Romans 4:12

Romans 4:12

Continuing my analogy from yesterday, I wouldn't feel honored if my children and grandchildren all took copies of my diploma, replaced my name with theirs, and displayed them in a prominent place on their own walls. The diploma doesn't mean anything without the achievement it recognizes and circumcision doesn't mean anything without the faith it celebrates. The Pharisees of Jesus' time were descendants of Abraham and very ready to boast of that relationship and their circumcision and their obedience to the Law. Yet Jesus' response emphasizes their separation between Abraham's faith and the sign of that faith (Jn 8:39). The Pharisees' interaction with Jesus focused on the circumcision and physical descendance from Abraham with a possible aside of faith in God. What should be the focus, according to Jn 8:39 and Rom 4:12, is the faith and the relationship with God, whether or not it is followed with circumcision.