The Naming Of Jesus And His Circumcision

"That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth" (Philippians 2:10)

Jesus shows He is the sin-bearer; He is taking our place under the Law shedding His blood [for the first time] on our behalf. This is a once and for all event in a sense; no one will become a Jew through circumcision, that is, enter into God's family through circumcision with the coming of Jesus. It's now going to be by baptism, as Paul does in his letters; he parallels circumcision and baptism.

The eighth day is a sign of the resurrection because Jesus rose on the eighth day; if you count six days, God created the world and rested on the seventh day of the week. The first day of the week being the day of resurrection, the day that follows the Sabbath, a beginning of a new week in which all other days are counted. Early Christians believed when the resurrection came, they had entered eternity. Now, time was no longer valid. We have entered the eighth day in the flesh of Jesus, the resurrected flesh of Jesus.

It is the eighth day, and that is not insignificant. The number eight is the number of eternity. In some ways, this day is the first day of the new week of God's creation, and Jesus begins His mission on this day. It's the first shedding of His blood. It is a foretaste of His resurrection because when He rises from the dead, it's the eighth day.

This number eight is a recognition that once Christ comes, we have entered into eternity; we are now living in the end times. We only await His coming again in glory; for our own entrance into His rest when we die. The number eight clearly was recognized from the beginning; there were eight souls in all on Noah's Ark. It's in our baptismal liturgies, a citation from 1 Peter 3. It's a beginning of a new humanity.

When Jesus died on Good Friday and was raised on the first day of the week, which is the first day of the second creation, the eighth day, there is now, in a sense, no more death because all of death has been conquered with His death. Yes, we will die, but it's an entrance into His life now that never ends. This is the beginning of a new week in which no other day is counted; we live in Christ, who is the Eternal One; even though we do count our days, time to a certain extent, is irrelevant for us.

 This is why our baptismal fonts are eight-sided; that is where we enter into this eternal life. That's why we worship on Sunday, the eighth day, and every Sunday is a recognition that already now, by His bodily presents among us in His word and sacrament, we are in eternity, and heaven comes to earth. We live in this liminal period between heaven and earth where Christ is present, and His name, who will save us from our sins, reminds us we are saved by Him and by His name."

-Dr. Arthur Just