4th Week of Easter - Monday B

Published on 21 April 2024 at 21:57

Peter and the apostles have by now intrepidly responded to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. They’re seeing how the Risen Lord has begun something beautiful which they know cannot be contained and is meant to spread throughout the world. The voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, risen from the dead, begins to get clearer and clearer: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19).

Although they had become fearless through the gift of courage which the Holy Spirit worked in them and the accompanying wisdom they needed to fulfill their mission, there was still one area of dread—the wrath of the Jewish authorities who had taken a favourable stance to their message, only circumcision as prescribed by Moses would need to be kept as well, even if baptism were to be administered. This technicality put the apostles in a bit of a bind and it took a heavenly vision to Saint Peter to set the record straight. Whereas before the lines were clear between Judaism and the rest of the known pagan, non-believing world, where the latter were considered impure and there was to be no mingling with such people, now God is indicating that he wishes to extend his invitation to every nation, to all men and women, of all walks of life. Circumcision and baptism would therefore collide once these gentile people began converting to Christianity, but not only the gentiles, but also the Jewish converts.

Imagine a young Jewish couple who has just converted and been baptized. The husband had been circumcised according to the law of Moses. Now, his wife has just given birth to their first child, a male. Do they need to circumcise him or not? Now to get a better feel for why this topic would have been such a hot one at the time, we need to delve a bit deeper into circumcision and what it meant to the people of Israel, and what it still means to those practicing Judaism.

First of all, on the merely exterior level, it is simply the surgical removal of the foreskin and mucosal tissue which normally covers the glans of the male genital organ. The etymology of the word comes from the Latin circum (meaning ‘around’) and caedere (meaning ‘to cut’). As a ritual procedure, it was known to have existed as far back as 6,000 years BC, and there exists anecdotal evidence suggesting it was a rite of puberty in aboriginal tribes before 10,000BC. Saint Thomas Aquinas gives three reasons why the organ of generation rather than any other was to be circumcised: (a) Abraham was to be blessed in his seed; (b) The rite was to take away original sin, which comes by generation; (c) It was to restrain concupiscence, which is found especially in the generative organs (III, Q. lxx, a. 3).

In Judaism, the Covenant of Circumcision — the “Brit Milah” — is one of their most universally observed commandments. The commandment to circumcise was a covenant made with Abraham by God himself and is recorded in Genesis 17:10–14, where we read:

And God spoke to Abraham saying: … This is my covenant which you shall keep between me and you and thy seed after you — every male child among you shall be circumcised.’

The biblical explanation for this commandment states quite clearly that the circumcision acts as an outward physical sign of the covenant between God and the Jewish people. It is normally performed on the eighth day of the child's life and can only be performed during daylight hours. It can, however, be postponed for health reasons and Jewish law states that when the child's health is an issue, circumcision must wait until 7 days after the child is deemed fit enough to undergo the procedure. It is forbidden to postpone the Brit Milah for any reason other than the health of the child and it can even be conducted on the Jewish holy days of Shabbat and Yom Kippur.

The circumcision itself must be performed by a Mohel, a pious, observant Jew educated in circumcision techniques as well as in the relevant Jewish law and tradition. Circumcision performed by any other individual, even if he be a rabbi, does not qualify as valid. This is because the removal of the foreskin is itself a religious ritual that must be performed by someone religiously qualified. (1)

We can appreciate therefore how deeply ingrained circumcision was within the national identity of Israel and how massively and clearly divine anything suggesting a renewed, spiritualized form of it in baptism, would have to be. To say you no longer needed circumcision to be saved, would be monumental for any Israelite to come to terms with and this is precisely what Saint Peter was contending, through of course, the aid of the Holy Spirit and the divine revelation being made clear to him. He asserts in the third chapter of his first epistle that now baptism is what saves through a clear conscience before God, since it wipes away original sin and sets us right with the Almighty, inducting us into his household and opening up the gates of heaven for us through Christ’s sacrifice.

He says, “God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him” 1 Peter 3:20-22. Certain authorities and Jewish converts weren’t having it however, and for this reason we would read later on in Acts 15,  that afterwards,

"… certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved" 15:1,

and

"Some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, "It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses" 15:5.

Saint Peter and the others had to have the Holy Spirit with them in order to discern how Jesus renewed all of the above. They had to know how to let go of circumcision in the form that it had initially been given to them by God, for something more perfect which the same God had now ushered into his salvific plan through Christ and which would be administered now, not through the ancient rite of circumcision but through baptism.. which supersedes and overrides it now because it is wrought in and through Christ. Saint Paul also makes this clear when he says, “In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ. You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” Colossians 2:11–12. Here we see the two greatest authorities in the early days of Christianity coming together on such a pivotal and crucial matter so that there would be no room for doubt on the part of its adherents. 

Now, if only we could live our baptismal gift to the full, then it is we would find life to the full which Jesus alone could give us as he states in today’s gospel: Anyone who enters through me will be safe: he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full” John 10:10.

 

(1) British Journal of General Practice, 2010. Pgs 132-33, 214-15.


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