Circumcision and
Name of Jesus
January 1, 2017
Text: Luke 2:21
The
blood and the Name. That is the
significance of this day in the Church Year.
The Circumcision of our Lord on the eighth day after His birth marks the
first shedding of His holy, precious blood for us poor sinners. And His Name, Jesus, is the only Name under
heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). There is no other. Jesus in Greek, Joshua in Hebrew, this Name
means YHWH, the LORD, saves. This Name is the very Word of God that
accomplishes what it says. It
saves. Jesus saves. The LORD saves. He saves you.
By the shedding of His blood. So
you see, this Festal Day is not some celebration of an ancient Jewish tradition
or some strange and sensitive medical procedure. The blood and the Name go together. A Jewish boy receives his name at his circumcision,
much as we New Testament people of God receive our Christian name in Holy
Baptism, and have the Name of God placed upon us, “Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.” As our eight day old Lord Jesus
sheds the first drops of His sacred blood, He receives a Name, the Name
announced by the angel, Jesus, the LORD saves.
And as His Name is spoken, so He does.
He saves. Jesus is named and
circumcised for you.
Circumcision
marked the people of God in the Old Testament as separate from the nations,
holy to the LORD. The Covenant of God
was cut into the most sensitive flesh of every male child, that they bear in
their bodies the sign and seal of God’s claim upon them. They belong to God, the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, and to no other. At 8
days old, the male child would undergo this marking. And it was for the Old Testament people of
God, a Sacrament, a means of grace, bringing that child into the Covenant, into
the Church, into God’s forgiveness and life.
Incidentally,
what of the females? How were they
brought into the Covenant? Well, for
now, let’s just say their fathers are presumably circumcised and they receive
from their fathers and their husbands the benefits and blessings of
circumcision. Inclusion in the Covenant
is a family affair, and here is a thing of beauty: The boys must be circumcised
as the living icons of our Lord Jesus who sheds His blood for our
salvation. The girls are not
circumcised, but receive the benefits of the blood shed by their fathers and
husbands as living icons of the Church, which receives the benefits of the
blood shed by her Bridegroom, Jesus. So
don’t worry about the girls. They are
just as much precious and holy to God.
When
our Lord undergoes circumcision on the 8th day, circumcision is once
and for all fulfilled. All the
circumcisions that went before were but shadows of the reality of Jesus’
shedding of blood, and ultimately of His innocent suffering and death. Circumcision is a mark of the holy cross on
the flesh of God’s people of old. But
now it is done. It is fulfilled in
Jesus. It is our Lord’s active righteousness, His fulfillment of
God’s Law on our behalf, as our substitute.
And it is a mark upon Him of His purpose, His destiny: To atone for our
sins by His suffering and death on the cross, and to bring about the eternal 8th
Day of the New Creation and our new and eternal life by His bodily resurrection
from the dead on the 8th Day, Easter Sunday. Circumcision is the sign that Jesus does
according to His Name: The LORD saves.
He saves you.
And
now we no longer have circumcision. Oh,
you can if you want, for medical and hygienic reasons. Dr. White can talk you through the evidence
for and against. But understand this:
There is absolutely no spiritual significance to it, and if you think there is,
then heed the words of St. Paul: “Look:
I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no
advantage to you. I testify again to
every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be
justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace” (Gal. 5:2-4;
ESV). Again, the problem is not what is
done in the cutting of the flesh, but what is done in order to gain
righteousness before God. You must
understand, as Paul says, that “neither
circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation”
(6:15). And where does Jesus bring about
the New Creation in each of you as an individual? Where does He mark you with His cross, seal
you in His death and resurrection, and Name you with the very Name of God? Where does He bring you into the New Covenant
of His blood, into the Church, and make you God’s own child? Holy Baptism.
In Holy Baptism, not your flesh, but your very heart is circumcised
(Rom. 2:29). This is the true
circumcision. Here you are named. Here your sins are washed away by the blood
of Jesus. Here you are clothed with the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “For as many of you as were baptized into
Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27).
“Do you not know that all of us
who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism
into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory
of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-4). Here in Baptism you are made a son of
God. Even you ladies. You are a son of God. Which means you get the inheritance, the very
Kingdom of God your heavenly Father.
This is why you call God your Father.
Here God adopts you into His family and bestows on you the Family Name:
“Christian,” “Little Christ,” or more fully, “Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.” And now you belong to Him for
all eternity. God’s own child, I gladly
say it! I am baptized into Christ!
Oh,
what power there is in the Name you now bear, the very Name of God. You can call upon that Name at any time, and
God will hear and answer. He will come
to your aid. In times of trouble you
will pray, “Lord, have mercy,” and He will do just that. “Christ help us,” you will exclaim, and He
will immediately come to your aid. “Our
Father, who art in heaven,” you will pray with and for the whole Church of God
in Christ Jesus, and your heavenly Father will hear you as His own dear child,
for that is what you are by virtue of your Baptism. That is what you are in Christ. Wherever you go and whatever you do, God’s
Name is upon you, as chosen and precious to Him. It protects and defends you. The angels guard you always because of the
holy Name you bear. It represents God to
your neighbor. You are a living
witness. This is both a warning and a
promise. Whatever you do either keeps
God’s Name holy before the eyes of others, or profanes God’s Name before the
eyes of others. But so also, there is salvation
in that Name. For that is the Name Jesus
bears, and it is the Name that does what it says: The LORD saves. That Name is your forgiveness and life.
And
so, we should begin every day and every New Year, and bring each day and each
year to a close, even as we begin the Divine Service: Tracing the sign of the
holy cross upon our flesh and speaking the Divine Name: “In the Name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” We call this the Invocation because it invokes,
calls upon God to be present with us
to forgive our sins and bless us. And so
He does. And that is also why we depart
the Divine Service with the Benediction: “The
LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be
gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace”
(Num. 6:24-26). This is how Aaron and
his sons are to bless the people of God in the Old Testament, and thus put
God’s Name on the people. And now that
Name has been unpacked for us in Jesus, the Son. What Name is it that is placed on us in the
Benediction? The LORD, the LORD, the
LORD. YHWH, YHWH, YHWH. It is the thrice holy Name of our Triune God,
right there in the Old Testament, spoken upon us at the end of every Divine
Service. And it isn’t just a little
ritual that means Church is over. It is
the actual imparting of the Name and all that Name includes. Among other things, it is the forgiveness of
sins, the peace that passes all understanding, strength for each day, and
eternal life in the New Creation. So we
make the sign of the cross at the end of the Service, even as we made it at the
beginning. In Naming Himself before us,
God names us with Himself as included in His Name. Which is to say, He includes us in the death
and resurrection of Jesus and all that comes with it. The blood and the Name. They always go together. And in Baptism, they are yours. Merry Christmas! In the Name of the Father, and of the Son
(+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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