Sermon -- Circumcision of our Lord and the Name of Jesus (January 1, 2023)

LUKE 2:21

HIS NAME IS JESUS.

In the name + of Jesus.

     The names given to children in the Bible are usually tied to a historical event or to the circumstances of the parents.  Several examples: When a son was born to Eber, the son of Shem, he named him Peleg, “for in his days the earth was divided” (Genesis 10:25).  Peleg sounds like the word for division.  Eber was marking the scattering of the nations at the Tower of Babel.  When the ark of the covenant was captured by the Philistines in the days of Samuel, the daughter-in-law of Eli the priest named her son Ichabod, which means “the glory has departed.”  “She said, ‘The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured’” (1 Samuel 4:22).  For more examples, read Genesis 29-30 and see why Jacob’s sons were given their particular names.

     Giving a name in Biblical times bore more significance than now.  This is all the more true when God assigns the name.  Through his angels, God had informed both Mary and Joseph what name their child would be given.  Joseph was also told why that name mattered.  The angel said to him, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).  The Greek version of his name is Yesous, or “Savior.”  In Aramaic, it is Yeshua, “The Lord saves.”  It is not merely a name to praise God.  It is a name to identify who he is and what he does.  He is the Lord God Almighty, and he saves sinners. 

     Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  We do not know if the registration for the census which got Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem took place before or after Jesus’ birth.  It would be interesting to know if Jesus was counted in accordance with Caesar Augustus’ order.  Nevertheless, “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” (Luke 2:21). 

     We may not give as much consideration to the meanings of the names we give to our children, but names matter to us.  If you call someone by the wrong name, you will be corrected, sometimes rather strongly.  Our names give us identity.  We want to know the name of something, even if that does not help us identify it at all.  Imagine you are sick and have gone through a battery of tests, and the doctor finally gives his diagnosis.  He tells you that you have some disorder with a long, Latin-sounding name.  It is oddly comforting to know the name of your ailment even if your symptoms or your health do not change.  One of the sadder accounts of the Bible is the baby that resulted from David and Bathsheba’s affair.  As God had foretold, that baby boy died at seven days old.  Since he died before his circumcision, he had not been given a name.  It is almost as if that little baby did not exist because he was without a name. 

     On his eighth day, the baby from Bethlehem was circumcised.  God now has a human name.  His name is Jesus.  He is “the Lord who saves.”  God has become one of us, body and soul, flesh and blood.  Jesus had to become one of us in order to save us.  He had to become a human being so that he could give his body into death for our sins and shed his blood to cleanse us from all impurity.  We do not worship some generic, faceless, nameless Savior.  He is the Jewish boy, born in Bethlehem, from the family line of David and Judah.  He is the rabbi from Nazareth who taught in the villages of Galilee and whose home base was Capernaum.  He is the man who was nailed to a cross outside the walls of Jerusalem.  He is the man who walked free from his grave, ascended into heaven, and lives and reigns over heaven and earth.  His name is Jesus.

     But before he gets to his death and resurrection, he must live obedient to the Law of Moses.  Jesus was born to faithful Jews who were conscientious of the Law.  In fulfillment of the Law and to include their son under the covenant, Joseph and Mary had Jesus circumcised.  This put Jesus under all the obligations which were given to Moses at Mt. Sinai.  It put upon Jesus the burden that you and I know under the Commandments, as well as all the ceremonial requirements that the children of Israel had to observe. 

     In this way, Jesus already began his work of suffering for us.  His blood was first shed as he was circumcised.  He submitted to a world of cuts and scrapes, blisters and scabs.  He endured a world of strife and struggle, sorrow and stress.  He subjected himself to being yelled at for mischief he did not do, to being teased by neighborhood kids, to chores and studies, and to the devil’s tempting him that he deserved better than this—which was actually true.  Yet, Jesus willingly did the work that burdens all of us.  It is not merely that he kept the Commandments of God, but that he did it willingly despite seeing some who defied God’s word with no regrets and enduring others who mocked him for being so goody-goody.  And yet, it remained his joy and delight to honor his heavenly Father in all things.

     This obedience is hard for us to follow, although we know that we should.  In fact, we want to.  God the Holy Spirit has worked in our hearts and minds so that we desire to follow God’s word.  He has taught us to love what God says.  He has convinced us that God’s word is right even when it is hard.  He instructs us to trust God when his care seems absent.  If you are in a hospital bed, wondering if it might be your death bed, you will need to hear God’s promises.  It’s not because you don’t know them.  It isn’t even because you don’t believe them.  It is because the reality of death makes you aware of God’s judgment and your sins.  You need the reassurance that God’s promises are greater than your fears and stronger than death.

     We recognize that whatever excuses we have made for our sins are inexcusable.  Our sins are not done in ignorance.  Our sins are done out of love for our convenience, not out of love for God.  We have sought to serve ourselves, not our neighbor.  There is no way to spin before God that our evil deeds are actually good or that by failing to do what is good we helped anyone.  We are sinners who have committed specific violations against God’s Law.  We have produced a real grieving of God.  We have caused real wounds upon loved ones.  If there is a good reason to practice private confession and absolution, it is to name these sins and to call them what they are.  We confess them to receive forgiveness of them.  And having named them, we also know what to pray against and to put to death in ourselves.

     While praying against our sins—especially the sins that haunt us so frequently—and while fighting against the temptations that afflict us are good, we are not saved by our fight against these things.  Failing to fight against them will result in our condemnation.  For, embracing sins earns a harsh judgment.  But sins are forgiven only by Jesus.  Jesus is “the Lord who saves.”  It is who he is, and it is what he does.  From the infant blood that was shed at his circumcision to the blood that poured out at Calvary’s cross, Jesus lived the life that satisfies God’s demands.  He lived it to atone for our lives which have not satisfied God’s Law.  From the infant blood that was shed at his circumcision to the blood that poured out at Calvary’s cross, Jesus suffered to atone for our disobedience.  This is what redeems us from sin and death.  This is how the Lord saves us.  It is who Jesus is and it is what Jesus does.  Therefore, his name is Jesus.

     When we give someone a name, we are demonstrating a relationship to what we name.  Parents have the privilege of naming their children.  Adam had the honor of naming all the animals.  Later, he was privileged to give a name to his beloved wife, Eve.  Husbands give their last names to their wives.  There is joy in all of this.  And now, God the Father gave the name to his Son when he became man.  While Joseph and Mary named him at his circumcision, they only repeated what was given them: His name is Jesus.

     And thanks to Jesus, God the Father is pleased to call you by a new name.  St. John wrote, “To those who did receive him, who have believed on his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).  You have become children of God by being baptized into his name.  And when you were baptized, God put his name upon you.  He declares that you are his own—delivered from sin, death, and the devil, delivered to a kingdom of grace and glory.  He takes great joy in doing this.

     Thanks to Jesus, God is pleased to know you by name and to call you by name.  The prophet Isaiah declared the word of the Lord, “Can a mother forget her nursing child and not show mercy to the son from her womb?  Even if these women could forget, I will never forget you.  Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15-16).  The Lord does not forget his own.  Just as you do not worship a nameless, faceless, generic Savior, you are not some nameless, faceless entity to him.  You are a dearly loved individual, personally known by Jesus.  To you, Jesus makes this promise: “The one who is victorious in this way will be clothed in white clothing.  I certainly will not erase his name from the Book of Life, and I will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels” (Revelation 3:5). 

     As we enter a new year, you may face it with enthusiasm, considering its possibilities and opportunities.  Or you may face it with apprehension, concerned about unforeseen tragedies or challenges.  Every year has its uncertainties.  We don’t know if we will face prosperity or poverty, peace or problems.  We will get some of each, although we don’t know to what degree.  The one thing we can be sure of is this: His name is Jesus.  And “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).  He is and remains “the Lord who saves.”  He will not fail you in the new year, just as he was faithful to you in all previous years. 

     His name is Jesus.  While many things may offer happiness in this world, Jesus encourages us in this way: “Rejoice that your names have been written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).  This will sustain your joy for this year no matter what you face.  Jesus knows your name; for he has purchased and won you with his holy, precious blood and innocent sufferings and death.  All this he did that you should be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. 

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