was also important in the land of Israel itself, as we know from Jesus’ regular attendance (Luke 4:16). Three facets of the law were particularly important by the time of Jesus—namely circumcision, the Sabbath and the food laws—and these were treated as ‘boundary markers’ which showed who truly belonged to the one true God. In circumcising baby boys on the eighth day a physical mark was being imposed on a child which identified him as Jewish, and the OT traces this ceremony back to Abraham, the father