Circumcision and Name of Jesus
January 1, 2012
Luke 2: 21
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1. What an odd celebration that occupies our thoughts this morning. While others are celebrating the New Year with sleeping in and hangover’s, we celebrate the circumcision and name of Jesus. Usually a gospel lesson gives us a teaching or a miracle or a parable of Jesus, but tonight we get one verse: “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.”
2. This is peculiar to say the least. Yet, the wisdom and wonder of this one little verse is enough to eclipse all of the thinking compiled in all the tomes in the history of human writ. The circumcision of a Jewish baby boy was an ordinary part of life. Ever since Abraham and all the males of his household were circumcised, every Jewish boy eight days old received this physical mark. It was a law mandated by God, and it served as a sign of God’s covenant with his people. This was a sign that the offspring of Abraham, though they were sinners, were to be set apart from the sinful world. They were to be holy to the Lord.
3. So it could have been assumed that Jesus would be circumcised. Yet, the Holy Spirit so inspired Luke to pen these words, to make these things explicit. Why? Because in the details of Christ’s life we see His work for all people. So it has already begun. Eight days after His birth, Jesus begins to fulfill his role as substitute and sacrifice. At the end of eight days, Jesus is already cut by the law on your behalf. Here for the first time, He steps into the place of sinners and takes upon Himself their duties, their burdens, their punishments, though He, Himself, was sinless.
4. And so we begin to see how Jesus frees us from the burden of the law. He doesn’t say the law doesn’t matter. He doesn’t wink and look the other way. God’s word and thus, His law, cannot be avoided, or swept under the rug, as if it was of no account. It does not bend or break for the sake of humans. It bends and breaks us. You cannot run from it. God’s law is even written in to creation. If you abuse alcohol it will take its toll on your body and your relationships. What’s more the law is written on our hearts accusing us of sin. You cannot deaden the accusation of sin, without first deadening your heart.
5. So, how can we finally be freed from the burden of the law? How can we have a good conscience, and yet truly live, our hearts beating full within us? The answer is that Christ must free us from the law by fulfilling the law perfectly for us in our place. The God and Lord of Abraham, must submit to the covenant of Abraham. The God and giver of the law must surrender to the laws demands. The God who required the blood of circumcision and animal sacrifices must suffer his own blood to be spilt. But this was only the beginning. Not only must Jesus fulfill the law perfectly, but also he must bear the weight of the sin of the whole world. Every time the law was transgressed must be assigned to Jesus to answer for. All of the laws demands for our sin must be met and satisfied by the blood of Christ which was shed on the cross.
6. But there’s more. Jesus is circumcised on the eighth day. This is the number for starting afresh. This is the number of recreation. It was on the eighth day after the flood that the Lord started over with Noah and his family, eight persons in all. Consider also that Jesus is born of the seventh barren woman recorded in Scripture. There was Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Sampson’s Mother, Hannah, Elizabeth, and then there was Mary who was the most barren of all. For no one looks to a virgin to give birth. Yet there is an eighth and even more barren womb in Scripture. This is the womb of the grave. No one looks for life out of a grave. And yet Christ burst forth from the earth, the firstborn of the dead. Note that He rose from the dead on the eighth day of the week. This is not because the church can’t count, but it’s a symbolic rendering of time, given that God created the world in six days. On the seventh He rested, and on Sunday our Lord rose again starting all things new and fresh. It is this work completed and accomplished on the eighth day that you inherit. You do not inherit the burden of the law. You inherit the promise of life. You are not made right by obeying the law. You are made right by trusting in Christ for life.
7. We are entering into a time where people will make New Year’s resolutions. That’s all well and good. But it’s even better to think about this: you are free. You have nothing to fear. All that truly could harm and destroy you has been dealt with. Christ has accomplished everything necessary for your new life. Nothing can get in the way of the good purposes God has for you, not even yourself. And so you are free to shed the weight you’ve resolved to lose or to tackle the project you’ve resolved to get at. Yet if the weight remains and the project is left undone, you are still free.
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