The Time Had Come
Luke 2:21 tells us that on the eighth day after Jesus' birth, he was given his name, which means "the Lord saves." It marked the beginning of what Jesus would do and what would be done to him as he began his work of saving sinners by living a perfect life. "The Time Had Come." January 1, 2012.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Soon bears us all away;
We fly, forgotten, as a dream Dies at the op’ning day. (Christian Worship 441:5)
That hymn stanza has always fascinated me, not just because of the beauty of the poetry but because the message smacks me between the eyes like an unexpected foul ball while sitting along the third-base line with beverage in hand and staring at the runner on first. The trickling waters of the Menomonee River carry a goose feather faster and faster from Germantown, all the way through the parkway in Tosa, past Miller Park, on to the harbor, and into Lake Michigan. Then it’s gone. Time is like an ever-rolling stream. Can you believe it’s 2012? In my mind’s eye I can picture ’71 on the sleeve of our letter jackets, which must sound rather goofy to a teenager today who views ’01 and ’02 as ancient history. We can’t slow time down, but we do mark it with birthdays, anniversaries, semester exams, graduations, and festivals of the church year.
The people of ancient Israel had time-markers, too—annually, monthly, weekly—all commanded by God to show their agreement with the special arrangement he had set up with them, that they would be the keepers of his promise to send a Savior into the world and were to stay within the fence-line of his rules so they wouldn’t lose it. But one of the most common time-markers wasn’t connected to their worship calendar but to their personal calendar. On the eighth day of a baby boy’s life, he was to be circumcised and given a name. Start counting with Christmas as day one. Sure enough, today is the eighth day. For the child of Bethlehem that meant that The Time Had Come…
For what he would do
“On the eighth day…it was time to circumcise him.”Why circumcision for Israelites baby boys? Why this removal of some skin from the male reproductive organ? Why not pierce an earlobe or tattoo the forearm or shave an eyebrow? It had to do with what happened way back in time in the Garden of Eden. The rebellion against God by Adam and Eve was horrible. The fall-out was worse. Their “we-want-to-take-charge-of-our-own-destiny” attitude cut the close bond of love they had with God like a sharp knife through flesh and permeated their DNA. From then on, sin passed from one generation to the next through the reproductive process. Parents who are expecting a child can’t wait to see if the baby has Daddy’s nose or Mommy’s eyes, but a baby, though cute, is not innocent. Every human being needs to be honest, “Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). By the rule about circumcision, God was teaching the Israelites, “Every time you make a baby, you are passing sin on to your child, and sin is more difficult to deal with than a genetic heart defect or kidney disease. It is eternally deadly. In fact, every baby that enters this world is spiritually stillborn, which means there is no way any baby born can live up to the high and holy standards I have set, and every baby needs my rescue efforts.”
There was one exception. The Baby of Bethlehem was not conceived in the normal way, and therefore did not inherit sin from Mommy and Daddy. Instead, he was every bit of what the angel predicted, “The holy one to be born will be called the Son of God”(Luke 1:35). So, why did Joseph lean over to Mary on the eighth morning of this child’s life and whisper, “The time has come to follow the rules and circumcise this baby”? He did that because he and his wife knew that this child was sent to live under the umbrella of every one of his heavenly Father’s demands and keep them so that at the end of his time on earth his heavenly Father would say, “Well done! You did it! You did what no ordinary human could do! You lived your life on earth perfectly. That’s what all the millions and billions and trillions of humans needed, need, and will need if they are to be connected with me. So, I am going to do something spectacular and miraculous. I am going to count your perfect life as theirs. I am going to put your perfect life over their messy, mismanaged, sloppy, sinful lives.” Jesus keeping all of God’s rules began on this eighth day with the keeping of the rule about circumcision. What appears to us at first glance to be something done to him was really the signal that the time had come for what he would do. “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).
Why is it that some consider godly living a guilt-producing burden, and others consider it a delightful privilege and a thrill? It has to do with understanding the impact Jesus’ perfect life has on our motivation. God’s gift of Jesus’ perfect life changes “have to” into “want to.” You and I don’t have to go to church or pray or be kind to others or watch our tongue or be charitable, but we want to do those things because Jesus’ life, pasted over ours, has changed our status before God, which in turn affects how we behave. A disheveled college senior with one leg draped over the end of the couch, potato chip crumbs on his shirt, morning breath, two and a half pairs of tennis shoes scattered about as he thumbs his way to another level of Battlefield 3 may behave one way when his roommate walks in but will likely behave entirely differently with coat and tie on the day after sitting across the table from a corporate vice president and hearing after a job interview, “You’ve got the job. You start tomorrow!” Status affects behavior. Without Jesus’ life covering us, too often we say and do things to get what we want, things that are the opposite of what God wants. But with Jesus’ life covering us, we say and do things so others get what they need and in perfect harmony with what God wants. Which would you prefer—stepping into the new year with as much excitement as a prisoner trudging into a labor camp, or stepping into the new year with a spring in your step like a prisoner named the new royal prince? God’s gift of what Jesus did in his perfect life changes our attitude, our motivation, our inner driving force and creates optimism about opportunities in the new year.
For what would be done to him
“And there is your dagger!” cries Wayne Larrivee, the voice of the Packers, when a play is made that secures the outcome of a game. That’s the signal that he believes the game is in the bag; the time has come when victory is certain.
“And there is the dagger,” Joseph could have pointed out to Mary after the surgery on the baby in her arms. The dagger held in his hand signaled that the time had come for what the Savior would do, fulfilling every rule of God. But it also signaled that the time had come for the official naming of the baby. Mary and Joseph didn’t have to Google “baby names” to pick one out, nor did they discuss which ones to eliminate because Mary had dated a couple guys in high school and had bad memories attached to those names. No! They already knew what the baby’s name would be because it wasn’t their choice. It was his heavenly Father’s choice, communicated to Mary by God’s messenger. “He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.”. Jesus was a common name in those days, like John and Simon, but it was packed with special meaning. It is a combination of two Hebrew words, עשׁוֹהי(“Yeho-shuah”), meaning “the Lord saves.”
I find it interesting that in those days a person’s name often described what the person was like or what the person did. Abraham became what his name means, “the father of many.” Jacob acted out what his name means, “a trip-ster, a trickster.” Daniel lived what his name means, “God is my judge.” But the name given to the Baby of Bethlehem did more than describe what he would do, namely, save us by living a perfect life. Equally important in his work of saving us was what would be done to him. He stood there and took it—betrayal of a disciple, desertion by the rest, spit from the soldiers, “hrrmphs” from Pilate, taunting from Herod, catcalls from the religious leaders, scourging from the guards, mocking from the criminals crucified on either side of him, the sins of my youth and the guilt of my adulthood, the little lies you told to cover your tracks, the bad decisions you made that got you and others in trouble, the rude comments that may have been true but cut someone to the core, the hellish anger from his heavenly Father that should have been aimed at us. He took it all —nails, thorns, spear, and pain.
You’d think that when the time had come to give him a name, Joseph and Mary, like other parents, would be dreaming about what he would do. So many wanted a Savior from debates about payroll tax cuts and entitlements, a Savior from oppression and occupy movements, a Savior from collective bargaining arguments and anti-life choices. They wanted a Savior to do, and act, and perform. Certainly the Son of God came to do, to be perfect. But he also came to have something done to him. Joseph and Mary understood that. Thirty-two days later Simeon reminded Mary that a sword would pierce her soul (Luke 2:35). This child was born to receive what his real Father loaded on him—our sin, our guilt, our punishment, our hell. He came so that what would be done to him would be a payment for all our sins so we can spend our time here on earth with a clear conscience and even rejoice in our sufferings.
Yes, that’s right. The Scriptures clearly teach that we shouldn’t be shocked if our time on earth has more downs than ups. In 2012, there will be days of disappointment and failure heartbreak and loneliness and loss. And in those days, when we suffer what is done to us, then we stop and think of what was done to Jesus and receive from him coping skills, which others, who don’t know the name of Jesus, can only guess at. The Bible writer put it this way, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3).
A surgery that we normally would think of as something done to Jesus in reality signaled the beginning of what he would do, and a name that we normally would think of as a description of what he would do in reality signaled what would be done to him. The life he lived and suffering he took on give us two things—the motivation for our life of service to God and others and coping skills to deal with life’s disappointments and disasters—all because his life and his death give us real life with God.
Perhaps you’re thinking, “It’s a new year. The time has come for making resolutions!” Unfortunately, many of our resolutions fall by the wayside and are forgotten. But the beginning of a new year also means that the time has come for us to recommit our time, our wallets, our investments, our attention, our priorities to him because time may be flying by like an ever-rolling stream, but we’re flying with Jesus at whose name “every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on January 1, 2012
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