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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

Infant Jesus Sheds His Blood for Us

1/2/2023

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Picture
Arent de Gelder, Beschneidung Christi, circa 1710. Public Domain.
Luke 2:21 
Circumcision and Naming of Jesus
​
Pastor James Preus 
January 1, 2023 
 
Before the twelve days of Christmas are up, the sweet baby Lord Jesus sheds His blood for us. On the eighth day, Jesus was circumcised, having a piece of His skin cut off, as He was named Jesus. But what is the significance of Jesus’ circumcision and His name?  
God gave circumcision to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation and of all the faithful, as a sign of the covenant, which God made with Him. God promised Abraham, that He would make Him into a great nation and that in him and in his offspring, all nations of the earth would be blessed. The offspring God spoke of was the Christ, who would be born from among Abraham’s descendants, specifically, from the children of Israel. The great multitude God would make out of Abraham meant two things. First, God would make a great nation from Abraham, the nation of Israel, who would be His special people so long as they were obedient to Him. The second and greater referent is the Holy Christian Church, who are Abraham’s children through faith, although they come from many different nations.  
As a sign of this covenant, which God made to Abraham, God instituted circumcision, which is the cutting off of the foreskin of the man. When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God had Abraham circumcised, changing his name from Abram, which means exalted father, to Abraham, which means father of a multitude. This is why boys would be named at their circumcision. And God commanded that all boys in his household and in future generations would be circumcised at eight-days-old.  
So, circumcision is a sign of the Gospel. God promised that He would make Abraham into a multitude of nations, literally changing his name to Father-of-a-Multitude at the circumcision. So, every Hebrew boy would have as a mark on his body the sign of the promise to make him a great nation. God promised that in Abraham’s seed all nations of the world would be blessed. So, on Abraham’s body and on the body of every Hebrew boy after him, was the sign on the reproductive organ that God would send the Redeemer from one of their seed.  
And the circumcision shed blood. This was fitting for a covenant. Every covenant was ratified by the shedding of blood. In fact, the idiom in Hebrew is not to make a covenant, but to cut a covenant. Yet, the shedding of this blood meant even more. It meant that the promised seed would shed His blood to make atonement for sins. This is why the Christ was named Jesus. He saves His people from their sins by making atonement for them. So, circumcision from the beginning was a sign of the Gospel, a sign that God would send a Redeemer, who would make atonement for sins and so bless every nation of the earth.  
Yet, circumcision became a sign of the Law. St. Paul writes, “I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.” (Galatians 5:3) Because God had added the Law because of transgressions, circumcision became a sign of the whole law. St. Paul tells us that the Law was our guardian until the coming faith would be revealed. Now, this sounds strange. Was there no faith under the Law? Doesn’t Paul himself say that Abraham was justified by faith before the Law was given? Indeed, Abraham was justified by faith and no one has ever been justified except through faith. Yet, what Paul means by “until the coming faith would be revealed” is “until the full knowledge of Christ is revealed.” Here, by faith, he means the faith which is believed, not your act of believing it. Before Christ came, the faithful were under the guardianship of the Law, because Jesus had not yet been fully revealed to them.  
Yet, even before Christ came, the Law did a person no good, unless he had faith. Circumcision did a Hebrew no good, if he did not believe in the promise attached to it. Same with the sacrifices, feasts, and sabbaths: if an Israelite did not believe in the promise of Christ attached to these ordinances of the Law, then the ordinances did them no good.  
This is why St. Paul says in Galatians chapter 5, “If you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace!” Circumcision represents every outward ordinance of the Law. But the Law cannot justify, because it depends on our works. So, for someone to accept circumcision as necessary to be justified before God, he would be rejecting faith in Christ.  
When Christ Jesus was circumcised at eight-days-old, when His sacred flesh was cut and His blood first flowed for us, He embarked to fulfill the promise of which circumcision was a sign, the promise of God to bless all nations with a Redeemer. And when Jesus submitted Himself to the humiliation of circumcision, He submitted Himself to the whole Law for our sake, as St. Paul again writes in Galatians chapter 4, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive the adoption as sons.”  
To accept circumcision, that is, to believe that circumcision is necessary to be justified before God means to deny the work that Jesus did in His circumcision, in His fulfilling of the Law, and in His passion and death for our sins. The Law depends on our works. It is the doers of the Law who are justified before God, not the hearers. Yet, no one has ever been justified before God by works of the Law. Rather, the Law has exposed each and every human being as a sinner, except Jesus Christ. Jesus alone fulfilled the whole Law, so that He might suffer and die to take away all our sins.  
That is the message of Jesus’ circumcision. That is why He was named Jesus. Jesus comes from the Hebrew for the LORD Saves (or Yahweh Saves). Jesus is the LORD God, yet He is also the seed of Abraham. In shedding His blood in His circumcision, He submitted to the Law under which we are born and He foreshadowed the shedding of His blood on the cross for the atonement of our sins. This is why we should not misuse Jesus’ name, but hold it in highest honor. Jesus is our Savior.  
The Law is good. The Law commands us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor as ourself. Have you done that? Do you put God first? Do you call upon His name, pray, praise, and give thanks? Do you gladly hear and learn His word, or do you despise it and neglect it? Do you honor all those whom God has placed in authority over you: your father, mother, boss, government, pastor? Do you care for your neighbor’s body and well being as you do your own? Do you keep yourself pure, or do you become captivated by lust? Are you lazy or dishonest? Do you protect your neighbor’s reputation and speak well of him? Are you content with what God has given you?  
The Law is good, but it smacks you in the face every time you look at it. The Law cannot justify you, because it depends on your works. And even if you can perform the outward ordinances, as many Jews did with circumcision, sacrifices, and sabbaths, it does you no good if you do not have a pure heart. Yes, the Law condemns every one of you as a sinner. There is not comfort in that.  
This is why we rejoice at Jesus’ circumcision. This little baby took on Himself the burden of the entire Law and He fulfilled it. He loved God fully as the Law required. He loved His neighbor as Himself, to the extent that He shed His blood for all mankind, making them all His neighbor. And this means that we are freed from the burden of the Law. Christ Jesus has set us free. We are not made God’s children by how well we fulfill God’s commands. We are made God’s children through faith in Christ, who has fulfilled God’s commands for us.  
Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day, as the Law required. The eighth day symbolizes a new creation. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. The eighth day is the first day of a new week. Jesus rose from the dead on the eighth day, signifying a new creation. Likewise, the cutting off of flesh on the eighth day symbolized the cutting away of the sinful flesh, so that a new creation may come forth.  
For this reason, Baptismal fonts will often have eight sides to symbolize the new creation in Baptism. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything anymore, but only faith working through love. Yet, Christ has joined faith to Baptism, so that we might have a seal of the new-birth and forgiveness of sins which Christ won for us. St. Paul writes in Colossians chapter 2, “For in Christ the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in Baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”  
Through Baptism, you have been joined to Christ’s circumcision, to Christ’s obedience under the Law, and to Christ’s death and resurrection. Through Baptism, you receive a new creation, where you live by faith in the Spirit, in love, joy, peace, and long-suffering. Scripture clearly says that those who continue in sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, strife, jealousy, drunkenness, and other works of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21). So, in Baptism we cut off not a small piece of flesh, but we cut off the whole body of flesh. And we don’t do this but once, when we are baptized, but we do it every day of our lives! Everyday, we rise up as a new creation! Everyday, we wake up on the Eighth Day!  
This also makes the circumcision of Jesus a fitting text for a new year. Did you keep your resolutions for 2022? Your resolutions should have been to stop sinning. Did you stop sinning? Then make the same resolution again this year, and make it every day. Rise each day with a clean slate, having your sins washed away in Jesus’ blood, and embark as a new creation. In Jesus you are a new creation. Your old body of flesh has been cut away and drowned. Having repented of your sins, you have the freedom to live with a clean conscience, because Jesus has made atonement for them.  
Jesus’ circumcision is a reminder to us this Christmas that unto us is born a Savior from sin and the condemnation the Law. He was born, so that we might be born again to a new creation, having our sins cut away from us. Now in Jesus’ name may each of us live in this new creation in 2023 and into eternity. Amen.  
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Circumcision and Naming of Jesus

1/3/2022

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Picture
Circumcision, Albrecht Altdorfer, 1480-1538, German, Public Domain.
Pastor James Preus 
Trinity Lutheran Church 
January 2, 2021 
 
And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.  ~
Luke 2:21 
​
 
The Old Testament Law can be divided into three categories: the moral, the civil, and the ceremonial law. The moral law tells you what is right and wrong. It is right to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and your neighbor as yourself. It is wrong to do anything against this love for God and neighbor. God articulated the moral law perfectly in the Ten Commandments, which he gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, yet the moral law existed long before God led the people of Israel out of Egypt. Cain knew that he had sinned when he killed his brother Abel even though the Fifth Commandment had not been written. The moral law is the eternal, immutable will of God. The moral law is eternally righteous.  


The civil law is the law God gave to the nation of Israel to carry out justice. The civil law was how the nation of Israel would enforce the moral law. It included regulations concerning capital punishment, inheritance, and judicial regulations.  


The ceremonial law concerned worship, not only with regard to sacrifices in the tabernacle and temple, but concerning weekly observances of the Sabbath and the distinctions of clean and unclean meats at home. Ceremonial laws went beyond teaching and enforcing the moral law, but focused mainly on teaching the people of God about their relationship with God and how he dealt with them in righteousness, faithfulness, and mercy.  


One of the oldest ceremonial laws was circumcision, which God gave to Abraham over 400 years before Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai. God gave circumcision to Abraham as a sign of the covenant he made with him and his offspring after him; every male had to be circumcised at eight days old. By cutting the foreskin of every male Hebrew, God prophesied the coming of Christ, who would be born from the nation of Israel. The shedding of blood was a sign that sins needed to be atoned for and that the Christ would shed his blood to make atonement for sin. Finally, the sign of circumcision marked the Hebrew as a member of God’s covenant. Circumcision placed the Jewish boy under the whole Law, moral, civil, and ceremonial, as St. Paul writes in Galatians 5, “I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.” (vs. 3)  


So, we see in our brief Gospel lesson for today, that our Lord Jesus at just eight days old undertakes to fulfill the entire Law on our behalf. By submitting himself to circumcision, he placed himself under the Law and under the obligation to fulfill every part of the law. This again proves true the words of St. Paul in Galatians chapter 4, “But when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive the adoption as sons.” According to his divine nature, Christ was not subordinate to the Law. But he willingly humbled himself and placed himself under the Law to save us, who are under the threats of the Law. By being circumcised, Jesus promised and foretold that he would fulfill every stricture of the Law in heart, word, and action.  


At only eight days old, Jesus shed his blood on our behalf in active obedience to the Law, and he foreshadowed how in passive obedience he would shed his lifeblood on the cross for us, making full atonement for our sins. Therefore, the child is rightly named Jesus. The name Jesus means The LORD Saves. The name Jesus is the New Testament pronunciation of the Old Testament name Joshua. Not everyone named Jesus or Joshua is the Savior. But this name was given to Jesus even before his conception in the womb of his virgin mother (Luke 1:31). This name is not an honorary title, nor is it a pious declaration of what God does. This is a descriptive and prophetic name of what this child is and does. This child is the LORD, the promised Christ, who saves his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).  


This is why the name Jesus is the sweetest sound in our ears. He is named Jesus, because he is our Savior from sin, death, and hell. He is named Jesus, because he has fulfilled the Law for us on our behalf. He is named Jesus, because he shed his blood for us and made full atonement for our sins. He is named Jesus, because this sinless Son of God having taken on our human flesh, shed his blood at eight days old to fulfill the Law for us.  


Circumcision cut off a piece of flesh, demonstrating that the sinful flesh must be removed in order for a person to be saved. This is why Jesus said, “That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6) Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50), because flesh and blood are corrupted by sin. But circumcision was only an outward sign of what must be done inwardly. Circumcision only cut off a bit of flesh. The whole body of flesh must be taken off in order for a sinner to be saved! This is why Scripture repeatedly speaks of the circumcision of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:12, 16; 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4). Removing a piece of skin does not remove your sinful heart! This must be a spiritual circumcision. Whoever does not receive this spiritual circumcision cannot be saved, but is forever cursed by sin and damned to hell! 


And God has given us such a spiritual circumcision, one that removes the entire body of sinful flesh, and clothes us with a new self, holy and righteous before God. St. Paul speaks of this spiritual circumcision in his letter to the Colossians in chapter 2, “In [Christ] also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by the putting off the body of flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (vss. 11-14) 


In your Baptism, you have received a spiritual circumcision, not done with hands, not one that cuts off a little bit of flesh, but one that removes the entire body of sin and clothes you in Christ Jesus. Baptism is a spiritual work done by God to give you a new birth, a new life. Baptism joins you to Christ Jesus, to his work of salvation, even his death and resurrection. Through faith you receive the benefits of your Baptism. This is why St. Paul also writes in Galatians chapter three, “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.” (vss. 26-27)  


This is why Baptism is such a precious treasure. It joins you to Christ Jesus! The former circumcision of the flesh placed a man under the Law, obligating him to fulfill the whole law. This became a curse, convicting the sinner of sin. Yet, this second circumcision of the Spirit, takes off your sinful body and puts in its place Christ’s righteous body. When God looks at you through your Baptism, he sees Jesus, who fulfilled God’s Law in your place, from his circumcision to his perfect atonement for the sins of the world.  


Baptism is also referred to as a Christening. At a Christening a child is named. That is why your first and middle name can be called your baptized name. Yet, the name you receive in Baptism which really matters is not what your parents decided to call you, but what God decides to call you in your Baptism. When you are baptized, God calls you a Christian. You have put on Christ Jesus. Christians have always understood this. In the early church, when Christians would be interrogated for illegally worshiping Christ, they would be asked their name. And Christians, whatever their given names were, would frequently answer, “I am Christian” or “I am Christiana.” They identified themselves as Christians, because that is how God identifies them. When God looks at one of his baptized children, he sees the perfect obedience of his Son Christ Jesus. This is the irrefutable message about Baptism in holy Scripture. That is why we Lutherans will never forsake baptizing our children or cease to identify ourselves as Baptized. To be baptized means to be forgiven, clothed in Christ, joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection, clothed in Jesus’ obedience. To be baptized means to have received the spiritual circumcision, which removes the entire sinful body of flesh from you.  


The circumcision and naming of Jesus is always celebrated on New Year’s Day, because Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day. New Year’s Day is the eighth day of Christmas. This is a day for reflecting on the old year and making resolutions to improve in the new year. Christians are always seeking to improve. When you look back on the old year, you see many regrets of thought, deed, and word. Anyone who denies that he has regrets from the old year calls God a liar and the truth is not in him. Christians desire to sin less, and do better in the new year. Despite what some may believe, Christians do not assume that since Christ has fulfilled the Law for us, we are free to break God’s Law. Having received the spiritual circumcision of Christ in Baptism, we desire what he desires. Christ has removed the threat of the Law from us, even the threat of the moral law. The civil law of Israel does not apply to us. The ceremonial law, including circumcision and the distinction of meats has been abolished and fulfilled in Christ and by no means binds us. Yet, the moral law remains God’s immutable will. The moral law remains righteous and good. And so, we who are clothed in Christ’s righteousness through Baptism and faith desire to do what is right.  


Yet, we do not always do what is right. We still have sinful desires we wish to bury in Jesus’ tomb once and for all. And so, we find a daily use for our Baptism. A Christian need only be baptized once, but a Christian dies and rises again every day. You can return to your Baptism by repenting of your sins and trusting the promise Christ gave you in your Baptism of forgiveness and redemption. This is how you are able to leave behind your regrets from 2021 and with boldness sojourn through 2022. Christ is with you all the way. Your Baptism is with you all the way. God has given you the means to cast off the old body of sin and put on Christ and his righteousness, so that you stand before God as his own child. In Jesus’ name. Amen.  
 
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New Years Eve Service: What can be sweeter than the Name of Jesus!

1/2/2017

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Picture
"And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb." Luke 2:21 
 
"How sweet and delightful is the name of Jesus!," writes the great seventeenth century Lutheran theologian John Gerhard in his Sacred Meditations. Indeed the name of Jesus is the sweetest thing that can reach our ears. It was the name given by the angel before he was conceived in Mary's womb. Sure many people throughout history have been named Jesus, but God chose this name for our Lord for an explicit purpose. The angel told Joseph, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) He will be called Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. The name Jesus means The Lord Saves. This is why Gerhard writes, "How sweet and delightful is the name of Jesus! For what is Jesus but Savior?"  
Yes, Jesus was born to save. That is why his name quite literally means Savior. St. Paul writes, "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (1 Timothy 1:15) So the name Jesus is very fitting. Yet it's not simply a fitting name. It is a powerful name. The name of Jesus actually saves us. St Peter preached, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) In Luke 10 Christ's disciples marveled as they returned from their first missionary journey exclaiming to Jesus, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" (Luke 10:17) In the Book of Acts St. Peter says to a lame man, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" (Acts 3:6) And immediately the man got up and walked, leaping and praising God! And St. Peter also preached, "To [Jesus] all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." (Acts 10:43) So we see that Jesus' name is not like any ordinary name, but it has God's power to save.  
Jesus' name has power, because he is God himself. God's name is powerful. The Psalmist writes, "As your name, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth." (Psalm 29:2) Where God's name is, there is God with his power, judgment, and blessing. This is why the Aaronic benediction, which we heard in our Old Testament lesson is so wonderful. "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26) This is how God puts his name upon his people and blesses them.  
So, since Jesus is God and with his name he saves, the Second Commandment also applies to Jesus' name. "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain." (Exodus 20:7) So it is blasphemous to use Jesus' name as an expletive or a common filler. Not only does this show a lack of vocabulary, but a lack of respect for Christ Jesus and his Gospel.  
But you don't avoid misusing Jesus' name simply by not speaking it. God wants us to use Jesus' name, to cherish it, and trust in it.  This means we should pray in Jesus' name. We should worship in Jesus' name. And we should rejoice in Jesus' name. But what does it mean to do all this in Jesus' name? To do anything in Jesus' name means to do it in faith, trusting in Christ Jesus. You pray in Jesus' name by praying according to the promises revealed to you in his Word and trusting that God will do it. When Jesus says, "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it" he doesn't mean that he will give you a million dollars if you say, "In Jesus' name" at the end of your prayer. He is teaching his disciples to pray for what he has promised to give; daily bread, defense from the devil, forgiveness of sins and to believe that he will indeed do it!  
You worship in Jesus' name not by singing Jesus' name over and over again. Rather, to worship in Jesus' name is to listen to his Word and believe it. Worship doesn't always consist of our doing anyway. In fact, most of Christian worship is receiving from God. You worshipped in Jesus' name when you were baptized. You worship in Jesus' name when you hear and believe the forgiveness of sins spoken by the pastor. Jesus has attached his name to his Word and Promises. This centers first and foremost on what Jesus' name means, "the Lord saves." The message of Christ's incarnation, obedience in life and on the cross is the blessing of Jesus' name.  
Our Savior was named Jesus when he was circumcised. God first commanded circumcision of all boys in Abraham's household beginning at eight days old to mark a covenant between God and Abraham and all his descendants. When a boy was circumcised he was cut and scarred for life. This removal of flesh was a sign. It demonstrated that God would send a redeemer through Abraham's line. It was the law that boys had to be circumcised, but the mark of circumcision pointed to the faith of the circumcised and the faithfulness of God to his promise.  
Jesus did not get circumcised for himself. He was circumcised for you, for all those Jewish boys who were circumcised before him, indeed for the whole world. In Jesus' circumcision he placed himself at eight days old under the Law. In fact, Jesus fulfilled circumcision. There is no theological reason for circumcision to continue. Circumcision points to Jesus. Jesus has come.  
Circumcision had the opposite effect on Jesus as it had for those millions of boys before him. For them it marked God's favor toward them. It marked them as God's own special people. But for Jesus, it cut him off from God. Christ, who was begotten above the Law by the Father before there ever was a Law now places himself under it, not for himself, but for sinners. In his circumcision Jesus joins himself to sinners, as Isaiah prophesied, "and [he] was numbered with the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:12) 
This marks the first act of obedience by our Savior and gives us an opportunity to learn how in fact this Jesus saves. He saves by taking our place. Jesus is your substitute, not only on the cross where he suffered for your sins. Jesus is your substitute in every station of your life under the Law. He does what the Law commands of you and he gives you the credit, while he himself takes your blame, as Isaiah again predicted, "and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) Everything Christ did in his earthly life he did for you and for your salvation. 
His circumcision marks the first time Christ shed his blood for you. While the shedding of blood in circumcision pointed to the passion of the future Christ, Jesus' circumcision points to his own passion, his shedding of blood for your salvation. Indeed, what Christ did in his circumcision fits his name quite well, because he was circumcised to save you.  
Circumcision is no longer required by God, at least not that of the flesh. Christ fulfilled the promise of circumcision. And yet God does require, or rather promises a circumcision of the heart, one done without hands. St. Paul calls this circumcision without hands Baptism, by which Christ makes us alive in him through faith in the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 2:11-14) 
Baptism replaces circumcision. It is greater than circumcision, not only because it includes women as well as men, but because this circumcision is spiritual. It forgives sins by placing them on Jesus. Most importantly, Baptism places Jesus' name on you. Each of you is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is a baptism in Jesus' name, because Jesus himself commands us to Baptize in the name of the Holy Trinity and he promises salvation by it. Like circumcision, Baptism marks us. Perhaps we can't see it, but God does. And we do experience it. We experience our Baptism when we live life in Jesus' name.  
Baptism places Jesus' name on you. It marks you as one saved by the Lord. Your baptism is also a confession that Jesus does in fact save. Yes, he saved you by his circumcision, his obedience to father and mother, his baptism, every act of obedience done by him throughout his life, his suffering and death on the cross and his glorious resurrection. And Jesus saves you today, through Absolution, the proclamation of the Gospel, and the Lord's Supper. The name Jesus is a sentence, "The Lord saves." So every proclamation of the Gospel is to hear the sweet name of Jesus.  
And not only in church during worship do you hear this blessed name. You take it home with you. Every prayer you do in faith is to confess Jesus' name to your Father in heaven. There is nothing better you can speak of to your children, your husband or wife, your friends and strangers than the name of Jesus. You should wake up to the name of Jesus, think and pray it, speak it. The name of Jesus should urge you to go to church and hear this glorious name more, let it cover you. Because when Jesus' name is yours, so is salvation.  
"
What if the propagation of original sin in me condemns me, yet Thou art my Jesus. What if my conception in sin condemns me, still Thou art my Jesus. What if my creation in sin and under the curse condemns me, nevertheless Thou art my Savior. What if my corrupted birth condemns me, yet art Thou my Salvation. What if the sins of my youth condemn me, still art Thou my Jesus. What if the course of my whole life, defiled with most grievous sin, condemns me, yet Thou remainest still my Jesus! What if the penalty of death to be inflicted upon me for my sins and various transgressions condemns me, yet art Thou still my Savior! What if the awful sentence of the last judgment rise up against me, yet will I trust Thee, and fly to Thee as my Jesus, my Savior!" Amen.  ​
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    Rev. James Preus

    Rev. Preus is the pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA. These are audio and text of the sermons he preaches at Trinity according to the Historical Lectionary. 

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