“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,” Luke 2:21.
On our civic calendar, January 1 is observed as the beginning of a new calendar year and people are wishing one another a Happy New Year. Many hope that in the New Year things will be better than in the year just gone by. They hope for better health, better economic conditions, and fewer difficult days. Their hopes may or may not be realized. As Christians, we must say with the psalmist, “As for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ’You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand,” Psalm 31:14-15. The future belongs to God! Remember what the Lord Jesus told His disciples when they were worrying and asking questions about the future. He politely told them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority,” Acts 1:7. Then He told them what they should be doing: “You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth,” Acts 1:8. That is what we also should be doing in the New Year.
Now, on the church calendar January 1 has a different significance. January 1 is the eighth day after the birth of Jesus. According to the command of God every male child in Israel was to be circumcised on the eighth day after he was born. Moses wrote, “On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised,” Leviticus 12:3. By birth Jesus was a Jew and a member of the Jewish church. On the eighth day, Mary and Joseph observed the ceremony according to the Jewish law and He was declared to be a member of the Jewish Church. According to the Jewish custom He was given His name at the time of His circumcision.
His name had been announced by the angel to both Mary and Joseph. The angel told Mary, “Behold, you will conceive in our womb and bring forth a son, and shall call His name Jesus . . . The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God,” Luke 1:31, 35. When the angel appeared to Joseph, he said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins,” Matthew 1:20-21.
The name Jesus means Savior. The same message that was announced to Mary and Joseph was announced by the angel to the shepherds on Bethlehem’s field. “The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord,’” Luke 2:10-11.
In order to save us Jesus had to suffer and die and shed His holy precious blood to wash away our sins. Jesus began His suffering and the shedding of His blood when He was circumcised according to God’s law. The full payment for our redemption was made on Calvary’s cross, when Jesus said, “It is finished!” John 19:30. By His life, death, and resurrection Jesus completed everything necessary for our salvation. He delivered us from sin, death, and the devil. Believe and trust in Him as God’s Son and your Savior and you have His promise, “You will be saved eternally!” May the Holy Spirit keep you in the faith.
By grace I’m saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe, and doubt it not.
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Hath Scripture ever falsehood taught?
Nay; then this word must true remain,
By grace thou, too, shalt heav’n obtain. Amen.