Sermon: Circumcision and Name of Jesus – 2023

1 January 2023

Text: Luke 2:21 (Num 6:22-27, Gal 3:23-29)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Today is the eighth day of Christmas, and under the Old Covenant, every male child of God’s people were to be circumcised at eight days old.  This ritual was part of God’s covenant with Abraham, and it brought a boy – along with his family when he himself became a husband and father – into the covenant. 

Of course, Jesus is the Creator.  He brought the universe into being.  He made every human being.  He made the covenant with Abraham.  But you could say that He is “playing along” to teach us something: to demonstrate that the point of God coming into our fallen and sinful world in the flesh is to keep the Law on our behalf, as our champion.  And part of that mission to rescue us involves the shedding of His blood for us.  His circumcision is the first instance of His sacred blood being shed on our behalf.  Of course, the completion of His bloodshed will be on the cross.

For every man, woman, and child under the Old Covenant failed to keep it.  And the penalty for breaking a covenant, dear friends, is bloodshed.  Notice that God Himself pays the price of the shedding of blood for us, even though we deserve to have the penalty imposed upon us.

Our Lord’s mother and stepfather could not have possibly grasped the significance of their Son, and what He was to do for the world – let alone fully understand that He is God in the flesh.  But they are pious believers, and they know what they are to do for their baby boy to include Him in the covenant.  They bring Him to the temple and circumcise Him.  And according to the angel’s instruction, they also name Him “Jesus,” which means, “God saves.”

In the New Covenant, we are not received into the church by circumcision.  For that has been fulfilled by Jesus.  Rather, we are brought into the church by Holy Baptism, as our Lord Himself established: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

And just as an eight-day infant cannot decide to be part of God’s people, the Old Testament church, neither can a baptized infant.  For we do not decide to be part of the church.  We do not perform some work to be part of the church.  Rather, we are received into the church by God’s grace.  In the Old Testament, this was by being circumcised, or for women and girls, by being a wife or daughter of one who was circumcised. 

The eighth day is significant, dear friends.  For creation took six days.  God rested on the seventh, the Sabbath Day.  And so the eighth day is the first day of a New Week – of the New Creation.  Jesus is the author of that New Creation, and His circumcision on the eighth day not only pointed to His sacrifice on the cross, but also to His promise – which we hear in the Book of Revelation – “Behold, I am making all things new.”

And the number eight is also significant regarding Holy Baptism, dear friends.  For St. Peter reminds us that in the great flood, “eight persons, were brought safely through water.”  And Baptism corresponds to this reality, and “now saves you.”  This connection between circumcision on the eighth day, the first day of the New Creation, and the salvation of eight men and women through water, and that in the New Covenant, men and women are brought into the Ark of the Church by baptism – the number eight is forever associated with baptism.  This is why baptismal fonts traditionally have eight sides, like a stop sign.  You’ll notice that ours reminds us of this.

For there is a connection between our Lord’s incarnation and birth, His circumcision, the salvation won for us by means of His blood on the cross, His call for the church to make disciples through baptism, and the fact that we too were brought into the covenant not by works, but by the work of Jesus in keeping the law and shedding His blood – which we receive by grace.

Circumcision was a sacrament in the Old Testament.  For as St. Paul says, “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.” And so, “the law was our guardian until Christ came.”  And, dear friends, the law included the rite of circumcision.  And it points forward to its fulfillment in Christ.  St. Paul says, “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

The Old Covenant and the New Covenant both point to Christ, and both are fulfilled in Christ.  He was circumcised on our behalf, and He was baptized in order that we too might be baptized.  Baptism replaces circumcision as the sign of the covenant.  For listen to St. Paul’s words: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

We are surrounded by Christians who believe that baptism is merely a symbol, that it doesn’t do anything.  Dear friends, just because some Christians say this doesn’t make it true.  St. Paul just connected baptism to “put[ting] on Christ.”  For Christ covers us like a garment covers our nakedness.  Jesus covers us and protects us like a helmet, or gloves, or shoes.  We “put on Christ” when we are baptized.  This is not just some mindless ritual any more than circumcision was.  Baptism brings us into the covenant!

So treasure your baptism, dear friends.  It is your identity.

The world sees identity in terms of race and sex and other characteristics.  And we may “identify” as something we are not, according to the fallen world.  But our true identity is that we are baptized, we have put on Christ, we are heirs of the covenant and recipients of the free gift of salvation.  For “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

He is our identity, and we are God’s chosen people because we have been baptized into God’s holy name: the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

He has “put [His] name upon the people of Israel,” that is, the church of the Old and New Testaments, “and [He] will bless them.”

As we enter this new year, the Year of our Lord 2023, let us treasure our Holy Baptism, knowing that it is our circumcision, our reception into the church, and that as His people, we are covered by the blood of the circumcised and the crucified one. 

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.