The Circumcision of the Lord: Homily 1: On the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ (Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko)

1. The Feasts of the Lord

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko 

II. The Circumcision of the Lord:

Homily No. 1: On the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ

I. The Feast of the Nativity of Christ ends, and with it a new feast begins — the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ. Feast follows feast.

Recall, brethren, from sacred history that when God entered into a covenant with Abraham and promised him a descendant as numerous as the sand of the sea, as numerous as the stars in the sky, He established the rite of circumcision as the seal, or visible sign, of this covenant. Abraham was also given this new name, replacing his former name, Abram. Then, when the Lord gave the law to the Jewish people through Moses, He also commanded (Lev. 12:3) that every Jewish male child be circumcised, otherwise he could not belong to the Jewish people chosen by God and could not be a participant in those great promises of God given to Abraham and all his descendants.

January: Day 1: Teaching 2: Circumcision of the Lord

January: Day 1: Teaching 2:
Circumcision of the Lord
 
(On the Reasons Why the Lord Underwent Circumcision)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the eighth day after His birth, deigned to undergo circumcision, and He was given the name Jesus, which had previously been foretold by the Archangel Gabriel to the Holy Virgin Mary.

II. a) Jesus Christ accepted circumcision, firstly, in order to fulfill the law, which required that every Jew be circumcised on the eighth day, a precursor to Holy Baptism in Christianity. "I came not," He said, "to destroy the law, but to fulfill it" (Matt. 5:17). He obeyed the law in order to make us, who were guilty and subject to the law, free. Concerning this, the Holy Apostle Paul says: "God sent His Son, who was under the law, that He might redeem them that were under the law" (Gal. 4:4.5).

January: Day 1: Teaching 1: Circumcision of the Lord

January: Day 1: Teaching 1:
Circumcision of the Lord
 
(Edifying Lessons From the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord:
a. The Meaning of the Name Jesus;
b. We Must Perform Spiritual Circumcision on Ourselves)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Circumcision, this sacred rite of the Old Testament Church, which was a prototype of the Christian Mystery of Holy Baptism (Col. 2:11-12), was performed among the Jews on eight-day-old male infants and served as a sign of entering into the Old Covenant with God from the time of Abraham, the father of the faithful, whom the Lord with all his numerous descendants chose to preserve and spread the Old Covenant (Gen. 17:14; Lev. 12:2-3). The seal of this sign was the name given to the infant at circumcision. Jesus Christ, who came from the tribe of Abraham in the flesh, was also circumcised on this day, the eighth after His birth, and was named Jesus - the name that was foretold to the Most Holy Virgin Mary by the Archangel Gabriel, when he announced to Her the mystery of the incarnation and birth from Her of the Son of God (Luke 1:31; 2:21).

December: Day 31: Teaching 4: On the Eve of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord

 

December: Day 31: Teaching 4:
On the Eve of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord
 
(The Old Testament Circumcision Was Replaced in the New Testament by the Mystery of Baptism)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Circumcision was the most important mystery of the Old Testament Church. It was established from above, before all the mysteries. The circumcised entered into a covenant with God, became members of the Church and had the right to receive earthly and heavenly blessings. On the contrary, the uncircumcised were threatened with disaster and destruction. "The soul of the uncircumcised," said God, "shall be cut off from his people, for he has broken My covenant" (Gen. 17:14).

In establishing this great mystery, God confirmed that Abraham's children should be circumcised forever, as long as it pleased God. "And my covenant," said God, "shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant" (Gen. 7:13).

Circumcision and Baptism in the Church Fathers

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The Holy Fathers of the Church, interpreting the passages of Holy Scripture about the real and spiritual circumcision, which is Christian Baptism, present wonderful theological truths.

Saint Epiphanios teaches that the circumcision of the flesh prepared and served man until Baptism, which is the great circumcision, since by it we are freed from sins and sealed with the name of God. The sealing with the name of God is recognition that we belong to Christ.

Sacred Chrysostom says that, if circumcision of the flesh separated the Israelites from the Gentiles, much more this is done with Holy Baptism, since by it the believers are distinguished from the non-believers. We see here that those are called believers who were baptized and who rekindle the Grace of Baptism.

Homily on the Circumcision of Christ and on Basil the Great (St. Andrew of Crete)

Homily on the Circumcision of Christ and on Basil the Great

By St. Andrew of Crete

It is pleasant and good to glorify everything that our Savior Christ, as the God-man, accomplished for us, since all this is filled with wonder and amazement. And how could it be otherwise? God appears among people and is known by them, submits to everything like a man, fulfills the commandments of the law and proclaims this fulfillment, in order to give in return His own law, full of grace and truth. What is also worthy of wonder is what the present discourse speaks of, that is, the circumcision of Christ according to the flesh, eight days after His seedless birth. This event is also full of wonder and should be glorified. For how is it possible not to consider it the greatest and most important miracle, that Christ fulfilled the law and, moreover, did it for our salvation? God takes a name. Unknown, similar to man in everything, He is clearly known through the name. By the name given to Him, He is not only called Son, just as the Father is called Father due to the fact that He begot the Son, and the Spirit is called Spirit due to His proceeding from the Father (since these Three are one God and in them one Divinity), but at the same time it is not false to call Him the Son of the Virgin, for He truly is; in this regard, He can be comprehensible to us and appears meek before us. And I, like a fugitive, having found the door of salvation open, boldly approach the Master and Creator.

Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ: Epistle and Gospel Reading

Circumcision of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ

January 1

Matins Gospel Reading

Gospel According to John 10:1-9

English

The Lord said to the Jews who had come to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."