阅读经文 

我希望你不要变得神经紧张，但今天的话题重点是割礼，即割除包皮的礼仪。在北美，包皮环切术是相当普遍的，通常都是出于医疗原因。但在《圣经》中，割礼是与神有特殊关系的标志。

割礼始于亚伯拉罕和神与他所立的约。神应许要祝福亚伯拉罕，并透过他来祝福地上的万族。（参创 12:2-3）不仅如此，神吩咐说：“你们世世代代的男子……生下来第八日，都要受割礼。”（创 17:12）这是神对亚伯拉罕和他的后裔的期望。

福音书的作者马太在讲述耶稣的故事时，从亚伯拉罕开始讲家谱。因为耶稣是亚伯拉罕的后裔，所以耶稣是神与亚伯拉罕立约关系的一部分。所以耶稣在八天大的时候就受了割礼。

这就意味着，耶稣和我们一样是人，也会割掉祂身体的一部分。但祂不是来自任何地方的普通人。祂是犹太人，是亚伯拉罕的后裔。这使祂成为一个人类家族的一员，神将通过这个家族祝福所有其他的家族，包括你和我的家。

I hope you're not squeamish, but today's focus is circumcision, the cutting away of the foreskin. In North America, circumcision is fairly common. It's usually done for medical reasons. But in the Bible, circumcision is performed as a sign of a special relationship with God.

It begins with Abraham and the covenant that God makes with him. God promises to bless Abraham and to bless all the peoples of the world through him (Genesis 12:2-3). And there's more: "Every male among you [in your household] who is eight days old must be circumcised" (Genesis 17:12). That's what God expects from Abraham and his descendants.

When the gospel writer Matthew tells the story of Jesus, he begins with Abraham. Because Jesus is a descendant of Abraham, Jesus is part of the covenant relationship that God made with Abraham. So Jesus is circumcised when he is eight days old.

Here's what it adds up to. Jesus is as human as any of us, human enough to have part of his flesh cut away. But he is not just any human from anywhere. He is a Jew, a descendant of Abraham. And that makes him part of the one human family through whom God will bless all other human families, including yours and mine.