“Shed for You”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. The book of Hebrews says, “Without the shedding of blood there can be
no forgiveness.” That is the significance of the event we are
commemorating today, the first shedding of our Lord Jesus Christ’s blood, for
your salvation. Because today, January 1st, is not only the secular “holiday” of New
Year’s Day. Since the ancient rite of circumcision took place on the
eighth day after birth, and January 1st happens to fall eight days after the
celebration of Christ’s birth on December 25th, in addition to New Year’s Day
each year on this date we also celebrate a “holy day” of the Christian Church
Year, The Circumcision and Naming of Our Lord, as recorded in today’s Gospel
Reading: “And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child,
his name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived
in the womb.” In one of his sermons for this festival, Martin Luther begins, “This is
a short Gospel lesson, and so we’ll make a short sermon out of it!” But,
as you read further into the sermon you understand he started out with that joke
to make a point. Most people think because The Circumcision and Naming of
Our Lord is an obscure festival, and has the shortest of all Gospel
Readings—just one verse!—this event in our Lord’s life must not be very
significant, and there really isn’t much to say about it. But, at the end
of what is actually a fairly long sermon, talking about all the different
aspects of this festival and its deep meaning for us, Luther concludes, “So, you
see the observance of Christ’s circumcision offers us a rich sermon; there’s
enough here to talk about for several hours!” “Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness.”
That’s the first thing to understand about the event we are commemorating today.
It was the first shedding of our Lord Jesus Christ’s blood, for your salvation. The world right now, especially some countries in the European Union,
is going through an international debt crisis. It has been suggested that
all the outstanding debt in the world should just be cancelled. One
economist has said that if the politicians really want to help us, all the
government has to do is push a few buttons on its computers and the debt would
all be gone. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Wouldn’t that be
fair—just to cancel everyone’s debts? But, other economists have explained
that one person’s debt is someone else’s investment or retirement fund, and
wiping out all debt would also wipe out all savings and create economic
catastrophe. It may sound wonderful, but it really wouldn’t be fair to
just cancel everyone’s debts. Fairness, basic justice, requires that the
debt must be paid. Since the fall of humanity into sin the world has been going through a
spiritual debt crisis, as Paul says in Romans, “All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God.” We all owe God much more than we could ever possibly
pay. But, if God really loves us, why doesn’t he just push a few buttons
on his heavenly computers and just cancel the spiritual debt of our sins? The Bible tells us that justice is part of God’s very nature, and Paul
says in 2nd Timothy, “He cannot be false to himself.” It would be against
basic justice and God’s very nature to simply cancel the debt of our sin.
Justice requires that the debt must be paid. On the other hand, another characteristic of God’s very nature is
mercy. As Paul also says in 2nd Timothy, “God our Savior wants all men to
be saved.” And Peter says, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish.” So, because of the fall of humanity into sin, God had to find a way to
reconcile his justice and his mercy. “Without the shedding of blood there
can be no forgiveness.” God’s justice required that someone pay that
ultimate price, the shedding of their blood and giving of their life, in order
to pay off our spiritual debt and earn forgiveness for our sins. God’s
mercy found a way. He provided a substitute to pay that ultimate price for
us, a substitute to shed his blood and give his life in our place. As
Peter explains, “It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that
you were redeemed . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without
blemish or defect.” The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that for Passover each year at
the ancient Temple in Jerusalem over 250,000 lambs were sacrificed on one day,
creating literally rivers of blood flowing away from the Temple. All those
sacrificial lambs and those rivers of blood did not actually earn forgiveness
themselves. They were prophetic, a reminder to the people of God’s promise
that one day he would send the Messiah, who would be the ultimate, final
sacrifice to cleanse them of their sins with his own blood. That is what
John the Baptist meant when he pointed to Jesus and declared, “Behold, the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” “Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness.” The
Good News of the event in our Lord’s life that we are commemorating today is
that already on the eighth day of his life, with his circumcision, he began for
us his journey of painful suffering and shedding of his blood, a journey which
would culminate some 33 years later with his death upon the cross and his
precious blood poured out upon Calvary. The Apostle John says, “The blood
of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from every sin.” The debt of your sin
wasn’t just arbitrarily cancelled. By the shedding of his blood your debt
was paid, in full. Your sins are all forgiven, because by his blood you
are cleansed from every sin. That’s the first thing to understand about
the event we are commemorating today. It was the first shedding of our
Lord Jesus Christ’s blood, for your salvation. Paul says in Galatians, “Every man who lets himself be circumcised . .
. is obligated to obey the whole law.” That’s the second thing to
understand about the event we are commemorating today. Technically, the
Queen of England is exempt from the laws of England. They call this the
“royal prerogative.” We have the same thing, because our Congress often
passes laws from which they are exempt. As the Son of God, the Babe of Bethlehem
was by right exempt from the Law of God, including the Old Testament ceremonial
law requiring circumcision. So, why was he circumcised? Because,
part of earning salvation for us was for him to perfectly fulfill all the Law of
God in our place. By being circumcised he put himself under the Law
for us and obligated himself to fulfill the Law on our behalf. His
circumcision was the beginning of his perfect fulfillment of God’s Law in your
place. Paul says in Romans, “Through the obedience of the one man the many
will be made righteous.” Christ’s perfect obedience to God’s Law is
credited to you. As Paul says in Galatians, “Christ redeemed us from the
curse of the Law.” In today’s Epistle Reading, Paul says, “In Christ you were also
circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision
done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been
buried with him in baptism.” That’s the third thing to understand about
the event we are commemorating today. The ancient rite of circumcision was
a reminder to the Hebrews of God’s promise to Abraham, “Through your Descendant
all peoples on earth will be blessed,” a vivid reminder on the body of every
male Hebrew that one of their descendants would be the promised Messiah, the
Savior of the world. Now that he has come, the ancient rite of circumcision by which the
children of Israel were incorporated into God’s chosen people has been
supplanted, by the Christian Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Now through
Baptism you have been incorporated into God’s chosen people. Just as
circumcision was a mark on the body identifying the ancient Hebrews as one of
God’s chosen people, Baptism is now a mark, not on your body, but on your soul,
identifying you as one of God’s chosen people. “And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child,
his name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived
in the womb.” Along with being circumcised the boy would also be named.
The angel had told Joseph, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will
save his people from their sins.” The name Jesus means, “The Lord Saves.”
His very name beautifully says who he is, and what he does. He is the
Lord, who saves you from your sins. He saved you from your sins by the
shedding of his blood, and his perfect fulfillment of the Law in your place,
which began already on the eighth day of his life, with The Circumcision and
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