We have heard baptism described as “an outward expression of an inward reality.” For Jewish peoples, both modern and ancient, I think the intention behind circumcision is similar. Inside Judaism, it is meant to be a physical sign of a spiritual commitment.
In Deuteronomy, Moses says to the Israelites about to enter into the Promised Land: “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer” (10:16).
Sound familiar?
This idea of the circumcision of the heart is repeated again in Deuteronomy 30, as well as in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Scripture uses the phrase “stiff-necked people,” meaning stubborn and unwilling to submit, six times throughout the Old and New Testaments.
In these verses in Acts 7, Stephen is speaking directly to the Jewish authorities. They know exactly the Scriptures he is referencing and exactly what he is accusing them of:
You may look like you follow God, but you do not act like it. You are falling into the same mistakes and patterns your leaders made before you, and you can’t even recognize that it is happening.
The reality is, I am not so different. I can hold tightly to my own opinions or traditions and forget that God wants a heart that is fully responsive to Him—the same kind of heart Stephen challenges us to have, the heart he was willing to die for.
God calls us to “circumcise our hearts,” to remove the stubbornness that blocks His work in our lives. Today, let us not be stiff-necked. Let us allow Him to soften our hearts so that our outward actions reflect the inward reality of His Spirit at work within us.