And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
By His ancestry and birth, Jesus was a member of the Jewish race and of the Jewish Church. And Mary and Joseph observed all the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish law. On the eighth day of the Child's life, therefore, the sacrament of circumcision was administered to Him, whereby He was formally declared to be a member of the Jewish Church. Incidentally, according to the custom of the Jews, He was given a name by which He should be distinguished in the congregation of God's people. And in this instance there was no difference of opinion. As the angel had told Mary at the time of the annunciation, as he had told Joseph in a dream, Matthew 1:21, so it was now done. The child's name was Jesus. In Him there is salvation for all men. Note: Jesus here, in submitting to the ordinance of circumcision, was made under the Law, Galatians 4:4-5. It was the beginning of His active obedience in behalf of all men. But it was the beginning also of His passive obedience, of His suffering. For here He paid the first drop of blood as the price of our souls, the full payment being completed when He committed His soul into the hands of His heavenly Father on the cross.
The presentation: