The Gospel reading for yesterday, commemorating the Circumcision and Name of Jesus, was Luke 2:21, the shortest text in the Lectionary. (See our recent post on the subject.) In the course of an excellent sermon that explored the depths of this one verse of the Bible, our pastor cited the significance of “the eighth day.”
God created the universe in six days and on the seventh, He rested. Then on the eighth day, the creation began to unfold. Jesus rose from the dead on the day after the Sabbath; that is, the eighth day. Christians worship on Sunday, the eighth day, which is also the first day of a new week. With Christ’s resurrection on the eighth day, God has initiated a new creation. Those with faith in Christ are part of this new creation. Thus, very early, Baptismal fonts were made in the shape of an octagon, the eight sides symbolizing the eight days.