Lutheran Hour Ministries Advent Devotion for Thursday, 1 January 2015 "The First Shed Blood"

Advent Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Reverend Wayne Palmer "The First Shed Blood" for New Year's Day Thursday, 1 January 2015 Read Luke 2: Blessings 21 When the eighth day arrived, the day of circumcision, the child was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived. "And at the end of eight days ... He was circumcised."]Luke 2:21A] Today is the eighth day of Christmas. It's the day a Jewish boy was circumcised. This marked him as a child of the covenant God gave Abraham. As Jesus undertook circumcision, He assumed His place as a child of Abraham. Being placed under the Law He would live His life fulfilling the Law perfectly for us. That's all fine and good, but what does Jesus' circumcision have to do with our New Year's Day celebration today? Well, one of our New Year's Day customs is to make resolutions: these are bad habits we will attempt to break, or good habits we will attempt to put into place in the coming year. Perhaps resolution-making is one of your New Year's Day traditions. Broken New Year's resolutions are pretty common for us. They are a symbol of our brokenness as sinful creatures. They also remind us how impossible it is to save ourselves from our sins. That is why Jesus' circumcision resolution meant everything. If He had broken this resolution the way we break New Year's resolutions, we would all be doomed to God's terrible and eternal wrath. The good news is that Jesus did not break this resolution. Rather, He kept it perfectly all through His life, obeying God in our place. Jesus even kept His resolution when it hurt. He resolved to go up to Jerusalem when He knew the Jewish leaders were seeking His life. He showed that resolve in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39b). And He showed this same resolve again when He stepped forward in the garden to meet those who had come to arrest Him (John 18:4-11). Because of Jesus' resolution and His perfect fulfillment of that resolution through His suffering, death, and resurrection, our 2015 is truly new. We live under God's forgiveness and blessing and will inherit eternal life when our earthly journey is finished. This is true whether our Lord returns in the coming year or in another sometime in the future. THE PRAYER: Lord God, give me the resolve to honor Your Name, to study Your Word, to gather in Your Church, and to share with others Your amazing grace. In Jesus' Name. Amen. The Lutheran Hour 660 Mason Ridge Center Dr. St. Louis, MO 63141 1-800-876-9880

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