THE MYSTERY OF THE CIRCUMCISION

In the only 1672 French copy available, this section is listed in the Table of Contents, but the text is missing (p. 116).

We will ponder the Scripture texts on this mystery.


When the eighth day came
and the child was to be circumcised
they gave him the name, JESUS,
the name the angel had given him
before his conception."
(Luke 2:21)

"Mary, do not be afraid;
you have won God's favour
Listen.
You are to conceive and bear a son,
and you must name him
JESUS.
He will be great and will be called
Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his ancestor David;
he will rule over the House of Jacob
forever
and his rule will have no end."
(Luke 1:31-33)

Joseph had made up his mind
to divorce her informally,
when the angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream
and said:
"Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid
to take Mary home as your wife,
because, she has conceived
what is in her by the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth to a son
and you must name him JESUS,
because he is the one who is to save his people
from their sins."
(Matthew 1:20-21)

"God said to Abraham,
"You on your part shall maintain my Covenant,
yourself and your descendants after you,
generation after generation.
Now this is my Covenant
which you are to maintain
between myself and you,
and your descendants after you:
all your males must be circumcised.

You shall circumcise your foreskin,
and this shall be the sign of the Covenant
between myself and you.

When they are eight days old
all your male children
must be circumcised,
generation after generation of them,
no matter whether they are born
within the household
or bought from a foreigner...
My Covenant shall be marked
on your bodies
as a Covenant in perpetuity."
(Genesis: 9-14)

"Of your sons
every first-born of men must be redeemed.
And when your sons ask you
in days to come,
"What does this mean?
you will tell him,

"By sheer power Yahweh brought us out of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery.
When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go,
Yahweh killed all the first-born
in the land of Egypt of man and beast alike.
For this,
I sacrifice to Yahweh every male
that first issues from the womb,
and redeems every first-born of my sons.

The rite
will serve as a sign
on your hand would serve,
or a circlet on your forehead,
for Yahweh brought us
out of Egypt
with a mighty hand."
(Exodus 13: 14-16)

Yahweh, your God, will circumcise your heart
and the heart of all your descendants,
until you love Yahweh, your God
with all your heart and soul,
and so have life."
(Deuteronomy 30:6)

To be a Jew
is not just to look like a Jew,
and circumcision
is more than a physical operation.
The real Jew
is the one who is inwardly a Jew,
and the real circumcision
is in the heart -
something, not of the letter
but of the spirit.

A Jew like that
may not be praised by man,
but will be praised by God."
(Romans 2:28-29)

As for me,
the only thing
I can boast about
is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom the world
is crucified to me,
and I to the world.

It does not matter
if a person
is circumcised or not;
what matters is
for him to become
an altogether "new creature".

Peace and mercy
to all who follow
this rule,
who form the
Israel of God."
(Galatians 6:14-16)