Circumcision and Nameday of Jesus
Galatians 3:23–29 (ESV)
Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Dear fellow Redeemed: This is the eighth day of Christmas, the Circumcision and Name-day of Jesus. The world is hurrying on, of course, and making a big deal about turning the page on a calendar. The passing of time is interesting, and mysterious enough that we will look back on the last year and wonder what the next year will bring. But you can do that on any day, really.
As Christians, though, we have chosen to reflect on this day relative to the most important moment in the season – the birth of Christ. This is eight days later. According to the Mosaic law, on the eighth day after birth each baby boy was to be circumcised. He was also named. In obedience to the law, Mary and Joseph had the child circumcised. In obedience to the angel, God's messenger, they named Him Jesus, which means Savior.
The law is from God. So it is not surprising that many would think that the way to be right with God is to obey this law, and thus become one of God’s people. But the law could never save you. If you ever look to your record of rights and wrongs or to a correct implementation of God’s demands as a way to heaven, then you are most seriously mistaken. It demands absolute obedience, which is far beyond us. Deuteronomy 27:26 (ESV) “ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ …. The way to heaven is through the One promised, through Abraham’s seed, who was promised to be the One by whom the whole world would be blessed.
And so the blessing began. It began with His conception and birth, and continues on this day of circumcision: Jesus fulfills the law, and in so doing lives up to His name, for already He has begun to SAVE us from the condemnation of the law. He is keeping the law in our place.
What a deliverance this is! The verdict, “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased,” is a verdict spoken upon us, as we share in Christ’s Sonship. Because of what Jesus began here,
All Believers Are Alike the Children of God
I. All Were Made Prisoners by the Law
II. All Made Heirs by Grace through Faith
I. All Were Made Prisoners by the Law
What is the hope of someone who doesn't know Christ? For those of you who can't remember a time when you weren't Christian, you will engage in some conjecture. For others of us, memory of our own lives will serve to answer the question. A hint of it is here in the Word: Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
Here we have an intersection of time and timelessness. The law imprisons and oppresses without Christ. Until He came and fulfilled the law – as in our gospel lesson – the law could only convict. But what is true “before Christ” is individually true before each of us was joined to Christ in faith, especially through Holy Baptism.
The law oppressed us. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. The word “guardian” here was the “pedagogue,” the slave who supervised the son or sons of the household, disciplining them and getting them to and from school. In the King James they translate it “schoolmaster,” which makes sense if you think of the kind of schoolmaster Luther had, which we’ve been writing about in the Tidings. They couldn’t teach, but they beat the students if they didn’t learn.
So the law says to you, “be perfect, be self-disciplined, be kind and generous, give to help others, don’t be angry or selfish, never have an impure thought, never whine, always be brave, put God first in everything, be zealous to learn the Bible, don’t every be lazy,” and on and on and on. But the law cannot empower you to avoid any sin, or live out any virtue.
"Held captive by the law, imprisoned." That is the picture Paul gives of a life of self-accusation, self-justification and self-conviction. Without Christ, what hope is there? Some hope that there is no god. If there is a god, they hope that he isn't too demanding. The false teachers in the Galatian churches pointed to the law, especially the law of circumcision, to become part of the people of Israel and eligible, in some way, for mercy.
Even now, the people of our age put their hope in laws, laws, and more laws. There was much discussion over the change of the speed limit laws from 55-60 in the Chicago area, as though the number on the sign makes a difference. Laws against drugs are supposed to stop addiction, but can’t extinguish the addict’s desires. The sign on the door says “no concealed carry” but can’t stop the robber.
Those who trust in the law for salvation here in time or in eternity, do not know the nature of the human condition – fallen and broken. Obeying the law of circumcision could not enable anybody to keep the rest of the law.
So what's left when all the laws are tried and none succeed in making us good? Despair. Paul describes it: Ephesians 2:11–12 (ESV) Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
How then can we be reconciled to God? Not by what we do, but by what Christ has done.
II. All Made Heirs by Grace through Faith
We are reconciled because of Christ’s atonement, by grace, through faith. We are joined with Christ, identified with Christ. We look in the mirror and see Christ, so to speak.
The righteousness of the law in which there is no hope no longer prevails. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, the pedagogue, the useless oppressive schoolmaster. The law with its sentence of death, with its fear, with its guilt, is not what judges our acceptability to God. Instead there is the righteousness which Christ has earned for us, which He has made ours by faith. Faith is not a good work, the working of our salvation is by Christ, and faith is merely the connection by which we enter “into Christ.” for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
So baptism should never be treated as a law, either. We are to be baptized to “put on Christ” in the same way that we are to be born to become children. It is a gift to us.
"You are all sons:" that means YOU who have believe the promises of God and have received the life-giving gift of Holy Baptism. Paul says “sons,” not to mean “males,” but to mean offspring. I been connected with many children over my life- but that just means young people. I have also had sons, and they are my own offspring and so are my daughters.
By being identified with Christ, into Christ, Christ covers you. The innocence of Christ. Christ's perfect righteousness. His perfect keeping of the law. His guiltlessness — this is what covers you, this is what you have put on in your baptism. You are acceptable to God as His sons and daughters, by faith in Christ. For when God sees your faith, he sees the righteousness of Christ. He sees what delights Him. Think of that, YOU are a delight to God, and in His perfect grace and mercy, He loves you without condition and without reserve.
And remember, this is not because of your obedience in being baptized, but because of what Christ has done. It isn’t because a law of Baptism has replaced a law of circumcision, but because God is active in baptism and His word to give you life.
It doesn't matter who YOU are, or what YOU have done. It only matters who CHRIST is and what HE has done. God promised Abraham that his descendent would be a blessing to all peoples, all nations. Abraham believed God’s promise, and that faith is what received the promised righteousness. Now His descendent, God’s son has united you with himself, so you too are Abraham’s descendent. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
As Abraham’s heir, you receive what was promised Him: Forgiveness, live, and everlasting salvation. AMEN.
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