‘And when eight days were fulfilled for circumcising him, his name was called JESUS, which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.'
On the eighth day after His birth Jesus was circumcised, a ritual which had to be undergone by all Jews who did not wish to be cut off from Israel. It was considered so important that it could even be carried out on the Sabbath day. This removal of the foreskin was a sign that the recipient was being brought within the covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:12). The seven day wait was probably in order to cater for the ‘removal by waiting' of the uncleanness of childbirth, due partly to the contact with the blood and afterbirth involved. The naming of Jesus here would appear to confirm that this ‘naming' at the time of circumcision had become the custom (compare Luke 1:59). It is this naming, (which is drawn attention to by the comment), that is important to Luke. Jesus was here named with the name given by the angel before He was born, indicating His separation to God from before His birth.