On the 8th Day
January 1, 2005
New Year’s Day
† IN the Name of Jesus †
Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!
He humbled himself….
Even to circumcision…
Last Saturday, and Sunday, we celebrated the incredible birth of Jesus into this world. The long awaited Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, the Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace, the one whom through everything that was created, now lives and breathes, among His creation. A little baby, born in that cold stable, lying in a hard manger, packed with strips of cloth. His eyes look around and see people, people He loves, and people He will, in 3 decades die for, on a cruel, hard cross.
Today, we see him pictured in the one verse of the Gospel lesson, visibly 8 days old, yet really older than time. Scripture tells us what happened on that day, as in obedience to the Law of Moses, and in obedience to the covenant of Abraham, a sharp stone knife was taken, and they circumcised this little baby, their creator. It is then scripture tells us, that to all the named commanded by the angels, was given to him, and made known to the community of God. Jesus, which means God saves.
In having a one verse reading to preach on, I was tempted to focus on the other action that takes place, the naming of Jesus. For what is there to talk about, in the fact that a little baby was circumcised? What difference should that make to us, for no longer does the church practice circumcision? Why did the creator of the universe, the only begotten son of God, have to go through such a ritual?
Is there any value to having Jesus circumcised? Does it benefit him in the same way it benefited Issac, or one of David’s sons or grandsons, or any of the children of Israel? Does it somehow benefit us? Is the benefit simply keeping the Law, or is there more to circumcision in the Old Covenant, and in Jesus’ time, than we see at first? The answer of course, is yes, even more than I realized, prior to realizing I had to preach on one verse.
So we shall answer these questions, did Jesus have to be circumcised, and is it any benefit to us, that He did?
Did he need it?
For righteousness? No
For unity with us? Yes!
It is too early to be “cut off” from His people!
All things were created through Jesus. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is Holy, the Alpha and Omega, He is pure and righteous, and perfect. He is without sin. Even without the little ones, like lieing to his parents, or to his boss. He would never gossip, or lust, or think evil about others. In His life, he would put others ahead of himself, ministering to their needs first. He was patient with sinners, and in our cases, He still is. With all of that noted, did Jesus really need to be circumcised?
It will help – I believe, to go back to when circumcision was initiated, and for what purpose, it is copied there, in your outline.
11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."
Circumcision was not the law of the Mosaic Covenant alone, for here, a half century before, we see it is the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham, and his descendants. The circumcision marks them as members of the group of people collectively known as God’s people, the sons of Abraham. Without that mark, the man is cut-off from the people of God, not counted among them. Without that mark, one could not be part of the people of God, or receive the blessings that they received, as they trusted in the promises of God.
One thing interests me here, and that is that receiving the mark that identifies the person as a member of God’s family, is done without their permission. They are identified as God’s, without their “decision”. Normally, we think of circumcision, and baptism, its New Testament counterpart, as events or actions which fulfill a command of God. Yet, that command is not fulfilled by the individual, but by people acting on his behalf. It is not their fulfillment of the law, but the fulfillment of the Law for them, by another.
More on that later – but did Jesus need to be circumcised? For righteousness sake? Not exactly, for in being both man and God, He was already fully righteous, prior to being born of Mary. Yet, He was circumcised, and in doing so, and important thing happens.
He is counted among the people of God. He is not cut-off from the people of God. He belongs among them. He is one of them, one of us. He can identify with us, as one of us. There is a bond between us, a very important bond.
Had Jesus not been circumcised, he would have been cut off from us. He would not have bonded with the people of God. In His crucifixion, He will be cut off, but so shall we be, with Him. For as we shall see, the cross is the most incredible of circumcisions.
It was not for His own righteousness sake was Jesus circumcised; rather in order to be righteous for us, Jesus was circumcised.
Did/do we need it?
As Law? Nah – it wasn’t really ever law
It is gospel
Jesus was circumcised for us, and later would be crucified for us. That fact brings us to an interesting question. Is circumcision, or for that matter baptism, as work of the Law, or a act of Grace? I will contend, that according to scripture, they are primarily acts of Grace. As acts of grace, we passive receive through them, the gift of God’s forgiveness, we become His people.
In John 7, in a discourse with the Pharisees over the Sabbath, Jesus noted that in order to count a baby boy as a member of the Jewish people, they would circumcise the baby on the Sabbath. Because it was not a work of man, rather it was a work that noted – to this person, the grace of God was given. The boy was marked, noted that the person was a member of the covenant, identified as one of the people of God. That is why even the Pharisees, the ultimate legalists of the Law, would circumcise on the Sabbath.
Even more important in distinguishing circumcision/baptism as acts of grace, is the idea that the Law was fulfilled by someone other than the one who was circumcised. The Law was fulfilled for them. That too, is a hallmark of grace, an act where in God’s favor was given to a person, where they were counted among God’s people, because of the action of another. Ultimately, the act of God, who bestows the grace, the forgiveness, the love.
Did we need him to be?
Yes – look at Col. 2
Jesus Saves!
This is why I consider the work of the Cross, and our baptism, where we are united with Christ’s death, the ultimate form of circumcision, the ultimate grace filled surgery on mankind. Of course, I am not the only one who makes this case. Look at your outline again, and look with me at the quote from Colossians,
11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
There is an incredible picture in circumcision – literally, to “cut-around”. It is an operation that is done with extreme care, with steady hands, by experts. To carefully remove that which is unnecessary, and leave behind all that is important to life. That is what the circumcision of Christ pictures, and God takes all of us that is unnecessary, and cuts it away, leaving us. He circumcises us in our baptism, as Buried with Christ in His death, we are raised in faith with Him as well.
It is the powerful working of God, that in “operating” on us so, our sin is removed from us. Death has occurred at the cross, the penalty has been paid. God carefully removes all that which is unrighteous from us, leaving us united with Christ Jesus – whole, free, delivered, saved.
We are free. For Jesus is God who saves. Even through something like a circumcision, or now, in the promises of His word, attached to the pouring of water.
I do not want to forget that it is in faith that this occurs. We trust that God will do as He promised in His covenants. That He will make us His people, identifying us as His, as we realize that He is simply, our God. The action, whether baptism now, or circumcision then, is meaningless without trusting God; without having faith in His saving us from our sins, and the punishment they deserve. Faith in what He did for us, in his life, in His circumcision, in His death, burial and resurrection.
In the promises He made, a promise of life abundant, life eternal, a life filled with the joy and peace of God, at peace with God.
And may His peace, the peace that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
AMEN.
