Title : The names of God

Why was Jesus circumcised? Why did it take place on the eighth day after birth? Why was He named Jesus?

Jesus was circumcised because God is startlingly straightforward about how He plans on saving the world. From the very first promise of the Savior, God said that He would come from a seed; literally, from sperm. Though the kids hate it when I talk about these things in the Big Room, we adults know where sperm comes from. In giving Israel the ritual of circumcision, God was giving Israel a constant reminder that the Savior would be a human child, and He would be of their family tree.

Jesus was circumcised because He would fulfill everything His Father gave Israel to fulfill. That’s why He was circumcised on the eighth day. The eighth day of life was a teacher to Israel, just as the eight sides of our Baptismal font was designed to be a teacher to us. When an Israelite boy was circumcised, he was receiving what we generally think of as the Old Testament equivalent of Baptism—he was entering the family of the Lord, being recognized as a child of God.

As to the eighth day, the connection is to creation. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. On the eighth day—the first day of the second week—the creation was set, and it would continue to turn over the seven-day weeks as long as the creation lasts.

In circumcision’s being the rite of entering the family of the Lord, the number eight denotes the first day of eternity, after the eons of seven-day weeks of the creation have ended. For us, who live in the era after Christ, the significance of the number eight is easy to see through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Indeed, the numbers six, seven, and eight are magnificent to look at in light of Christ’s death, rest, and resurrection.

On the sixth day—Friday—God finished His work of creating the world by creating man. On the sixth day—Friday—Jesus finished His work of saving the world by dying for man.

On the seventh day—Saturday—God rested from His work of creating the world. On the seventh day—Saturday—Jesus rested in the tomb from having saved the world.

On the eighth day—Sunday—God set the creation into motion with the ongoing series of weeks. And, on the eighth day—Sunday—Jesus set the salvation into motion with the eternal life which He now lived, in which there will be no more weeks, but only the eternal day.

And, this, of course, is why the Son of Mary was given the name Jesus. This child was the promise of the Lord, the Son of the Most High, the seed of the prophecy given to Adam and Eve, so many years earlier. Thus, the child was given the name which would make it clear, for Jesus means the Lord saves, and that’s what Jesus came to do.

And, that’s the entirety of today’s amazingly short Gospel lesson, which makes this vital point about the name of Jesus. Jesus is the Savior’s personal name, as Greg is mine. The epistle lesson focuses on Jesus’ office name, which is Christ.

Christ is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament word, Messiah. Both words mean the Anointed One. As Jesus teaches us what this child came to do, Christ tells us that He is the One to do it.

Jesus is the Christ. This specific person is the Anointed One. The Appointed One. That He was the Christ is displayed for us in His Baptism, when God the Father called out from heaven, "This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Since we looked at the two New Testament lessons, let’s take note of the Old Testament. It should have been very familiar to you, as you hear it at the end of every Sunday’s worship.

This is the giving of the benediction, when the Lord told Israel how to bless the people. We use this word, Lord, all the time, but do we know what it means?

Lord is a person who possesses absolute control or power. Thus, a lord is a master, an owner. Thus, a king is a lord, a boss is a lord, a husband and father is a lord.

Did you notice that, in the printed lesson, that Lord is in all capital letters? In the Old Testament, there are two names which we translate to Lord, and the one in all caps is the name Yahweh. Yahweh is the name which the Lord told to Moses, when Moses asked God, who was speaking from the burning bush, whom he should tell Israel was sending him to be their deliver. The Lord said, "I AM that I AM. Tell them I Am has sent you."

Who is more in absolute control and power than God, Yahweh, the great I AM? Thus, when Yahweh appears in the Old Testament, we translate Lord, but we put it into all caps—the large L, and the smaller O-R-D—so that the reader knows this is the name Yahweh.

Thus, it is the great I AM, the One in absolute control and power, who directs His blessing to His people. Indeed, something about this blessing, which I learned only since I’ve been in Port Hope, gives tremendously deep understanding to it.

The grammar of the Hebrew indicates that, when the Lord’s name is invoked in this way, it causes the thing being said to be a fact. Thus, when the person pronouncing the benediction invokes the name of the Lord—Yahweh, the great I AM, the One who is in possession of absolute control and power—the things of the benediction are facts.

What are the things of the benediction? They are the Lord’s blessing and keeping of His people. They are the Lord’s making His face shine upon and to be gracious to His people. They are the Lord’s lifting up His countenance and giving peace to His people. This is nothing short of dazzling.

As we close out 2011, think about your year. As I pondered mine, last week, all I saw was the same old sins that I had committed in 2010, and 2009, and every year. As I dwelt on my work as your pastor, the things which put everything else into shadow were the weeks in March and November which were tragic—truly, two weeks of ministering which were as horrible and challenging as anything I have faced.

There is no better time for God’s people to recognize the way in which God gives us His names—to see that the One who is in absolute control, with absolute power—the great I AM—does not use His name to overpower us, to condemn us, to give us what we deserve, but to bless us.

This is how you learn your Creator’s attitude toward you, dear Christians. The great I AM does not desire to hurt you, to kill you, to damn you. If He did, you would have been damned a long time ago. Quite the opposite, the Lord blesses you and keeps you, and when His pastors pronounce this benediction, the Lord makes it happen.

This is how you learn your Creator’s attitude toward you, dear Christians. The great I AM was born in your flesh, and was given the name of Jesus—the Lord saves. That’s His desire for you: to be saved. And, by Jesus, the Christ, His powerful Word and promise, you are saved. Through His baptism, you are saved. By eating and drinking His flesh and blood, you are saved.

Come what may in 2012, you are saved. The countenance of the Lord—Jesus, the Christ—shines upon you, blesses you and keeps you, and gives you peace. Amen.