Gospel: Luke 2:21 (Circumcision of Our Lord : Series A)
He is given His name so you could call on it. He is called Jesus, so you can call on Jesus and be saved.
Some people choose to find out the sex of their baby before he or she is born, others choose not to. It was a no-brainer for us. We knew we would struggle to pick a name and we would need all the time we could get. If we could eliminate half the names up front by eliminating one of the sexes, then we would gladly take the help, but it still was not enough. We had it narrowed down to a few options but wanted to meet her before we named her. I am not sure what we were expecting to be the deciding factor. Most babies look like babies. Sure, they are precious, cute, and unique, but they are also wrinkly, loud, and messy. After she was delivered, the whiteboard in our hospital room listed “Baby Girl” next to “Name: ________” for the first day or so. We benefited from the nurse’s gracious warning, “You cannot take her home without a name.” Some of us need firm deadlines to help push us towards a decision.
Others have vastly different experiences naming their child. For some, there is a family name which is expected to be passed on. Others choose a name before the birth but opt not to share with others, in part because people tend to be a bit more forthcoming with their feedback about the choice before a baby is born, compared to after. Still others freely share the name and refer to their child by name long before the baby is born; this can be a great celebration of the child’s pre-born life and personhood.
Jesus is given His name even before He was conceived. Reminiscent of Jeremiah 1:5, He was known to God even before He was formed in His mother’s womb. He was set apart and appointed for this birth from before the foundations of the world, and this promised child has many names. Coming out of Advent and Christmas, your congregation might have the words of Isaiah 9 fresh in their minds: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Saint Matthew helps us remember the name given in Isaiah 7, as Jesus is the baby born to the virgin who is Immanuel, God with us. It is also Matthew who tells us what the name “Jesus” means: “He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Saint Luke tells us about Gabriel gifting Mary with the name for the child, even before the conception, in Luke 1:31. But Luke gives us more. This Jesus will also “be called the Son of the Most High” (1:32). Jesus will also “be called holy—the Son of God” (1:35). The angel tells the shepherds in the field that the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths is “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (2:11). And throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus, Luke repeatedly calls Jesus “the Lord” more than any other Evangelists. Each name is fitting and tells us something of His person and work.
Each name is fitting and tells us something of His person and work.
Our assigned text today is direct and to the point. It is the shortest pericope in the entire lectionary (the Old Testament reading for The Festival of Saint Matthias, February 24, comes in second place with two whole verses). “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.” It is direct and to the point, and it is full of good news. He is given His name so you could call on it. He is called Jesus, so you can call on Jesus and be saved. You can call on Him to be who He is and to do what He does. His name is Jesus because He saves His people from their sins.
His name and identity were given to Jesus even before His conception, just as God graciously chose you before the foundation of the world. His promises were manifested at just the right time, even as His promises are manifest and given to us today. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day Jesus saves. Well before His active obedience fulfilled God’s righteous Law in our place, He begins with His passive obedience in His circumcision. He is the covenant people of God reduced to one. In Him, and in Him alone, the righteous life is lived. And through Him, and through Him alone, the righteous life is given and credited to us.
As Paul will connect the dots for us in Colossians 2:9-15, the covenant of circumcision is connected to the Sacrament of Baptism. In Christ’s circumcision, He began to fulfill the Law in our place. In our Baptism, we receive the fullness of Christ’s righteousness. We are baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38) because that is who Jesus is and what Jesus does, by the power of the same Spirit who brought about His conception. The same Spirit also brings about our new birth, our conversion.
The name of Jesus, the one name given under Heaven by which we must be saved, the name that is above every name, at which every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, this holy, life-giving, and saving name, this name was placed upon you in Baptism. As Jesus was marked in His flesh as the One who would fulfill all righteousness, so you were marked with the sign of God’s instrument to accomplish that work: The cross. Above the actual cross on which our Savior hung, the sign proclaimed His name and one of His many titles. Posted perhaps as an insult or perhaps as warning, the sign proclaims the fulfillment of all God’s promises by pointing us to the name: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
At the next Baptism you participate in, the question may be asked, “How is this child to be named?” However the parents respond, God responds from Heaven, “In My name.” As Jesus Himself received the name from above as God’s only begotten child, so all of God’s adopted children receive the same saving name as a gracious gift from God.
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Additional Resources:
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Luke 2:15-21.
Text Week-A treasury of resources from various traditions to help you preach Luke 2:15-21.
