My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior.
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
The Holy Feast of the CIRCUMCISION of our Lord, God and Savior
JESUS CHRIST on the 1st of January.
"And when EIGHT DAYS were competed 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).
Because our Lord Jesus Christ FULFILLS THE LAW, JESUS
receives CIRCUMCISION according to the precepts of the
MOSAIC LAW-which He follows during His life and Ministry.
After the Resurrection BAPTISM REPLACED CIRCUMCISION
as the Universal Mysterion (Sacrament) OF SALVATION and
INITIATION INTO THE CHURCH. In the Holy Orthodox Church
it is an ancient tradition to NAME a child on the 8th day.
Nevertheless His CIRCUMCISION must be interpreted within the theology of the human race. As the Holy Fathers of the Church decided to celebrate the Nativity (Birth) of Christ on the 25th of December, it is natural that the CIRCUMCISION, which was performed after eight days, is celebrated on the 1st of January, just eight days after His Birth. Therefore, on that day the troparia (hymns) bring out the theological importance of CIRCUMCISION. This troparion (hymn) is well known: "The Savior CONDESCENDING to the race of men, in swaddling clothes accepted circumcision, He did not abhor the cutting of His flesh…" Just as, out of agape (love) and charity, (eleos), He accepted to be wrapped in swaddling clothes, Christ also accepted the circumcision of His flesh. This EXTREME CONDESCENSION and KENOSIS [Gk. κένωσις] meaning the "self-emptying" OF CHRIST is regarded by the Church as a Great Feast of the Lord. Kenosis or "self-emptying" of Christ refers TO THE INCARNATION,W WHERE THE ETERNAL AND ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD EMPTIED HIMSELF OF THE EXPRESSION OR EXERCISE OF DIVINE GLORY AND PRIVILEGES, NOT HIS Divine Nature, to become FULLY HUMAN, taking on human limitations, yet REMAINING TRULY GOD.
This CIRCUMCISION is the cutting off "from around the end part of the male organ." This is done to every male child because it is provided by God’s command which was given at the beginning to Abraham. This relative passage from the Old Testament is the following: "Every male child among you SHALL BE CIRCUMCISED, and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be A SIGN OF THE COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND YOU. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised" (Genesis 17:10-12). The same Commandment is given to Moses: "And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised" (Leviticus 12:3).
CIRCUMCISION was linked with GODLINESS, PIETY, AND ABIDING BY THE LAW, and it indicated the pure Israelite, while the unclean, impious man was indicated by the word for uncircumcised. So CIRCUMCISION and UNCIRCUMCISION are opposite concepts and practices, which point to the Jew and the Gentile, the pagan.
The word of God to Abraham by which circumcision was established also shows the most basic reasons, God said: "and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you" (Genesis 17:11). In other words, it is AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN GOD and His own people, it is A TESTAMENT. Today, we refer to it as A CONTRACT between God and man. Such an agreement must be confirmed with blood. We see this also in the New Testament or Covenant, for God’s New Agreement with men IS CONFIRMED BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.
CIRCUMCISION WAS A MARK OF RECOGNITION THAT ONE BELONGED TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD. "So as to be a sign that this people is dedicated by it." According to the interrupters, CIRCUMCISION IN ITSELF WAS NOT A TESTAMENT, BUT A SIGN OF THE TESTAMENT AND AGREEMENT.
This practice also served as a reminder that the Iseraelites MUST PERSEVERE IN THE PIETY OF THEIR ANCESTORS and not to come into amorous contact with pagans and other peoples. In this way they AVOIDED INTERMARRIAGES and, of course, their consequences, which were ALIENATION FROM THE REVEALED FAITH. Saint Epiphanios tells us that circumcision functioned AS A SEAL ON THEIR BODIES, for a reminder and control to remain :in their father’s piety." So the Israelites, after receiving circumcision, had to remain in their Nation and in the faith in the True God.
Furthemore, circumcision WAS ALSO A FORESHADOWING OF BAPTISM which would be given at the appropriate time, through THE INCARNATION OF THE Son and Logos/Word of God, because in reality BAPTISM IS CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART.
What Saint Theophylaktos says is characteristic, that this part which was cut back by Christ’s circumcision, Christ Himself kept unharmed and assumed anew with His Resurrection. Furthermore, what happened with Christ also shows the way in which it will happen in our own bodies. It is a teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Church THAT THE MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN BODY WHICH HAVE BEEN HARMED IN VARIOUS WAYS WILL BE RECONNECTED TO THE BODY OR RESHAPED BY GOD, SO THAT THE WHOLE MAN, MADE UP OF SOUL AND BODY, WILL ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD. To be sure, in this case THE BODY WILL BE SPIRITUAL AND CARNAL AS IT IS TODAY.
The ceremony of circumcision, which took place on the 8th day and is also connected with the giving of the name, in the Christian period was joined with the ceremony of "SEALING THE CHILD, TAKING A NAME ON THE EIGHTH DAY AFTER BIRTH." The center of the ceremony is a wonderful prayer or blessing which the priest reads to the infant in front of the gates of the Church. The infant or baby is brought by the midwife or by some relative, but not by its own mother, who will come to the Church on the 40th day.
At any rate, it is a fact that when Christ became man, he experienced great pain also at the rite of circumcision. This shows God’ EXTREME CONSIDERATION FOR THE HUMAN RACE. [Resources: The Feasts of the Lord. An Introduction to the Twelve Feasts and Orthodox Christology]
(To be continued)
________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 