“THE BLOODY NAME OF JESUS”
Saint Luke 2. 21
The Circumcision and the Name of Jesus:1 January Anno Domini 2006
Fr Watson
He is alpha and omega. His name from before all eternity is the un-utterable and Holy Tetragrammaton [YHWH.] His Name, this Adonai, simply is. "I AM, THAT I AM."
This is perfect good, total reality, metaphysical being. The will and delight of the complete Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, was to create man in His own Image. The creature from mud was made a bearer of the image of Light and Life, and was named A-dam, Man. The Father bestows the family Name. The Son, destined before all eternity to become the Perfect Man, the Second Adam enlivens the name with Imputed Righteousness. The Spirit enlightens and sanctifies.
Like you do everyday in desires, comments, and physical activities, Adam and his "Help-mate" cursed the family name; spit on their identity, walked away from who they were, who they had been made to be in time and hereafter in eternity.
There are only two ways for the creature, that's all of you, to speak, so says the Rev'd Professor Kenneth Korby. You either praise God and His Name, or you curse God and His Name. All the Law that is laid upon you and your sinful old natures flows from the very First Commandment: "Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me." Only the Lord truly "IS," all else is fabrication, illusion, deception, decay and mirage. Only the Lord has a Name, an "IS," and, those creations which He bestows His Name upon. Holy Is His Name. Holy is His Scriptures. Holy is His Baptism, Supper, Absolution, Church, and yes, His people. Why? Because His Name is now, even more than "I AM." His name is now Emmanuel; not just God, but "God with us." His name, that which you are graced to call Him, is Jesus: the Name above all names.
While the Holy Church's "New Year" may have started last November 27th with the First Sunday of Advent, the 1st Day of January stands bold and stark; somber and weighty in the mind of any orthodox, confessional, Christian. Today is the Eighth Day of Christmas, the Eighth Day from The Feast of The Incarnation of Our Lord. Today is the day we remember Who He "IS," what His Name "IS" and what it truly means. Today we begin to understand what the Incarnation was for; what His innocent and pure flesh was for.
The Son of God came to be your Savior. This means that you need to be saved. The Second Person of The Trinity came to be your Light and Life. This means that you were dead and in darkness. He Who Is, came as He Who is also LOVE; sacrificial, self-giving, LOVE; Love as intent, action, and doing.
When one is made part of an earthly, human family, one is given a family name by virtue of being a part of that family; of being born into its flesh and blood. One is also given an individual name by one's parents.
Your Second Adam, not the First Man, but the Ever God-Man has come not only in your likeness, but has actually assumed into His Divine Nature, your human nature; this Jesus really has real Flesh and Blood, just like you do. And He has this flesh and blood even now, even now post-Ascension.
In this Flesh, with His hands, feet, mouth, back, brain, conscience, etc. He kept all the Commandments of God perfectly so that you would not be punished for having broken them all, all the time. In this Flesh, this Flesh of the God-Man from Nazareth, He paid the ultimate penalty; the blood sacrifice, the Capital Murder penalty for you...so that you would be spared suffering, torture, separation, hell and death.
He came not to abolish the Law with a cavalier, indulgent, grandfatherly chuckle...NO; He loves you too much. There must be both Justice and Righteousness. He did both. The requirements of Justice and Righteousness combined on the cross pieces of holy wood on the holy hill of Calvary.
He kept the Law perfectly even from the very beginning of His Fleshly Incarnation. Like all Hebrew boys, He was circumcised on the Eighth Day. He was cut, and bloodied, and He suffered even then in the Flesh for you; a harbinger of what would await Him in a short 33 years, where He would have His life cut off from Him, even as He was cutting off the parasite of sin from your souls. There is no life without the shedding of blood. There is no forgiveness and restoration without the perfect compliance of the Law and the full payment of the penalty for Law breaking. There is No Saving without Shedding. There is no "Naming" of God the Son as your Jesus, your Savior, without the Blood.
"Cut" in Bethlehem (city of Bread) on the Eighth Day for you; Named Jesus. "Cut" in Jerusalem (city of Peace) on the Great Day of the Lord; doing what His Name says, what It "IS." He finished it all for you. He gave it all to you when you were "named" in His Name at the font. He gives it all to you today at this city of peace, this city of bread. Come and eat and drink the Bread of God; the Body of Christ; receive the Peace of the Lord: Jesus--Savior; Saved.
In the Name of + Jesus