Circumcision, Crucifixion and Baptism

The cross of Christ is central to the Christian faith, and rightly so. For without the vicarious sacrifice of our Lord, there can be no remission of sins. But many do not realise that the first pain inflicted on Jesus, when He first bled, was not on the cross near the end of His earthly life. It most probably took place on the temple grounds, and certainly within the first days of His life, as a babe, at His circumcision.

The infant of eight days, the Son of God who knew no sin, suffered in the flesh, thus identifying Himself with all who live in the world of pain. More significantly, this inaugural suffering and bleeding, put Him in the same camp as those who don "sinful flesh"¹, for whom circumcision was an emblem of removing the reproach of sin². The corresponding inward mortification of the flesh was taught by the Hebrew prophets long before the Christian era:

"Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer."³

"And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." ⁴

"Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, And take away the foreskins of your hearts, You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury come forth like fire, And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings." ⁵

It is not apparent in New Testament writings that Jewish religious teachings during the time of Christ linked circumcision with death of the sinful self. However, the Mishna, compiled some 200 years after Christ, has a tractate, the Pesachim, containing the following saying:

"One who separates himself from his uncircumcision is like one who separates himself from the grave"⁶

Since the Mishna is a written compilation of oral tradition from as early as 400 BCE, it is quite probable that Jews during the time of Christ viewed circumcision, especially of proselytes, as death of the old self. Whatever the case, 'circumcision of the heart' in the OT finds its NT counterpart in Galatians, which talks of crucifying "the flesh with its passions and desires"^7.

We see then, that the NT picture of conversion is more radical - from circumcision to crucifixion, to drive home the point that one must completely die to sin in order to be raised to righteousness.

Christian baptism ties everything together perfectly:

1) Paul wrote of the complete surrender in baptism to God, by being crucified with Christ:

"knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin."⁸

By His crucifixion, Jesus truly "condemned sin in the flesh^"1, of which circumcision was merely a type. By our baptism, we identify ourselves with His crucifixion, thereby doing away with the body of sin.

2) Baptism is said to be circumcision accomplished in Christ, likewise a ridding of "the sins of the flesh".

" In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. "⁹

1.Rom 8:3 

2.Jos 5:9 

3.Deut 10:16 

4.Deut 30:6

5.Jer 4:4

6.Pes 91b 

7.Gal 5:24 

8.Rom 6:6 

9.Col 2:11-12