Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you! Today in the Church Year we also commemorate the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus. The picture to the left is an engraving by Albrecht Durer (d. 1528) depicting this event in the life of our Lord.

Every Jewish male was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth and publicly named at that point. Joseph had already been told by the angel in his dream that the child to be born of Mary was to be given the name Jesus, since he would save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). The name Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew, means "The Lord Saves." On this day we remember how the Lord who saves first shed his blood for us on his way to keeping the Law on our behalf and shedding his blood at the cross to win forgiveness and life everlasting for all who trust in him.

May the name of Jesus continue to be in your heart and upon your lips as you trust in him and confess him in 2007 and always.