Colossians 2,6-13 0723
Tag der Beschneidung und Namengebung Jesu 12
Circumcision of the Lord, and Name of Jesus
1. Januar 2023
1. ℣ O Yahweh our Adonai, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth!
℟ Who hast set Thy Glory above the heavens (Psalm 8,1).
O Jesus, born in Bethlehem, remember not our sins nor our lawless deeds no more, so that we joyously praise Your Name as our Christ who has kept Your law and testament for us. Amen. (Hebrews 8,10; 10,17 Gradual).
2. »Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 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. For in Him the whole fullness of Deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 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, 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. 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.«
3. Names are important in the Bible and tell us important things about the person and what God does through him or her. Adam : ruddy, man. Eve : source of life, living one. Judah : thanksgiving, praise. Ruth : friend. David : beloved one. Isaiah : Yahweh is salvation.
4. Luke proclaims in his Gospel: »And at the end of 8 days, when He was circumcised, He was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb« (Luke 2,21). Matthew writes in his Gospel: »Mary will bear a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins« (Matthew 1,21). The name Jesus translates as Yahweh saves.
4. Circumcision signifies the covenant made between the Abraham and Yahweh. Moses writes: »When Abram was 99 years old Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him: „I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless, that I may make My covenant between Me and you, and may multiply you greatly. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is 8 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“« (Genesis 17,1-2.5.7.9.11-12). »And on the 8th day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised« (Leviticus 12,3). In modern Jewish practice, following the circumcision, a prayer is said for the baby in which his Jewish name is used (and thus announced) for the very first time. It is customary for the parents to keep the baby’s name a secret until this time.
5. The circumcision and naming of Jesus 8 days after His birth is an extremely important event. His parents fulfill the covenant and law by circumcising Him. The Apostle Paul explains the significance of this: »But when the fullness of time had arrived, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons« (Galatians 4,4-5). By becoming incarnate of human flesh in a Jewish womb, the Son of God willingly humbled Himself and placed Himself under His torah to save us, who are under the threats of the law. By being circumcised, Jesus promised and foretold that He would fulfill every precept of the torah in heart, word and deed. At His circumcision, Jesus shed His blood on our behalf in obedience to the law, and He foreshadowed how in obedience He would 3 decades later shed His blood on the cross for us, thereby making full atonement for our sins. In doing so, Jesus fulfills the name He had been given: He saves us.
6. We tend to focus on the salvation Jesus obtained for us by looking back to the cross. He indeed did purchase our forgiveness and salvation on Good Friday, but He was already our Savior doing the work of a Savior even at 8 days old with His circumcision.
7. Just as Yahweh established His covenant with Abraham and his descendants with Abraham’s circumcision so too does Yahweh establish His covenant with us in Jesus’ circumcision. Only when man is in covenant with God does he become free (Ratzinger loc 320). The covenant not only saves mankind but is also meant to draw the whole of reality into communion with God (Ratzinger loc 338). In Jesus, God is our Father, and through Jesus we are brought into God’s family. Now both Jew and Gentile are brothers and sisters in Jesus. The new testament that Jesus brings is an eternal testament because it is grounded upon Him, His shed blood and His atoning sacrifice.
8. Our Baptism is the new circumcision of the new testament. Baptism cleanses us from our sin for it connects us to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Paul tells us: »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, 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.«
9. The circumcision and naming of Jesus is the 8th day of Christmas on which our Loving God gave to us His only Son to suffer, die and rise again to redeem mankind.
10. Let us on our way go
In Jesus’ name only.
This guiding star will show,
That all will be rightly
And through His mercy
Everything full of blessing be. (Jesus soll die Losung sein elkg 385,3 2021 Benjamin Schmolck 1726).
This is most certainly true.
11. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.
12. Let us pray. Thanks be to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which Thou hast given us, for the pains and insults which Thou hast borne for us. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother, may we know Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly and follow Thee more nearly, for Thine own sake. Amen. (The Circumcision of our Lord, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office.)
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
✠
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
Evangelisch-Lutherisches Kirchengesangbuch. Copyright © 2021 Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, Hannover.
The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.
Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal. The Spirit of the Liturgy: Commemorative Edition. Copyright © 2018 Ignatius Press.
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