According to the Law of Moses, every boy had to be circumcised eight days after his birth; that is why we celebrate the Circumcision of the Lord Jesus eight days after Christmas.
The divine Child was given the name “Jesus” when he was circumcised in the flesh, following the Jewish custom of naming a newborn boy on the eighth day, at his circumcision, as Luke’s Gospel tells us:
“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).
“This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised; every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house, or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring” (Genesis 17:10-12).
The same commandment was repeated to Moses: “And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (Leviticus 12:3).
Circumcision confirms that Jesus took on a true human nature and was subject to the Law. In the Church of the early centuries the heresy of the Docetists appeared, which held that Christ did not take on a true human nature or a real human body, but that his body was only an appearance, an illusion. This led to the conclusion that Christ was not crucified on the cross, since he had no real body. But this view not only fails to save mankind, it contradicts the very essence of the economy of salvation. How could man be saved if the Lord had not taken on human nature? In Christ the uncreated was united with the created.
This feast reveals to us Christ’s true identity. Its deep meaning is that the grace of the Incarnation leads us to the grace of the economy of salvation, and unites us in the knowledge of the Saviour, of his person and his glory. The feast of the Circumcision invites us to know Jesus through the name he took for our sake: it is Jesus who made God known to us so as to reconcile us with him, that we might receive him; and so he gives us eternal salvation.
Hymn of the feast (troparion):
“O Lord most compassionate, while being God by essence, you took on human form without change; and fulfilling the Law, you willingly accepted circumcision in the flesh, so as to abolish the shadows and figures…”
