READINGS 11, 12&13-Circumcision of the Lord-Continued from page 7
redaction of the Fourth Eucharistic Prayer of the Latin Church after the Vatican II Council.
Some Churches maintained and even suggested to accomplish the circumcision as a sign of imitation of Jesus Christ who was circumcised as a subject of the Law [Galatians 4:4]. This is the case for the Coptic and Ethiopian Churches, but also the Anglican and Episcopalian Churches. On the other hand, the Greek Orthodox and Byzantine Churches would not perform this ritual, taking into account the decision of the First Synod of Jerusalem and the words of James [Yakov] the first bishop of Jerusalem recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: "My sentence is this, that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles turn to God" [15:19], after a quarrel between the Pharisees and the Disciples. And Peter declared: "Why do you tempt God to put a yoke upon the neck of the Discples which neither our father nor we be able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they." [15:10-11]
In the Epistle to the Romans, Saint Paul insists on the fact that the circumcision is absolutely not necessary [ch. 2 and throughout the Epistle, Galatians...]. It is said that in this way he opened the way to the acceptance of the Non-Jews who were sometimes proselytes but reluctant to be circumcized.
Within the course of the renewal that happened in the former Soviet Union, many Jews were not circumcised. The Orthodox Churches prohibited the Orthodox faithful to receive this sign in their flesh, although they used to recall the Lord's Sign of the Covenant on the first day of the year. This might be also due to the mutual "excommunication" or "schism" between the Jewish Communities and Christianity.
It might be useful to consider, though, some specific aspects of this question. Jesus Christ's Blood was shed twice in his life: first at His circumcision and then on the Cross. In both cases He offered Himself for the salvation of the entire humankind. A Jewish boy is circumcised on his eighth day of existence, which is a symbol of going beyond the seven natural days of the week, in some way a sign of the resurrection and everlasting life. The act is performed by using a lyre as David's instrument with eight cords as a sign of supernatural joy.
Moreover, Saint Paul mainly wrote to the Gentiles and his epistles might suggest that he was conforming his attitude to the decision of the first Synod of Jerusalem mentioned above. On the other hand, he obliged Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess and father a Gentile, to be circumcised before being installed at the head of the community of Lystra. Paul "took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters." [Acts of the Apostles 16:1-3]
The huge amount of Former Soviet newcomers to Israel in the past decade questions the Church of Christ positively. It should be considered whether the need of the Orthodox to undergo circumcision is still pending for Christians of Jewish origin. No Church since the end of the second century has met the reality of Apostolic times. There were two branches within the One Church: The Church of the Circumcision and the Church of the Gentiles. And it should be noted that the first bishop of Jerusalem never wrote to the Jews or forbade them to be faithful to the Law as Jesus Himself always remained and even accomplished it to the fullest. He addressed the Gentiles and this should be a positive reflection of the present Church, especially since the ingathering of the Children of the Covenant of Israel.
The only real problem is that which faced Saint Paul: to be freed from bondage and slavery and to be as he did himself: "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the Law, as under the Law, that I might gain them that are under the Law; to them that are without Law, as without Law [being not without Law to God, but under the Law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without Law. [1 Corinthians 9:19-21]
The beauty of the Orthodox Church tradition is to inculturate the message of Jesus Christ and this draws us back to the first Christians in order to achieve in our generation the fullness of salvation.
3. THE THEOPHANY OF THE LORD
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