“Bloody Beginning!”* Rev

Circumcision and Name of Jesus Luke 2:21 “Bloody Beginning!”* Rev. John C. Wohlrabe, Jr., Th.D. Worship Report Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The text for our message is the Gospel lesson, Luke 2:21: “And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” Thus far God’s Word. Friends of Jesus and Friends of mine: After living in Great Britain, I learned that calling something “bloody” is a crass but generally accepted way to indicate that something is pretty bad. And, on New Year’s Day, it seems like the last thing anyone wants to hear about is bloodshed. We had more than enough of that last year: two wars, though one supposedly came to an end, numerous terrorist attacks, crime, accidents, natural disasters, and other catastrophes. We should start out a New Year on a positive note, don’t you think? But, there you have it, in the middle of our one-verse Gospel lesson for today, “he was circumcised.” Eight days after his birth and shortly before his presentation at the temple, the Christ Child had his foreskin removed, and he received his name. The Rabbi from the local synagogue in Bethlehem was probably called to conduct the “BRIS MILAH,” covenant of circumcision. By this time, the holy family had probably moved from the stable to a house. That would have certainly made for a more sanitary procedure! From the beginning, this child’s life was marked with bloodshed! And that means the first Sunday Gospel lesson of this New Year has a bloody beginning. To our modern ears, the topic of circumcision seems like a very private matter of medical or cultural significance, which parents of baby boys have to decide, but normally it’s not discussed openly in polite society. Luke, however, understands that the circumcision of Jesus is a public event with great theological significance. So we should learn more about this bloody beginning. For a first-century Jew, the practice of circumcision had deep religious meaning. It had little to do with good hygiene or social standing. Rather, it had everything to do with God’s promises. God instituted circumcision with Abraham and his descendants as a sign of his covenant with them, that he would be their God and they would be his people. Every male was to receive this rite on the eighth day of life. It served as a visible sign of God’s promise to Abraham that through his offspring all nations of the earth would be blessed. They were to live as God’s people by walking according to his ways and trusting in his promise to send a Savior through the seed of Abraham. The Law of Moses also included circumcision of the newborn among the regulations for the purification of women after childbirth. To be circumcised, then, was to live as God’s people by faith in his promises and to be subject to God’s Law. If you and I were to choose a sign to mark God’s people, it probably wouldn’t be something like circumcision, something involving the cutting of a very private part of the body on a little baby boy. But the fact is that this is exactly the sign that God chose. If a man was going to be part of God’s people, and if a mother was going to consider herself purified after having a male child, then they obeyed God’s commands. Obedience started when the child was just eight days old. When the baby was circumcised, he was officially under the Law. Sadly, although the male bodies of God’s people were regularly circumcised, their hearts were not. The Children of Israel frequently worshipped and served other gods. They also didn’t love their neighbors as God had called them to do. Unfortunately, they did not keep the covenant. Jesus, the Son of Mary, was marked with this very same bloody sign on his eighth day. Yet, unlike previous generations, his circumcision was not the sign of a promise made. Rather, this was a sign of God’s promise kept. This child was the Savior of the world, the long-promised offspring of Abraham who would be a blessing for the world. This child lived according to his circumcision with his heart as well as his body. That is, he kept and fulfilled the entire Law, beginning to end, and so showed himself to be the true Son of God. St. Paul states (Gal. 4:4-5): “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” On the eighth day of his life, while still a tiny baby, Jesus declared that he had come to keep the Law. He had come to keep the Law for all those sinners who can’t keep the Law. Remember how the Law works? To Old Testament Israel, God gave his holy Law. The Law says, “In order to be God’s people, keep all of these commandments perfectly. Be circumcised. Have no other gods. Do not misuse God’s name. Remember the Sabbath Day, Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself. Keep these laws, and you’re holy. Break them, and you’re not.” That’s how the Law works. And as you are well aware, the Law is impossible for sinners like you and me to keep. If our only hope of salvation is to keep God’s Law perfectly, then we would have no hope of heaven. That’s why Jesus is born in flesh and blood, just like you and me. He puts himself under the Law in order to keep it for us. Theologically speaking, we call this our Lord’s “active obedience.” He’s born to live a perfectly holy life, keeping every one of God’s commandments, and he starts that by being circumcised. You and I are used to celebrating Jesus’ birth at Christmas, his death on Good Friday and his resurrection at Easter. Along the way, we also give thanks for his baptism, transfiguration, and more. However, the circumcision of our Lord is an important day to remember as well, because here you see him from early on keeping the Law for you. Along with his circumcision, the Child born of Mary was given the name Jesus. The reason for this name was not to be cute or creative. It wasn’t a family name either. In that day, it was typical for the first son to be given the father’s name or at least to be named by the father. But, that didn’t happen. Mary and Joseph were given the name, just as they were given the child: miraculously and without any choice or say in the matter. The angel told them that his name would be Jesus. The name was a description of who this Child is. The name Jesus means “Yahweh is salvation” or “Yahweh saves.” The angel explained this when he broke the big news to Mary and then to Joseph. Along with his circumcision, this too has great theological significance. In a unique sense, Jesus’ name was chosen by his true Father – God the Father. And so, it is certainly a Family Name. Jesus is and does exactly what his name means. He is Yahweh, the great “I Am,” the Lord, who came in human flesh, “to save his people from their sins.” The giving of the name Jesus in conjunction with his circumcision shows that the salvation of God is present in this eight-day-old Child, and it points to the way he would save – through the shedding of his blood. But, in order for his bloody sacrifice to be the acceptable payment and appease God’s just wrath over sin, it had to be a perfect sacrifice. He had to fulfill the Law perfectly. So, by his submission to the Law and his perfect keeping of it, Jesus saves and redeems those who are under God’s Law. Jesus’ active obedience, that Jesus fulfilled the Law perfectly, is very important for you and me. When Jesus shed his blood at the cross of Calvary, a great exchange would occur. He gives us his perfect obedience, while he takes the punishment we deserve for our failure to keep the Law. So the circumcision of Jesus is also our circumcision. The former theological meaning of the old covenant is now found in Jesus. We no longer need circumcision. Instead, we need Jesus – we need his circumcision, his perfection, and his fulfillment of the Law. At New Years, many of us make resolutions. We want to stop doing something bad that we have been doing, or we want to start doing something good we haven’t been doing. Each day of this new year provides you and me with all sorts of opportunities to do the right thing, to keep God’s Law by loving God and our neighbors. We can deal kindly, patiently and politely with our spouse and children, our friends and neighbors. We can, but we won’t – not always and not perfectly. We’ll get crabby and impatient. We’ll let the gossip go and maybe pass it along. We’ll snap at our kids or our spouse or someone else.

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