minds to value life.  The lesson is that we likewise need to respect life in all its forms. That means we must show respect to the elderly, to the unborn baby, and to those with disabilities. It also prepared them for the coming of the Savior who would shed His own blood and give His own life for us. The Law prepared them for the death of Jesus by constantly reminding them that the shedding of blood is a big deal, because life is a big deal; life isn’t cheap. A properly prepared person would then see the sacrifice of Jesus with the awe and amazement it warranted.

So in summary: Women had to be purified of shedding blood because blood is good and very important.