They came... to circumcise the child

Among the Hebrew people, circumcision, or the cutting off of the foreskin of the male sexual organ, is a religious ceremony which marks the person with the seal of the covenant.

- 

At the time of Jesus, it was performed on the eighth day after birth. Luke tells us about the circumcision of, and the giving of name to, both John and Jesus. Along with the Sabbath observance, circumcision was one of their most distinctive rites.

When Antiochus IV Epiphanes forbade circumcision and his agents put to death Jewish mothers who would circumcise their children, the women chose to die rather than give up circumcision (1 Mc 1:60-63). The rite became most important as a sign of fidelity. Most of the early believers in Christ were Jews. But when Christianity spread among the Gentiles, the decision was reached that circumcision was not obligatory.