Jesus is only 8 days old. Eight days! And He is already feeling the effects of our sin, our sin in particular--not just the general effect of sin.

Just a brief comment about the 8 days. We are actually on the eve of His circumcision, but tomorrow would be the 8th day. You remember how the song goes. 8 maids a milking. Contrary to how most people think of it, though, we are now in the 12 days of Christmas. The countdown begins on Christmas Eve, not 12 days before Christmas. So, between Christmas Eve and Epiphany on Jan 6, the day we recognize the coming of the wisemen, the magi are the twelve days. We are on the eve of the 8th day, the eve of the day Jesus was circumcised, the day Jesus first sheds His blood for sinners. He is feeling the effects of sin--not just the curse, but its eternal effect.

Speaking of the curse, Jesus had felt that from the first day. As much as we may like the old familiar Christmas Carol, "Away in a Manger," it's silly to say, "no crying He makes." The baby Jesus cried. He was human. He felt the curse of sin even as an infant. We all do.

Think of what it was like when you were an infant, even though none of can actually remember it. We felt the curse. We felt hunger. We felt loneliness. We felt frustration. We felt a wet diaper against our skin. So did Jesus. I'm sure Justin has felt all of this, plus more. This is all the curse of sin. There is pain involved, or at least discomfort. When life is no longer as it was designed to be, then there is pain.

But Jesus is not just feeling the curse. He is feeling the effect of sin, its eternal effects. As St. Paul says, "The wages of sin is death." Yes, death comes as a result of sin, but it's not just physical death, it is spiritual and eternal death. It is separation from the Lord. He is feeling this already as an 8 day old child. He is feeling death, because He has already begun to shed His blood for you and me.

He is already shedding His blood, blood that was necessary only because we need Him to shed it. Our salvation depended on it. Hebrews says there is no redemption without the shedding of blood. We always think about Him shedding His blood when He was on the cross, but He begins long before He gets to the cross. Under the knife of a priest, who probably has no idea just who this child is, Jesus is shedding a few drops of blood.

We say He is doing this for us because He Himself didn't need to circumcised.

Circumcision was the baptism of the Old Testament. When a child was circumcised, the foreskin was cut off. The foreskin was seen as unnecessary, as even promoting uncleanness, as defiling the flesh and therefore as a symbol of evil. By this action the evil was removed.

But what evil, when we talk about Jesus? Jesus had no evil to be removed. He was born without sin, and never committed a sin. He never neglected anything. Never did anything out of less than complete love. And yet, the symbol of evil was removed from Him, and with that some of His blood flowed out, because He was willing to obey the Law, and fulfill it for us.

But circumcision was more than just the symbol of evil removed. Circumcision was also the way a child was brought into the Israelite community. Without circumcision, a person was considered outside of grace. Without circumcision, he was considered lost. But once he received circumcision, he was brought into the fold, into the family, into the community of Israel.

But why would Jesus need to do this? He did not need to be incorporated into the community of Israel. He pretty much was Israel. In fact, we say that He was Israel reduced to one-one single person. Pour all the faithful people of Israel into a funnel and out pops one person--Jesus.

Hold on to that phrase, "Reduced to one." It is very important for understanding the grace we have been shown in Christ. You will hear me using it frequently for the next several minutes. It is critical you understand it, so you understand what has happened to Justin and, if you are baptized, what has happened to you, and therefore the confidence you can have in God's mercy.

To make sure you understand, we're going to spend a little time looking at it. I will do my best to explain it, but I also ask you to struggle so you can get it. Make an effort to understand it, because when you do, you will be able to marvel at what God in His grace has done for you.

Reduced to one. The Father says through His prophet Hosea, "Out of Egypt I called my Son." The people of Israel were called out of Egypt, when they were led out by Moses into the wilderness for 40 years and then finally into the Promised Land. Israel, His Son was called out of Egypt. But Jesus was also called out of Egypt, after His family took Him down there to escape Herod's jealous rage. So, out of Egypt I called my Son. Who is the Son? Is it Israel or is it Jesus? Yes. It is both, because when it comes to salvation, Jesus is Israel.

This is what it means when we say, "reduced to one." For those who are His, what happens to Him is as though it happened for them. When He is finally circumcised, then their circumcision done for eons will actually count for something. It will have made them part of Him. Just as He was crucified and punished for our sins, in our place, they and we, because we are in Him, are considered as though we had been crucified. Just as He rose from the dead, His resurrection has become theirs and ours. His baptism becomes ours. His circumcision is as though it were ours, because He is all of us reduced to one.

As I had said, this sounds like a complicated point I'm making, but think about what it means when we say "reduced to one." He becomes our representative. What happens to Him, is as though it happened to us. What He does, is credited to us. It happened to Him; it counts for us. He suffers for sin; it is as though we had.

In the Old Testament times a child was circumcised so he could be considered in that group that is reduced to one. Without it, he was not. All that Jesus did was not counted to the one who did not. But for the one who is, who has been incorporated into Him, everything Jesus does as His work of salvation, counts for that person.

Justin just experienced it. Justin was just like the rest of us. He was born a sinner, and a child of the devil.

I know it seems wrong to say that about such a young child, but it is the way things are. We hate hearing it, but Justin was born outside of the community. He was not part of God's family. He was not part of Christ's body. None of what Christ had done for His people, Old or New Testament, was being counted for him, because He was not part of that group that we are saying is reduced to one in Christ. But now he has. He has just joined them. He has just been made a part of God's family. He was made a member of Christ's body. He is now part of that group reduced to one. All that Christ has done is now counted to him. Jesus' death has become His. Jesus' resurrection is now His.

Paul calls baptism the circumcision made without hands. We can see why he says that. There is obviously more activity with a set of hands in a circumcision than with a baptism. Obviously. In baptism, I simply scooped my hand and poured water on Justin's head. Except for the blessing, I don't even need to touch his body. And yet, the same benefits for a child who was circumcised have now become Justin's--and with a whole lot less pain.

This is what has happened for each of us who have been baptized. By God's grace, we were made a part of His family. He incorporated us into that number of people that is now represented by Him.

Think about the confidence this can give you. We started the service with a hymn which talks about that confidence. God's own child I gladly say it. Yes, by baptism you have been made God's child. You have been made a member of His family, a member of this group which Jesus represents. As a result, you can snub your nose at your enemies--sin, death and the devil. They can't touch you. Jesus has conquered them. In Him, you have conquered them.

Now, it is possible you have rejected your baptism. That would truly be tragic. Not all people in the world are baptized. In fact, more are not, than are. For some reason, known only to God, you who are baptized have been made a part of God's family. Why would God choose you and not some child born to a family in Afghanistan or India or even to a non-Christian family in America? I don't know. Why were you born in America where the odds were still better than in most countries you would be baptized? I don't know. But one thing I do know, for those of you who are baptized you have been given a tremendous gift. You have been given victory over your spiritual enemies, because Jesus' victory counts as yours. You can say, "Sin disturb my soul no longer." You can say, "Death you cannot end my gladness." You can say, "Satan, drop your ugly accusations."

Do we normally have that kind of confidence? I doubt it. More often than not, when times start getting tough we think we are in this life all alone. Oh, we have friends and family, but when things start going bad, we think God has left us. That is when you want to remember what your baptism gives you, that you are His child, that in Christ, His works of salvation count as yours.

Does this sound like something you would like to take into the new year with you? I would think it would. We're not talking about making any kind of resolution, though. It's not going to come by resolving to trust more. It comes by recognizing what has already been done for you. Jesus has lived a perfect life. He died the death we deserved. He has risen from the dead. He has ascended into heaven. All of this is yours because you have been incorporated into Him. By your baptism, you became one of those He was representing when He was doing these things. By your baptism, these are now yours.

Live in your baptism. Die to your own efforts to save yourself. Don't rely on anything you do to improve your standing with God. Jesus has done it all. Recognize it and confess it with all your heart. Go into this new year with the confidence and peace only the Lord can give you. Go into this new year, in the confidence that your baptism, the circumcision made without hands, alone can give you.

AMEN