Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Luke 2:21
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  January 1, 2023

Today is the eighth day of Christmas. What gift are you expecting today? By now you should all have seven partridges in seven pear trees, twelve turtle doves, fifteen French hens, sixteen calling birds, fifteen golden rings, twelve laying geese, and seven swimming swans. Is today the day you are expecting to add eight milking maids along with everything else repeated? 

I know it’s nonsense, but the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas does define Christmas well. Christmas is more than just one day. Christmas is a season. From December 25th until January 5th, the Christian Church celebrates the birth of Jesus. We all received the greatest Christmas gift of the Christ child a week ago. And today is a very significant day in the celebration. The question is why? What is so special about the 8th day? And what is so important about what happened on this day? To help us, we have one short verse to look at. There’s nothing hard about the words. There’s nothing difficult to understand about what’s happening. And so the question today is why? Why circumcision and why the name “Jesus” On the Eighth Day of Christmas.

To help us see the importance of the 8th day, I think it helps to consider how our life on earth runs. Our life is governed by time. Weeks run in seven day cycles. Life has been operating this way since the beginning, when God created the world in six days, rested on the seventh. And then that new created life began fully functioning on the 8th day. And it’s because of this that the 8th day has become symbolic of new life, a life free from sin, (as it was initially in Eden), a life that is eternal, again as it was originally intended. And we see how this concept of the 8th day and the meanings tied to it developed in the Old Testament. 

God commanded circumcision on the 8th day. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant, the sign of a new life with God. In Genesis 17, God told Abraham: “Every boy among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised, every male throughout your generations, whether he is born in your house or purchased with money from any foreigner who is not descended from you.” Multiple places in Leviticus talk about the 8th day. An animal had to be at least 8 days old to be offered as a sacrifice. Those being cleansed from leprosy offered their sacrifices and were declared clean on the 8th day. Their “new life” began on the 8th day. The ordination of priests took seven days, so it was on the 8th day that they started performing their priestly duties. When Solomon’s temple was built, they celebrated for seven days, but it was on the 8th day that they held a service to dedicate it. It was the 8th day when the Glory of the LORD filled the Most Holy Place. 

And we haven’t even mentioned the greatest thing that took place on the 8th day, the resurrection of Jesus. Not only was Jesus put to death on the 6th day, the same day man was originally created, put to death to restores us back to the way God created us to be, not only did Jesus rest in the tomb on the 7th day, the same day God rested and commanded all of Israel to rest, but on top of that, on the 8th day Jesus rose to new life to become the first fruits of all who have fallen asleep. He rose to a new life that doesn’t end, a life that is eternal. And since we have been raised with Christ through our Baptisms, this is the life we now enjoy and receive every time we gather around God’s Word and Sacrament on the 8th day. Is it any wonder why God commanded his people to be circumcised on the 8th day? It’s the day of new life. 

But why circumcision? First of all, the law demanded it.  Jesus came to fulfill the law for us.  Paul writes, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons.” Jesus was born under the law.  It was necessary for him to fulfill all of the law’s demands because of our failure to do so.  That fulfillment had to be perfect. Why circumcision? What is so significant about this sign? The sign of circumcision pointed to sin in general, rather than a specific sin. Think about it? How is sin passed on from a parent to a child? Sin is passed on when they are conceived. Certainly, a child will imitate the sins of their fathers, but that is not what makes them sinful. No, we all were born sinful because we were conceived sinful. The act of circumcision on the male organ of generation was a constant reminder of that original sin. The fact that it was performed on a eight-day-old boy shows that God was concerned with the sinful nature before sinful acts would be evident in the child. By removing the foreskin, circumcision showed the need to put off the old self and put on a new, believing self.  

Circumcision was also connected to the promise of the Messiah. This covenant of circumcision for Abraham served to strengthen the faith he already had. His offspring became God’s children through the faith-creating power of this gracious Old Testament seal. Circumcision did not save apart from faith but through faith. The presence of that genuine faith by which one became God’s child became evident in the “heart circumcision” of their lives, as Jeremiah said: “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts.”  Circumcision was a God-ordained sign of the promise of the Savior.  Certainly, Jesus did not need to be circumcised.  He had no original sin.  Why, then, is this so important? His circumcision was part of his substitutionary work, just as was his baptism.  Not even Abraham, the friend of God and father of believers, received circumcision in perfect faith.  Nothing that he did was perfect.  Nothing that we do is perfect.  The sin that is passed on from our fathers lives and breathes in us.  It rears its ugly head, daily condemning us. We couldn’t possibly be perfect enough to fulfill God’s covenant.  That’s why it was necessary for the incarnate Son of God, made like his brothers in every way, to receive circumcision in perfect faith in his heavenly Father and to fulfill all righteousness for us.  By circumcision Jesus not only identified himself with Abraham’s descendants, but took upon himself the sin of Abraham’s descendants. He put himself in the place of sinners to make atonement by his blood. He not only truly felt the pain of circumcision and here first shed his blood for us, but he alone received circumcision with a perfect confidence that in his humiliation the heavenly Father would carry out his plan of redemption. To summarize: By his circumcision Jesus was physically marked as Abraham’s offspring. He was shown to be the one who had come to bear the sin of the world—both the actual sins and the sin which underlies all sins. By the shedding of his blood, he would carry out God’s plan of salvation.

The full meaning of Christmas is not found in the fact that the Word was made flesh, but also in the purpose for which he entered our flesh and blood. Already on the eighth day of his earthly existence, his blood flowed. As it flowed, it was both an indication and promise of the redemptive blood of Calvary, which was the goal and purpose of Bethlehem. Lily-white purity contrasted with blood-red guilt! Already at eight-days-old we see our Savior actively fulfilling the law, shedding his blood for us. But this isn’t even the high point of this eighth day of Christmas.  

“After eight days passed, when the child was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”  Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name יֵשׂוּעַ.  If you say that out loud a couple of times, it sounds more familiar.  It’s Joshua.  Jesus is the Greek name for Joshua.  A common name in the Bible, but its meaning is far from common.  Jesus means “the Lord saves.”  And think about this. When was he given this name? When did the angel appear to Mary?  It was before Jesus was even conceived! From the moment of his conception, Jesus was the incarnate Savior. He was working out our salvation already then.  As an infant, he was carrying out our salvation as we’ve already seen.  All throughout his life, he was saving us, actively living God’s law to perfection. 

Now think about this. How do we know the Lord?  How do we know who he is and what he does?  His names tell us!  The name, Jesus, is not just a bunch of letters that make sounds. His name is full of meaning.  God has told us exactly who he is.  Savior is God’s name and right alone.  This child is called Savior on the eighth day of Christmas because that’s exactly who he was. The angel had told Joseph, “he will save his people from their sins.” 

Do you remember how I started this morning? I asked you what you were expecting on this the eighth day of Christmas. You have received something this morning.  Your Savior! Jesus received his name on the eighth day of Christmas. Jesus shed his blood for you on the eighth day of Christmas. Jesus was actively and passively working out your salvation on the eighth day of Christmas. And in wonderful symmetry, on another eighth day, Jesus would rise from the grave proving to us that all of his work was perfect and complete and that his blood that was shed was an acceptable sacrifice to God.  He had lived up to his name!  He had saved his people from their sins!  That salvation is yours!  BELIEVE IT.  

Every New Year’s Eve people are celebrating. They are celebrating that the past year with all its troubles and difficulties and sadness is done and over with. They are optimistic that the New Year is going to be better. But we all know that optimism doesn’t last long. I doubt it will even make it 8 days. The trials and tribulations of living in a sinful world will soon arise and people realize that this New Year is just like the one before, another year full of sin. 

But as we gather today, this is really not the first day of a new year, but really is’t another 8th day. Every Sunday is an 8th day. Every Sunday in God’s house is a  day where we are receiving this new life that Jesus has won, a life that has no end. It doesn’t matter what troubles and difficulties we’ve had in the past or what trials and tribulations lay ahead. We have new life from Christ that will never end. We have the name of Jesus placed on us that never fades, but only brings joy and comfort!

Twelve days of Christmas. Today, why don’t we change the song. On the first day of Christmas my true love, my God, gave me my Savior.  On this eighth day of Christmas, my true love, my Savior, received his name and shed his blood in my place so that we may have all the joy of Christmas, only  found in our true Love, Jesus Christ, our Savior! AMEN