On this day, we celebrate Circumcision and Naming of Jesus. According to Luke 2:21:

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 (ESV).

Jesus was born under the Law, as a Jewish baby. As such, He was circumcised and named on His eighth day. This was to keep the sign of the covenant that God made with Abraham (Genesis 17:1-14). There is much that I could write about this, but what I want to do is pass on the writings of one of the Church Fathers regarding the Circumcision of Christ.

Cyril (375-444), Bishop and Patriarch of Alexandria, preached this in a sermon. This is a fairly lengthy quote, but please read it all.

St. Paul says that “neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision. On the eighth day Christ rose from the dead and gave us the spiritual circumcision. He then commanded the holy apostles, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And we affirm the spiritual circumcision takes place chiefly in holy baptism, when Christ makes us partakers of the Holy Spirit too. Of this Joshua, that Jesus of old, who became a leader of the Israelites after Moses, was also a type. He led the children of Israel across the Jordan, then made them stop and immediately circumcised them with knives of stone. So when we have crossed the Jordan, Christ circumcises us with the power of the Holy Spirit, not by purifying the flesh, but rather by cutting off the defilement that is in our souls. On the eighth day, therefore, Christ was circumcised and, as I said, received his name. We were saved by him and through him, because “in him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ. And you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him.” His death therefore, was for our sake, as were also his resurrection and his circumcision. For he died, so that we who have died together with him in his dying to sin, would no longer live for sin. Thus if we have died together with him, we shall also live together with. He is said to have died to sin, not because he had sinned, for he was without sin, neither was guile found on his lips, but because of our sin. Therefore, just as we died together with him when he died, so will we also rise together with him…

After Jesus’ circumcision, the rite was abolished by the introduction of baptism, of which circumcision was a type. For this reason we are no longer circumcised. It seems to me that circumcision achieved three distinct ends. In the first place, it separated the descendants of Abraham by a sort of sign and seal and distinguished them from all other nations. Second, it prefigured in itself the grace and efficacy of divine baptism. Formerly a male who was circumcised was included among the people of God by virtue of that seal; nowadays, a person who is baptized and has formed in himself Christ the seal, becomes a member of God’s adopted family. Third, circumcision is the symbol of the faithful when they are established in grace, as they cut away and mortify the tumultuous rising of carnal pleasure and passions by the sharp surgery of faith and by ascetic labors. They do this not by cutting the body but by purifying the heart. They do this by being circumcised in the spirit and not in the letter. Their praise, as St. Paul testifies, needs not sentence of any human tribunal, but depends upon the decree from above. (Ancient Christian Commentary: New Testament III: Luke, pages 44-45).

I will leave us with the Collect (prayer) of the Day:

Almighty God, you who caused your blessed Son to be circumcised and obedient to the law for all people: Grant us the true circumcision of the Spirit; that, all sinful desires in our hearts and bodies being put to death, we may obey your perfect will in all things; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Shane+