The Rev. Paul J Cain
Luke 2:21
Anno Domini
Circumcision and Name of Jesus, 01 January 2012
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, WY
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
The entire Gospel reading appointed for New Year’s Day,
otherwise known as the Circumcision and Name of Jesus is one verse long.
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.
There had been some planning involved in this birth. The
angel Gabriel announced His conception to His mother, Mary. “Let it be to me
according to your word,” she said. And the firstborn son has been given the
name pre-announced by the angel to both Mary and Joseph.
There was other planning, too. As soon as Jesus was born,
His mother and her husband needed to make preparation for His circumcision.
Jesus shed His blood for us on the cross, and even before that in Gethsemane
when He sweat drops of blood in agonized prayer, but His first shedding of
blood was at His circumcision. This marked Him under the covenant, the
testament God made with Abraham.
So far, this describes what happened on the day we
commemorate today. Now we get to talk about what it means, the answer to the
common question, “So what?”
First, note that all this takes place on the eighth day of
Jesus’ life, not his eighth birthday. Children are included in God’s family,
not merely because their parents are Christians, but because the Lord can,
does, and will create faith even in the littlest of little children. John the
Baptist believed before birth.
We have evidence nearby in Luke chapter 1: 39 In those days Mary
arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the
house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And
when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and
she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb! 43 And
why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the
sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she
who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from
the Lord.”
There is a difference between faith and knowledge. There is
also a difference between faith and emotion, even an emotional conversion
experience. And if we hold to the Bible’s definition of faith as the God the
Holy Spirit’s work within us, believing that even little ones can believe is
far easier.
It is as Luther explains in his explanation of the Third
Article of the Creed: “I believe…that I cannot believe,” that is, “I believe
that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or
come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me
with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” This is the work of
the Holy Spirit.
Similarly, St. Paul confesses the Lord’s work in our
salvation, our conversion, our Holy Baptism in Titus Chapter 3: “He saved us
through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured
out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been
justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This
is a trustworthy saying.” In other words, Paul is saying, don’t doubt the
Lord’s Word or work for you in Jesus by the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism.
Let’s pause for a moment to see how far we’ve come.
The Gospel reading from Luke 2:21 said: 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.
Jesus is eight days old. He has been circumcised according
to Genesis 17 and the Covenant of Circumcision the Lord made with Abram when He
gave Him the name Abraham. Since “the fullness of time had come, God sent forth
his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that
we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And
because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So
you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Galatians Chapter 4 reveals God’s planning for this day from the foundation of
the world.
If we wish to complete the picture of what this day means,
The Circumcision and Name of Jesus, we have one other stop in the writings of
St. Paul, inspired by the same Holy Spirit. I read from Colossians 2 and 3.
8 See
to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according
to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not
according to Christ. 9 For
in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head
of all rule and authority. 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. 15 He
disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing
over them in him.
16 Therefore
let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard
to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These
are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one
disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in
detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast
to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its
joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
20 If
with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were
still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things
that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an
appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and
severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of
the flesh.
3 If then
you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ
is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set
your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died,
and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you
also will appear with him in glory.
This is the Word of the Lord.
When boys are born to Christian parents, they may be
circumcised, but not because of the Covenant the Lord made with Abraham.
Instead, it is appropriate for Christians to baptize them right after birth.
And we baptize infant girls for the same reason. Holy Baptism, according to
Colossians 2, is “a circumcision made without hands” where we are “buried with
[Christ] in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in
the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” Holy Baptism is a
delivery of the salvation Jesus won on the cross by shedding His blood, blood
first shed on the day of His circumcision.
And that brings me to why we call this Day New Year’s Day.
January 1 was not always the beginning of the New Year. Under the Romans, March
was the first month. And that makes sense if you look at the Roman names of
some of our months: October, November, and December were the eighth, ninth, and
tenth months for the Roman calendar. When Christianity became a legal religion
in the Roman Empire, this day, January 1, had new significance. In 525,
Dionysius Exiguus came up with the AD and BC dating systems, which by the year
800 had become widely used. Scholars now believe that he was off by about 4
years, but his Christian dating system is the reason why January 1, 2012 A.D.
is New Year’s Day in the year of Our Lord, Anno Domini, 2012.
In Jesus Christ Our Lord, God has made you alive, forgiven,
and holy in His Name. That is more than reason enough to declare unto you a
Happy New Year! Amen.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
