The Life and Times of Jesus the Christ

Luke 2:21 ESV

21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

I know two different businessmen who I have frequently interacted with concerning their business endeavors. And after speaking with both of them extensively, I have come to realize that what the difference maker has been in their respective businesses is the relations that they share with their employees.

For example, one of two businessmen who I know is apt to make friends with those he employs. And when I say that he makes friends with them, I don’t mean that he’s just friendly to them, but that they virtually become bosom buddies. They hang out all the time, they go out to dinner together, they go on trips together, you name it, and they do it.

Now, there’s obviously nothing wrong with making friends with your employees, but this guy becomes friends with his employees to such an extent that it blurs the lines between him being their friend and being their boss.

He’s their boss so they have to answer to him, and as his employees, they are responsible to do whatever he tells them to do… but they’re also his friends, and because they are his friends, they push the limits on what they can get away with while they’re at work.

He’s had some employees call-in sick on a regular basis, other employees have put forth minimal effort to get their work done, others have even gone so far as to steal from the cash register when the boss isn’t looking.

But he doesn’t really do too much about it because though they are his employees, they are still his friends. So, most of the time, his commitment to being a friend to his employees takes priority over being their boss, and his business suffers because of it.

But the other businessman who I referred to earlier is not like this first businessman; for this second businessmen is indeed friendly to his employees, and he’s friends with a few of them, but his friendship with his employees does not take priority over good business sense.

At the end of the day, they know that they have a good, friendly boss, but they also know that if they don’t do what he tells them to do, they will be disciplined, perhaps even fired if their disobedience persists.

When it comes to his relations with his employees, he is their boss first, it’s business first. And the result of this dynamic is a thriving business and respect from his employees.

Well, I would say that when Jesus came to this world, He had a similar outlook on what it was that He needed to do while He was here. He knew what His mission was, and He set out to accomplish the completion of that mission.

For Jesus, business came first. And we see that in the text that we will be reading from today because directly after the birth of Jesus is recorded in the scriptures, the very next thing that it mentions is the submission and obedience to God on the part of Joseph and Mary, the earthly guardians of Jesus, as we see Jesus begin to fulfill the twin roles of Servant to the Father and Deliverer of His elect people.

One of my all-time favorite theologians, the late R.C. Sproul once said, “We are saved by works, but they are not our own works”. The works that we are saved by are the works of Christ. And when I speak of the works of Christ, I don’t merely mean the work of the cross, I mean the entirety of His life, His absolute submission and obedience to the will and commands of the Father throughout His entire life.

We are most certainly saved by the death and resurrection of Christ, but we are also saved by the sinless life that Christ lived for His elect people on their behalf. And the sinlessness of the life that Jesus lived, spanned the course of His entire life.

Now, when I say the entire life of Jesus, that is exactly what I mean; the entire life of Jesus, not just when He reached the so-called age of accountability. Not just when He became an adult, or when He entered into His public ministry. No, even when Jesus was but an Infant, we read of how God had providentially directed both Jesus and His parents to ensure that He perfectly obeyed the Law of God.

We see this in the first part of our reading when it says:

Luke 2:21a ESV

21a And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised,

Ok, we are going to stop right here. We see that this verse begins with the word, “and” which signifies that this verse is placed so as to continue the theme that we have been speaking of all this month.

What we have speaking of all this month is the birth of Jesus, and when we begin this verse with the word, “and” we see that this verse is spoken so as to continue and also to conclude that narrative.

You see, the narrative surrounding the birth of Christ does not stop at the birth of Christ, rather, it proceeds all throughout His life, ministry, death, resurrection, and the salvation that He delivers to all of His people.

And believe it or not, in this verse we read an extremely concise statement of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, resurrection, and the salvation that He delivers to all of His people.

We see this first here in the first part of verse 21 when it speaks of the obedience of Jesus to the will of His Father when it says that at eight days of age He was circumcised.

In Genesis chapter 17, verses 10-13 we read of where the rite of circumcision was first instituted when God came to Abraham and made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants who would come after him.

God declared that every male descendant of Abraham and even every male servant who is born in the household of one of Abraham’s descendants were to be circumcised when they had reached the tender age of eight days old. In this way the descendants of Abraham, God’s covenant people would be set apart by God and for God.

But if you continue on in Genesis chapter 17, you will see in verse 14 that if a descendant of Abraham or a male servant in the household of a descendant of Abraham is not circumcised, then that person will be cut off from God’s covenant people.

Thus, we see two reasons why Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day as was customary.

Number one, because in order for Jesus to be identified with His people, in order for Him to be the fit Representative of His elect people, He had to do what was necessary to partake in the same covenant with God that they had partaken in.

And number two, Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day because He was obedient to the Father in all things.

As was said, in order for Jesus to be the fit Representative for His elect people, He had to do what was necessary to be like them, but in order for Jesus to be a good, perfect, effective Representative for His people, He had to be completely obedient to the commands of God on behalf of the elect.

You see, because of the perfectly obedient life of Jesus, we who are saved can and do stand justified before God. The death and resurrection of Jesus were necessary to make us righteous, but so was the perfect life of Jesus.

But you may wonder how this is an act of obedience on the part of Jesus when He was but an infant at this point. I mean, at eight days old, did Jesus choose to be circumcised? Of course not.

But what did happen is God providentially led Joseph and Mary to submit Jesus to the rite of circumcision, and thus we see the first recorded act of obedience on the part of Jesus on behalf of His elect people. And that which followed this first recorded act of obedience on the part of Jesus would be a life of obedience and submission to the will of God.

Thus, we see here the role of Servant that Jesus would fulfill throughout His time here on earth, giving His life in service to God and to those He came to save.

And speaking of Jesus saving, the role of Savior is the other role that Jesus fulfilled while He was here on earth, and we see that in the second half of this verse, where it says:

Luke 2:21b ESV

21b he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

In the first chapter of Luke’s gospel, it is recorded that the angel Gabriel had been sent from God to the town of Nazareth in Galilee.

When he came to Nazareth he went to the home of Mary, who at that time was a virgin, and the 31st verse of that first chapter tells us that Gabriel told Mary that though she was a virgin, she would conceive in her womb and bear a Son. This Son, Gabriel told her, was to be named Jesus.

Now, names can and should be meaningful to us today, but in ancient times, names held an extremely higher degree of meaning. Whenever one would receive his or her name, what that parent was doing was declaring the character, and even the destiny of their child.

For example, we are familiar with the prophet, Daniel in the Bible. He did not fear man, and he declared that he would rather be faithful to God than be faithful to man because He knew that ultimately God was his Judge. And what the name Daniel means is, “God is my Judge”.

Or when we look at another man from the Old Testament, one whose name is “Nabal”, we see that Nabal foolishly refused to assist David, the God-ordained, anointed king of Israel, dismissing he and his men as outlaws and scoundrels who did not deserve his assistance. Nabal was a fool, and guess what his name means? “Fool”!

And what the name Jesus means is, “The Lord is Salvation”… never has there been such a fitting name.

He Himself is salvation. Salvation is found in Him alone. The life that He lived, He lived for the glory of God. The life that He lived, He lived for the sake of those whom God had determined to save before the foundation of the world.

The death that He died, the agonizing pain that He felt, the brutal separation from His Father, He endured for the glory of God, and for the salvation of His elect, those whom He came to save.

The resurrection that He experienced, His victory over death, the ultimate conquest that He effected resulted in glory for Himself and everlasting life for those He elected to experience it.

This official naming of Jesus on the part of Joseph and Mary, what it done was officially declare to all that Jesus came to serve, and most of all, that Jesus came to save!

This official naming of the Lord Jesus shows us that His life’s work was to glorify God through the salvation of His elect. And this life’s work, He carried out… perfectly. And because He carried out His life’s work perfectly, we, His elect people receive His perfect salvation.

Oh beloved, praise God that He was willing to give His Jesus, His Yeshua to us, the people He has given to His Jesus, His Yeshua, that we may be His forever!

May it always be our chief and utmost desire to humbly and reverently worship He Who is our salvation! He Who lived His life as Servant of God and Savior of the elect!

Amen?