Why Two Pigeons?

When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons." Luke 2:22-24 (NIV)

Mary and Joseph were devout followers of their God. They had both showed their devotion early in Mary’s pregnancy. Mary told the angel that she would allow God to use her and Joseph had responded to the dreams in obedience. So when their Son was born they were careful to obey the instructions that were recorded by Moses in the Book of Leviticus. The instructions given by Moses were that when the days of purification of the mother were complete the parents were to bring a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon for a sin offering. However, if the family could not afford a lamb for a sin offering the provision was made that they could bring two young pigeons, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering.

Now Mary and Joseph were careful to fulfill all the requirements of the law but they could not afford to bring a lamb for a sin offering. I imagine that they were a poor family and having to leave Nazareth and travel to Bethlehem took all their savings. They had very little left for an offering but even though they could not afford a lamb they still came with their offering.

Many times people feel that they cannot afford to give an offering to the Lord so they feel justified in waiting until such a time that they are in a better financial situation. However, Scripture makes if very clear that we are to bring the first fruits to the Lord. Even though we are instructed to give in proportion to what we were given we are instructed to give whether we have little or much. God is not as concerned with the size of our gift as with the attitude of the heart.

When Mary and Joseph came to the temple with an offering of two pigeons they were letting everyone know that they were a poor family. They did not pretend to be something that they were not. They knew that there would be those who would look down upon them because they could not afford an offering like most new parents. They also knew that to be right in the eyes of their God was more important than what others thought of them.

There are many people today who feel that they must show to those around them that they are better than they really are or wealthier than they are. They will say that nothing is too good for their child but in reality they are more concerned with what others think of them than the child. If they were concerned with the welfare of the child they would make sure, like Mary and Joseph, to be obedient to the commands of God. By bringing two pigeons as an offering they were saying that their relationship with God was more important than their comfort or what others thought of them.
Jesus could have been born into any family and any situation He wished but He chose to be born into a poor peasant family. Many of the religious leaders of that day looked upon wealth as favour from God so if one was poor then they were less favourable to God. Jesus was willing to humble Himself and be born in the poorest of situations to show the world that God is no respecter of persons. Whether one is rich or poor is not the issue but whether one is obedient to the commands of God.