What did Jesus say about circumcision?

Yet the people in general were not aware how far hatred was impelling the leaders, and had no suspicion that they were bent on the death of Jesus. "The crowd answered, Thou hast a demon: who seeketh to kill Thee? Jesus answered and said to them, One work I did, and ye all wonder because of this.141 Moses hath given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers), and on a sabbath ye circumcise a man. If a man receiveth circumcision on a sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken, are ye angry at Me because I made a man entirely sound on a sabbath?" (verses 20-23). In their ignorance the crowd spoke with rash irreverence and violence against the Lord, Who stops not to notice it, but draws attention to the absurdity of their quarrelling as well as of wondering at one work of His, the cure of the infirm at Bethesda on the sabbath. Yet it was a common matter of course to circumcise a male child on the eighth day spite of its being a sabbath, and this in honour of the law of Moses, though, in fact, circumcision was rather of the fathers. The Lord closes His reproof with an exhortation which touches the root of their cavils, "Judge not according to sight, but judge the righteous judgment" (verse 24). They had not brought in God, and were consequently wrong, not on the surface merely, but altogether. If the readings (as in Tischendorf's text) be κρίνετε … κρίνατε, the first warns against the evil habit in general, the second urges the righteous judgment they should follow on this occasion. It is clear that one wants Divine guidance, if we are not to judge according to appearance; but that is what God is so willing to vouchsafe His children, not teaching only, but direction and judgment. Knowing all, He knows also how to communicate what is needed by His own.

Now the Lord (v. 21) refers back to His miracle of John 5:8-9, a work that caused all the Jews to marvel. He reminds them that Moses, the lawgiver, had confirmed that which was introduced in the days of Abraham (Gen. 17:9-12), that is, the rite of circumcision required for every male in Israel. This surgery was in many cases rightly performed on the sabbath day: otherwise the law of Moses would be broken. The Jews were careful about this; but when Christ, in pure grace, healed on the Sabbath day, they were angry to the point of plotting His death (v. 23)! Certainly circumcision required actual physical work, which in fact was not the case in the Lord's healing mercy. How could the Jews possibly justify their objection to such goodness?

(2) He turns now openly upon His adversaries, to warn them how thoroughly the law to which they clung witnessed against them. He charges them plainly with their murderous designs upon His life; a charge which the Galileans, ignorant of what the Judeans were meditating, impute to the diseased fancies of a demoniac. The Lord goes back to the miracle which had aroused their malignant animosity. Circumcision, though incorporated by Moses in the law he gave, was yet not what came from Moses but from the fathers; it had another character, in fact, from law, as connected with those through whom God in His grace gave them the promises. Thus circumcision itself is by the apostle afterwards (Rom. 4:11) shown to be the seal of the righteousness of faith in Abraham; and he receives it when his body is now dead and fruit from him naturally impossible, the very time of its reception thus corresponding with its spiritual meaning. This circumcision then, belonging to a period before law, and in its meaning the very opposite, is by the law itself preferred to the law, — that is, the commandment of the sabbath. Thus grace had, by the law itself, precedence above the law.

John 7:21-24. The Lord is silent in the presence of this violent and wicked charge. Nevertheless, He condemns them for their folly and hypocrisy. In condemning Him for doing a good work, in making a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day, they condemned themselves for doing the work of circumcision on the Sabbath. Then the Lord exposes the rest of their false judgment. They had judged according to appearances and without divine guidance. Righteous judgment can only be arrived at by seeking the will of God.

At this point the multitude break in. Strangers themselves in Jerusalem, unacquainted with the design of the Jews, they accuse the Lord, saying, "Thou hast a devil [rather, demon]: who goes about to kill Thee" (20) — an awful speech to make to the Son of God. But it was not the last time that in Jerusalem He was to be thus assailed. In the riches of His grace He passed this by, and quietly stated, what furnished the Jews, as they thought, with grounds for their iniquitous design. The impotent man, healed in Jerusalem on the Sabbath months before, the Jews had never forgotten, nor forgiven; and, therefore, they would still seek His life, on the pretext that He had broken the Sabbath — a senseless accusation, which the Lord exposes. Were not children circumcised on the Sabbath to preserve them from death? The circumcision was no offence against the fourth commandment. Who then could charge Him with being a law-breaker, because He had healed a man on the Sabbath? Who could answer this? The Jews did not attempt it. To condemn Him for healing that man was not righteous judgment.

Let none suppose that circumcision is necessarily a legal thing. In the connection in which it is put here it is the concomitant of grace — the sign of flesh's mortification. Undoubtedly it was incorporated into the law when that system was afterwards imposed; but in itself, as our Lord Himself shows, it was not of Moses, but of the fathers; and as being of the fathers — of Abraham — it was, as we see here, an emblem significant of the putting flesh to death. God would have it dealt with as an unclean thing; and certainly this is not law. It may be turned to legalism as anything else; but in this case it is rather in contrast with law. It means flesh judged, which is the true spiritual meaning of that which God then instituted.

"Jesus answered, and said to them"; generally now, and explanatory, so as, continuing the general bearing of His discourse, He should bring them all in, they not having wished to kill Him: "I have done one work, and ye all marvel." In this state they perished, as it is written, as before, now including all, and His works as well as words: "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days," etc. "Moses" (to him they looked) "gave you circumcision, not from himself but from the fathers; and ye circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If therefore a man receive circumcision on the Sabbath, that Moses' law" (on this they rested, not the promises or covenant in it), "be not broken, are ye angry with me because I have made the whole man sound on the Sabbath? Judge not according to sight, but judge righteously," about these things.

The Lord then asks why they were angry at Him for what He had done. He had healed the poor cripple, who, for thirty and eight years, at the pool of Bethesda, had known nought but disappointment. "If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken, are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day?" In the fifth chapter we are told, "My Father works hitherto, and I work" (ver. 17). How could God rest in a world of sin — in a world where evil was rampant, Satan ruling, death governing, and man miserable and wretched? How could God rest here? His nature of love made it impossible, hence "My Father works hitherto, and I work." That is all Christ's answer. You cannot shut up the bowels of God, you cannot stop the outflow of His grace and goodness, and so here, the Son of the Father, the blessed living expression of the unspeakable grace that fills the heart of God, says, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." The result is that there was a good deal more discussion with regard to Him, and then the Pharisees sent officers to take Him. They determined they would kill Him, but did not know how to manage it. No man laid hands on Him because "his hour was not yet come" — the hour when He was to lay down His life for the glory of God, for man's salvation, the putting away of sin, and the destruction of the power of Satan.

For the people, however, Moses was the test, and judged by that all were guilty. Jesus knew they sought to kill Him, and here was a most flagrant violation of Moses' law. The crowd repudiated what He said, and it is possible they were ignorant of the devices of their leaders; but they showed their animosity by the terrible charge that He had a demon. Jesus replied by referring to the miracle of John 5, performed on His previous visit to Jerusalem, and by showing them how unrighteous and superficial their judgments were by their practices in regard to circumcision. Others intervened at this point, and by their remarks corroborated the Lord's assertion of their murderous intent and overthrew the people's repudiation of it. Yet they did not believe in Him; they were stumbled by imagining they knew His human origin. Still the reality of things was made clear by these men thus cancelling each other out.

Therefore: “About the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.” The Jews are astonished at His ability to teach, and say: “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” His answer is: “My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me.” Here, as everywhere else, He keeps before His hearers the important fact that they had to do with God. He spoke the words of God; and the words He spoke became a test of their spiritual condition, as to whether they were in any measure disposed to hearken to God’s voice, and to do the things He commanded. He says: “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak from Myself.” But after all, what were they but transgressors and murderers? And their inconsistent verdict against Himself only proved themselves to be judges having evil thoughts. They condemned Him for speaking a word that made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath, and yet practised circumcision on that day, that they might keep the law of Moses. Their lifeless ritual was of more importance to them than were judgment, mercy, and the love of God. But, as He tells them in the next chapter, they were of their father the devil, though their vain boast was that they had one Father, even God. He spoke that which He had seen with His Father, and they did that which they had seen with their father; they came out in his characteristics. He was a liar and a murderer, and so were they.