^{The Circumcision by Luca Signorelli (16th century)}

Prayer for Today: Almighty God,
whose blessed Son was circumcised
in obedience to the law for our sake
and given the Name that is above every name:
give us grace faithfully to bear his Name,
to worship him in the freedom of the Spirit,
and to proclaim him as the Saviour of the world;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, now and for ever.

The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ is the  Christian celebration of the circumcision of Yeshua in accordance with Jewish tradition, eight days after his birth, the occasion on which a Jewish boy is given his name.

And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the child, his name was called Jesus, the name called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21)

²¹ Καὶ ὅτε ἐπλήσθησαν ἡμέραι ὀκτὼ τοῦ περιτεμεῖν αὐτόν, καὶ ἐκλήθη τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦς, τὸ κληθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγγέλου πρὸ τοῦ συλλημφθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ.  ^[1]

²¹ כְּשֶׁמָּלְאוּ שְׁמוֹנָה יָמִים וְהִגִּיעַ הַזְּמַן לָמוּל אוֹתוֹ קָרְאוּ אֶת שְׁמוֹ יֵשׁוּעַ, (ויקרא יב׳ ג׳//בראשית יז׳ יב׳) כַּשֵּׁם שֶׁקָּרָא לוֹ הַמַּלְאָךְ לִפְנֵי שֶׁהוֹרָה בַּבֶּטֶן.^[2]

^{Circumcision of Christ, Menologion of Basil II, 979–984.}

The circumcision of Jesus has traditionally been seen, as in the popular 14th-century work the Golden Legend, as the first time the blood of Messiah was shed, and thus the beginning of the process of the redemption of humanity, and a demonstration that Messiah is fully human, and of his (and his parents’) obedience to Torah.

The feast day appears on 1 January in the liturgical calendar of Eastern Orthodox churches, all Lutheran churches, and some churches of the Anglican Communion (while the Divine Maternity of Mary is observed on 26 December in the Byzantine rite, both in Greek Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches. In the General Roman Calendar, the 1 January feast, which from 1568 to 1960 was called “The Circumcision of the Lord and the Octave of the Nativity”, is now the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord. In Western Christianity, the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus Christ marks the eighth day (octave day) of Christmastide.

Circumcision and Jewish Identity

The Divine Covenant and Circumcision: Circumcision is the sign of covenant established between God and Abraham. Along with the Sabbath and kashrut (dietary laws), it emerges as the distinctive marker of Jewish identity (Genesis 17:9-27). The prophets further emphasized the spiritual essence of circumcision, urging the people to circumcise their hearts as a metaphor for repentance (Jeremiah 4:4; Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6).

Circumcision as a Boundary Marker: Circumcision gained prominence during the Maccabean times as a political statement against assimilation, in addition to its covenantal importance. The practice set Jews/ioudaioi apart, evoking reactions ranging from neutrality to outright repugnance among their Greek and Roman neighbours.

For Jewish males, circumcision became the primary external sign of the covenant with God, serving as a permanent reminder of their descent and religious commitment. Yet, to the Greeks and Romans, who valued a sound mind in a sound body, circumcision seemed a barbaric mutilation, a crude deviation from the perceived beauty of the human form.

Conversion to Judaism and the Role of Circumcision: During the Hasmonean period, conversion to Judaism meant embracing Jewish laws, particularly circumcision, and integrating into the Jewish community. While Jewishness was previously linked to birth and geography, it evolved into a function of non-national  identity. Circumcision emerged as the verifiable ritual of conversion, distinctly identifying Gentile converts.

Apart from circumcision, the boundary between Jew and Gentile remained fluid. Gentiles who believed in or honoured the Jewish God or followed Jewish laws were sometimes considered as Israel, without being “Judaean” (ιουδαιοι). This fluidity in identity raises profound questions about the essence of Jewishness and the role of circumcision in delineating it.

Early Christianity and the Circumcision Debate: Transitioning to the early Christian community, we find that the observance of circumcision among Gentile believers became a focal point of tension. Initially, the earliest followers of Jesus, predominantly Jewish, seamlessly blended their faith in Messiah with adherence to Jewish customs and laws. They saw no conflict between their identity “in Messiah” and their Jewish heritage, existing within the framework of the Mosaic covenant.

However, the dynamics shifted following the first Jewish revolt and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. With the decline of other Jewish sects, the Pharisees competed with Christians for the heritage of pre-70 Judaisms. As the number of Gentile believers grew, questions about their core identity surfaced, leading to the recognition of a distinct Christian identity.

Paul’s Vision and the Jerusalem Conference: The Apostle Paul played a pivotal role in shaping the evolving Messianic identity. His encounter with Yeshua on the Damascus road opened the way for his call to preach the Messiah to the nations. Paul envisioned a new community where the differences between Israel and the nations would be reconciled in the united Body of Messiah – without doing away with Sabbath, circumcision and kashrut for the eccllesia ex circumcisione (Church of St James), but not requiring it for the ecclesia e gentibus (Church of St Peter).

The Jerusalem Conference, as recorded in Galatians 2:1-10 and Acts 15:6-29, marked a crucial juncture. Led by James, the Jerusalem Church decided to admit Gentiles without circumcision, establishing more lenient standards. Paul’s mission to the Gentiles would not include circumcision, while Peter’s mission to Jews maintained adherence to circumcision and Torah observance. The decision reflected mutual recognition and support for these different missions, highlighting the inclusivity of the early Christian community.

Christian supersessionism in the 2-5^th centuries led to a reversal of this policy. For example, Isaac of Antioch wrote in his, ‘Homilies Against the Jews’, that circumcision is no longer a mark of election, which has now passed to Christians, but a means of identification for punishment.

Justin Martyr wrote in the “Dialogue with Trypho the Jew” that

circumcision was given for a sign, that you alone may suffer, and that your land may be desolate, and your cities burned with fire, and that strangers may eat your fruit in your presence and not one of you go up to Jerusalem.[3]

Church Fathers, such as Cyril, Jerome, John Chrysostom, John of Damascus Justin Martyr, Lactantius, Origen, Tertullian, and Ambrose, reaffirmed the ban on circumcision for Christians. Origen said quite plainly:

The rite of circumcision…which began with Abraham…was discontinued by Jesus, who desired that His Disciples should not practice it.

Speaking of circumcision, Ambrose observed:

Nature has created nothing imperfect in man, nor has she bade it be removed as unnecessary.

Over the centuries, the Catholic Church has passed many laws banning the circumcision of children and adults. Martin Luther preached against circumcision on many occasions.

Barbara Bell writes that In “Virgin and Child before a Firescreen” Jesus is depicted as uncircumcised.  

Christ lies in His mother’s arms in a most unnatural pose. One leg is raised, His toes mobile, His left hand is raised to twiddle His hair creating an open and confident body language. His hands are fully prehensile and articulate beyond a baby’s normal ability. He has adult proportions, which seem foolish to the modern viewer but was the convention of the time.  The divine incarnation was never a vulnerable baby like we are babies. Within this unnatural pose, Mary has cupped her hand at just the point to reveal that Jesus is not circumcised. This is common in renditions of the naked Christ.  It could be argued that such divine perfection and peace needs no such sign but this would be inaccurate. Christ could not be circumcised for we know that this was God’s mark on a man for damnation. (Barbara Bell, Christian Anti-Judaism in Art: A Messianic Jewish reading and response to the ‘Virgin and Child before a Firescreen’ by an unknown Artist, ANCC, 2012)

Virgin and Child before a Firescreen, attributed to Robert Campin or a follower. 1440. NG2609[5]

Circumcision was forbidden to Jewish believers in Jesus by the Creeds and Councils of the Church, a policy reinforced by the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the treatment of Jewish believers in Jesus until the renewing of the Hebrew Christian and Messianic Movements of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Even the Circumcision of Christ was not depicted in Christian art, for fear of re-awakening Judaising in Christians who were not Jewish.

Jerome wrote to St Augustine about Jewish disciples of Yeshua warning Christians not to become Jews in 404ce:

13. The matter in debate, therefore, or I should rather say your opinion regarding it, is summed up in this: that since the preaching of the gospel of Christ, the believing Jews do well in observing the precepts of the law, i.e. in offering sacrifices as Paul did, in circumcising their children, as Paul did in the case of Timothy, and keeping the Jewish Sabbath, as all the Jews have been accustomed to do. If this be true, we fall into the heresy of Cerinthus and Ebion, who, though believing in Christ, were anathematized by the fathers for this one error, that they mixed up the ceremonies of the law with the gospel of Christ, and professed their faith in that which was new, without letting go what was old. Why do I speak of the Ebionites, who make pretensions to the name of Christian? In our own day there exists a sect among the Jews throughout all the synagogues of the East, which is called the sect of the Minei, and is even now condemned by the Pharisees

The adherents to this sect are known commonly as Nazarenes; they believe in Christ the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary; and they say that He who suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose again, is the same as the one in whom we believe. But while they desire to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one nor the other. I therefore beseech you, who think that you are called upon to heal my slight wound, which is no more, so to speak, than a prick or scratch from a needle, to devote your skill in the healing art to this grievous wound, which has been opened by a spear driven home with the impetus of a javelin. For there is surely no proportion between the culpability of him who exhibits the various opinions held by the fathers in a commentary on Scripture, and the guilt of him who reintroduces within the Church a most pestilential heresy. If, however, there is for us no alternative but to receive the Jews into the Church, along with the usages prescribed by their law; if, in short, it shall be declared lawful for them to continue in the Churches of Christ what they have been accustomed to practise in the synagogues of Satan, I will tell you my opinion of the matter: they will not become Christians, but they will make us Jews. (https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102075.htm)

Today we rejoice in the circumcision of Yeshua and celebrate it as a declaration that not only Messianic Jews, but Jesus himself lived out on earth the life of a Torah-observant Jew, and is himself the embodiment of the Torah.

Hag sameach! As we celebrate this festival let us also pray for:

peace in Israel and Gaza,

comfort for those who mourn,

release of the hostages,

an end of hostilities,

our hearts to be circumcised

repentance, reconciliation and restoration of Israel and the nations to  take place speedily and in our days.

Resources for further study

Bris cheat sheet for jittery goys

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Circumcision_of_Christ

The Two Women in the Mosaic of Santa Pudenziana S.J. Fredric W. Schlatter

Journal of Early Christian Studies, Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 1995, pp. 1-24 (Article)

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.0.0020

William_Blake_(1757-1827)_-_The_Circumcision_-_PD.153-1985_-_Fitzwilliam_Museum.jpg

Barbara Bell, Christian Anti-Judaism in Art: A Messianic Jewish reading and response to the ‘Virgin and Child before a Firescreen’ by an unknown Artist, ANCC, 2012

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tj3w6hao7tqxq3gev3hio/Bell-Circumcision-in-Art-010124.doc?rlkey=v1kwgiagg968ccha7nmo1edqt&dl=0

https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102075.htm – advocating against circumcision.