A NEW CIRCUMCISION

Circumcision of the flesh is a work of human hands (Eph 2:11). With one swipe of the flint knife, a young boy enters the divine covenant made with Abraham (Gen 17:9-14). According to the Torah, however, circumcision was not an end in itself. It was an outward sign of what the people of Israel were supposed to do on the inside: cut away the stubbornness of their hearts (Deut 10:16). Because sin and weakness made this impossible, Moses promised that the Lord himself would reach down and do for the Israelites what they could not do for themselves—circumcise their hearts (Deut 30:6). In Paul's mind, this is precisely what happens in Baptism, which is the circumcision of Christ "made without hands" (Col 2:11).

A NEW KINGDOM

The prophet Daniel was once called upon to interpret the dreams of the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar. In one of his dreams, the king saw a huge statue of a man made of various metals and clay (Dan 2:31-35). The statue was impressive to the sight, but the king saw a small stone cut out "by no human hand" (Dan 2:34) smash the statue into pieces and become a gigantic mountain that spread itself over the earth. In his interpretation, Daniel told the king that this stone was a new kingdom that God himself was about to establish that would pulverize the empires built by men and extend its dominion over the world (Dan 2:44-45). What Nebuchadnezzar had seen, in other words, was the messianic kingdom of God.

A NEW TEMPLE

The Temple in Jerusalem is a powerful sign of things eternal. According to the Book of Hebrews, this Israelite sanctuary was a model of the heavenly Temple above, a replica of the true sanctuary "not made with hands" (Heb 9:11) that Jesus entered once for all at his Ascension (Heb 9:24).

On a different level, Jesus linked the Temple with the mystery of his humanity: "Destroy this temple," he said, "and in three days I will raise it up" (Jn 2:19). His enemies misunderstood these words and at his trial accused him of threatening to demolish the Temple "made with hands", only to build another one just like it, though "not made with hands" (Mk 14:58). In fact, Jesus had not threatened to destroy the Jerusalem sanctuary, nor did he intend to build another in its place; rather, he had promised to raise up the temple of his human body in the Resurrection (Jn 2:21). This is a divine work beyond the ability of mere human hands. For Paul, the saints await the same hope of a resurrected body that is eternal and "not made with hands" (2 Cor 5:1).

A NEW JERUSALEM

What was true of the ancient Temple was true also of the city that encompassed it: it was an earthly sign of a heavenly reality. For centuries, the people of Israel looked to Jerusalem as the city where God was honored and worshiped in a special way (Ps 46:4-5). This was the one place in all the earth where God had chosen to make his presence dwell (Deut 12:11). Yet even Jerusalem was an earthly city built of stones that were hewn and stacked by human hands.

According to the Book of Hebrews, the saints of the Old Covenant searched in their hearts for something greater and more lasting. They looked for a better city (Heb 11:16), a city "whose builder and maker is God" (Heb 11:10). This city is the heavenly Jerusalem, where angels and saints gather for worship in the eternal presence of the Lord (Heb 12:22-23). « Back to 2 Corinthians 5:1.

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