Church Fathers Commentary Luke 2:21

"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." — Luke 2:21 (ASV)

The Venerable Bede: After relating our Lord’s nativity, the Evangelist adds that eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child.

St. Ambrose of Milan: Who is this Child, but the One of whom it was said, Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given (Isaiah 9:6)? For He was made under the law, that He might redeem them who were under the law (Galatians 4:4-5).

St. Epiphanius of Salamis: The followers of Ebion and Cerinthus say, “It is enough for a disciple to be like his Master. But Christ was circumcised; therefore, you should be circumcised.” In this, however, they deceive themselves and destroy their own principles. If Ebion were to confess that Christ, as God, descended from heaven and was circumcised on the eighth day, that might provide a basis for an argument for circumcision. But since he affirms Him to be a mere man, surely as a boy He could not be the cause of His own circumcision, just as infants are not the authors of their own.

We, however, confess that it is God Himself who descended from heaven. Enclosed in a virgin's womb, He remained there for the entire time necessary for birth, until He had perfectly formed for Himself a human body from the virgin. We confess that in this body He was not seemingly but truly circumcised on the eighth day. This was so that the types, having reached their spiritual fulfillment through both Himself and His disciples, would now proclaim not the types, but the reality.

Origen of Alexandria: Just as we have died with Him in His death and risen with Him in His resurrection, so we have been circumcised with Him. Therefore, we no longer need circumcision in the flesh.

St. Epiphanius of Salamis: Christ was circumcised for several reasons. First, to show the reality of His flesh, in opposition to Manichaeus and those who say He came in appearance only. Second, to prove that His body was not of the same substance as the Deity, contrary to Apollinaris, and that it did not descend from heaven, as Valentinian said. Third, to add confirmation to the practice of circumcision, which He had instituted long ago to await His coming. Finally, to leave the Jews no excuse, for if He had not been circumcised, they could have objected that they could not receive an uncircumcised Christ.

The Venerable Bede: He was also circumcised so that He might command us by His example in the virtue of obedience. He did it to take compassion on those who, being under the law, were unable to bear its burdens. This was so that He who came in the likeness of sinful flesh would not reject the remedy with which sinful flesh was customarily healed.

Under the law, circumcision offered the same saving cure to the wound of original sin that Baptism offers in the time of grace and revelation. The difference was that the circumcised could not yet enter the gates of the heavenly kingdom. Instead, comforted after death with a blessed rest in Abraham’s bosom, they waited with joyful hope for their entrance into eternal peace.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria: For circumcision expressed nothing other than the stripping off of the old birth, since the part that was circumcised is what caused the birth of the body. And so, it was done at that time as a sign of the future baptism through Christ. Therefore, as soon as the reality it signified arrived, the type ceased. For since the entirety of the old man, Adam, is taken away by baptism, there is nothing left for the cutting of a part to prefigure.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: It was the custom to perform the circumcision of the flesh on the eighth day. For on the eighth day Christ rose from the dead and gave us a spiritual circumcision, saying, Go and teach all nations, baptizing them (Matthew 28:19).

The Venerable Bede: Now His resurrection prefigured the resurrection of each of us, both in flesh and in spirit. For by being circumcised, Christ taught us that our nature must now be purged from the stain of vice and, at the last day, be restored from the plague of death.

And as the Lord rose on the eighth day—that is, the day after the seventh, which is the Sabbath—so we also shall rise as if on an eighth day, after the six ages of this world and after the seventh age, which is the rest of souls now taking place in the next life.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: But according to the command of the law, on the same day He received His name, as it is written: His name was called Jesus (Luke 2:21), which is interpreted “Savior.” For He was brought forth for the salvation of the whole world, which He prefigured by His circumcision. As the Apostle says to the Colossians: you are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the stripping off of the body of the flesh—that is, the circumcision of Christ (Colossians 2:11).

The Venerable Bede: That He also received His name on the day of His circumcision was likewise done in imitation of the old observances. For Abraham, who received the first sacrament of circumcision, was on that day deemed worthy to be blessed by the expansion of his name.

Origen of Alexandria: But the name of Jesus—a glorious name, worthy of all honor, a name that is above every other—ought not to be first uttered by men, nor be brought into the world by them. Therefore, the Evangelist significantly adds, which was so named by the angel before He was conceived in the womb (Luke 2:21).

The Venerable Bede: The elect also rejoice to be partakers of this name in their spiritual circumcision, so that as they are called Christians from Christ, they may also be called “saved” from the Savior. This title was given to them by God not only before they were conceived through faith in the womb of the Church, but even before the world began.