Posted on Wednesday, December 31, 2008
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THE CIRCUMCISION AND NAME OF JESUS

31 December Anno + Domini 2008

"He Was Named Jesus”

Luke 2:21

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

Mary and Joseph do not have the privilege of naming the Holy Child born in Bethlehem.  That Child names Himself.  He is the Creator of all things, the Author of Life, the One who holds the entire universe in His hands.  He already has a name according to His Divinity.  He revealed that in the beginning.  It is Yahweh, which comes from the Hebrew verb "to be,” and means that He is, always has been, and always will be.  But, this Yahweh, the eternal God of the universe, takes on another name when He enters our world in the Flesh.  And He sends His messenger, Gabriel, to both Mary and Joseph not only to inform them of His birth, but also to tell them what His name will be.  His name will be Jesus, which means, "The Lord (Yahweh) Saves.”  It is for this reason that Yahweh becomes incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary - to save His people from their sins.  There is no other reason.  He doesn't come to be a great moral teacher; He doesn't come to set forth an example to follow; He doesn't come to be a life-coach or motivational guide - He comes to be the Savior.      

And, already, at eight days old, He begins to live up to His Name.  He had no personal need to keep the Covenant with the God of Abraham - He is the God of Abraham.  He does not need to be marked as God's own - He is God's own.  But He submits to His own Law.  He feels the blade forged by human hands against His tender infant skin.  And His blood flows for the sins of the world for the first time.

He was circumcised so that we Christians don't have to be.  He took up our flesh for this purpose - to be our circumcision, to be, in fact, the Flesh that was cut off, the sin that is separated from us forever.  Look here, O Christian:  The God of Abraham has kept the Covenant for you in Himself.  He transferred this to you in the waters of Holy Baptism, where, by Grace, you received His Name, and all that goes with it - the service of angels, dominion over creation, the right to address God as Father, a perfect keeping of the Law, and even heaven.  His circumcision counts for those who bear His holy Name, whom He calls beloved, darling, children and whom we call "Christian."  Christ, Himself, is the watery cross marking your foreheads to ward off the angel of death.  You are clean, holy, just, and pure in Him, as though you never rebelled, never transgressed, never sinned.

How can this be?  By the satisfaction and appeasement of God's wrath in Christ's perfect death.  He was circumcised according to, and in fulfillment of, the Law.  And yet, despite His perfect obedience, His never once breaking the Law, He suffered the consequences for all those who had or would.  He was cut off from His people, forsaken.  He who subjected Himself to circumcision to fulfill the Law bled again when He died that shameful death for sins He did not commit.  And the Blood He shed, by circumcision, by the mocking soldiers' lashes, and on the cross, is the Blood that appeases the wrath of the Father, washes us clean, and fills the Chalice with the elixir of life.  He will bear those scars, as badges of His Office, into eternity.  While we will bear His mark, the sign of His love, His Name into eternity.

Yahweh has come in the Flesh and has taken the Name Jesus because He came to save His people from their sins.  Dearly beloved, we are His people.  We are His people by Divine proclamation, by His Grace, by the fact that we bear His Name, forever.  He who submitted to the knife, to the torture, and to the cross; He who shed His innocent blood for the life of the world, lived up to His Name Jesus by saving us from our sins.  And we who have received Him are the seed of Abraham and heirs according to the Promise.  He is our God.  We are His people.  This, O Christians, is your heritage.  It will last throughout this New Year and for as many years as are left until He returns, and even throughout eternity.  Jesus bled for you, so you don't have to, to make you His people, to grant you His inheritance, to save you.  

Even now, this same Jesus is about His saving work here in this place on this cold and snowy afternoon.  For He comes in the same Flesh and Blood assumed at His holy incarnation, the same Flesh and Blood He gave and shed for you on the cross, to fill you with that Flesh and Blood here in the Holy Eucharist, that you might remain in His salvation, completely forgiven of all sins, strengthened in your faith, and preserved in the inheritance of eternal life in His kingdom put in place for you before the foundation of the world.  Here, Yahweh-in-the-Flesh continues to fulfill His earthly name, Jesus, for here He continues to save His people from their sins, and we, His people, having been saved, may truly depart in peace.  In the Holy and Precious Name of Jesus, the Eternal God of the universe, Yahweh Himself, who took on human flesh to save us from our sins.  Amen!

Now the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.