January 1, 2012- Numbers 6:22-27, Psalm 8, Galatians 3:23-29, Luke 2:21
“And at the end of 8 days, when He was circumcised, He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.” Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
What does it mean that we find Christ Jesus being named and circumcised in the Jerusalem temple 8 days after His birth, as we do today in Luke? For circumcision and the law was given only, as Paul said, to be the guardian over God’s chosen people. That Abraham and his descendants were circumcised as the sign that they, though separated and condemned because of sin, had been chosen by grace to be the people of God. And the law came to Moses, not to be a means of salvation, but to be the custodian over God’s people to keep them from running after the gods of their own choosing.
But Christ had no need to be placed under such. For Christ Jesus was actually born outside of the law, because the law is only for the lawbreakers. For, as He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, in His birth to the Virgin Mary He was not bound to the working and penalty of the law since He was sinless. The law had no accusations on Him even at His birth and so had no reason in which to subscribe and live under it, for He was finally beyond it.
Which means that as He was found here in Luke, Christ was being placed in the same situation and condition of all humanity. Even though this birth and child was indeed something greater than anything else which had been, yet He would not be found outside of His humanity, outside of the very people He was born unto. That though He was outside of the law-and in fact, was the very author of the law itself-He placed Himself under its letter and power, so to be accused and condemned by it as are all mankind.
Thus, as Christ received His name the day He was circumcised under the letter of the law, so He united Himself fully with the people He had been incarnated of. That now, the law was His law and its accusations and condemnations would attack Him as it does for the rest of creation. He would be found in the exact same place as the people He came for; that He would be now placed under a law that found its fulfillment in condemning the world under the curse of death. That with this event today in Luke today, we find Christ begining His work that would find its completion as He entered death on the cross of Calvary.
And that, of course, is the very nature of that Aaronic blessing given to us in Numbers today. For where is the creation of this blessing, but in the God alone who blesses and keeps; who makes His face shine and is gracious; who lifts up His countenance and gives His peace? But just how does this blessing come to people who have been separated from God’s graciousness because of their sin and death except by One who entered into our life and overcame its final outcome? Just how can those who are condemned to hell and the grave be kept and find peace apart from the One who was circumcised into the same law that was destined to hold all under a guardian until faith arrived?
Therefore, you see, your only hope in the life must lie on this One we find given unto the temple 8 days after His quiet birth in the lowly cattle stable. For God in Christ was given unto this old, fallen, dark world to become man, absolute man, with all our flesh and blood and ills and problems and sickness and death. He was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in order to enter into our situation and bondage to the law, sin, death and the devil so that when He would be raised to life, real life, on the third day, even the law with all its accusatory conviction would be done away with for those who are baptized into Christ Jesus.
Which means that now for you, as you believe in this Jesus Christ alone for your only forgiveness, life and salvation, you are no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, even male or female, for you are now Abraham’s offspring, according to the promise. Not that you are changed in your personhood-you are who you are in your creation-but as Christ placed Himself to the entirety of the law, so now all who live in Him, by faith alone Paul reminds, are a new creation, raised anew in the glories of Christ’s victory over sin, death and the devil. That in your faith in this One you find given to you in the manger at Bethlehem and on the cross at Jerusalem, you are now given that new name which David declares is more majestic than anything else-the name of God’s own blessed children.
And now, as Christ received the name given to Him by the angel when He was still in the womb, the sinlessness of this Jesus now rests upon the forgiveness of all who are repentant over their sin. That His divine eternalness is given to you in the promise that death itself will be forced to give you up in a resurrection on the last day. That now the salvation of the One whose name means, “The Lord saves,” Jesus, is bestowed upon you as He gives of Himself in His very Body and Blood in the Supper He died to give to His own blessed people. Amen.
What does it mean that we find Christ Jesus being named and circumcised in the Jerusalem temple 8 days after His birth, as we do today in Luke? For circumcision and the law was given only, as Paul said, to be the guardian over God’s chosen people. That Abraham and his descendants were circumcised as the sign that they, though separated and condemned because of sin, had been chosen by grace to be the people of God. And the law came to Moses, not to be a means of salvation, but to be the custodian over God’s people to keep them from running after the gods of their own choosing.
But Christ had no need to be placed under such. For Christ Jesus was actually born outside of the law, because the law is only for the lawbreakers. For, as He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, in His birth to the Virgin Mary He was not bound to the working and penalty of the law since He was sinless. The law had no accusations on Him even at His birth and so had no reason in which to subscribe and live under it, for He was finally beyond it.
Which means that as He was found here in Luke, Christ was being placed in the same situation and condition of all humanity. Even though this birth and child was indeed something greater than anything else which had been, yet He would not be found outside of His humanity, outside of the very people He was born unto. That though He was outside of the law-and in fact, was the very author of the law itself-He placed Himself under its letter and power, so to be accused and condemned by it as are all mankind.
Thus, as Christ received His name the day He was circumcised under the letter of the law, so He united Himself fully with the people He had been incarnated of. That now, the law was His law and its accusations and condemnations would attack Him as it does for the rest of creation. He would be found in the exact same place as the people He came for; that He would be now placed under a law that found its fulfillment in condemning the world under the curse of death. That with this event today in Luke today, we find Christ begining His work that would find its completion as He entered death on the cross of Calvary.
And that, of course, is the very nature of that Aaronic blessing given to us in Numbers today. For where is the creation of this blessing, but in the God alone who blesses and keeps; who makes His face shine and is gracious; who lifts up His countenance and gives His peace? But just how does this blessing come to people who have been separated from God’s graciousness because of their sin and death except by One who entered into our life and overcame its final outcome? Just how can those who are condemned to hell and the grave be kept and find peace apart from the One who was circumcised into the same law that was destined to hold all under a guardian until faith arrived?
Therefore, you see, your only hope in the life must lie on this One we find given unto the temple 8 days after His quiet birth in the lowly cattle stable. For God in Christ was given unto this old, fallen, dark world to become man, absolute man, with all our flesh and blood and ills and problems and sickness and death. He was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in order to enter into our situation and bondage to the law, sin, death and the devil so that when He would be raised to life, real life, on the third day, even the law with all its accusatory conviction would be done away with for those who are baptized into Christ Jesus.
Which means that now for you, as you believe in this Jesus Christ alone for your only forgiveness, life and salvation, you are no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, even male or female, for you are now Abraham’s offspring, according to the promise. Not that you are changed in your personhood-you are who you are in your creation-but as Christ placed Himself to the entirety of the law, so now all who live in Him, by faith alone Paul reminds, are a new creation, raised anew in the glories of Christ’s victory over sin, death and the devil. That in your faith in this One you find given to you in the manger at Bethlehem and on the cross at Jerusalem, you are now given that new name which David declares is more majestic than anything else-the name of God’s own blessed children.
And now, as Christ received the name given to Him by the angel when He was still in the womb, the sinlessness of this Jesus now rests upon the forgiveness of all who are repentant over their sin. That His divine eternalness is given to you in the promise that death itself will be forced to give you up in a resurrection on the last day. That now the salvation of the One whose name means, “The Lord saves,” Jesus, is bestowed upon you as He gives of Himself in His very Body and Blood in the Supper He died to give to His own blessed people. Amen.
posted by Weekly sermons at 3:49 PM
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