Even In The Womb, Christ Was Both God And Man

Amid the tinsel and lights of the Christmas season, you may find Nativity displays on fireplace mantels, store shelves, and front lawns. Those displays remind us of Jesus as an infant, “wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” Many Christians think of this moment as the beginning of our Savior’s earthly presence as both God and man. But like every baby before and after Him, Jesus’s life on Earth in the flesh actually began months before birth.

The angel Gabriel explained how Jesus’s earthly life would begin when He told Mary she would miraculously conceive “the Son of God” while she was a virgin. After hearing this world-changing news, Mary went “with haste” to visit her relative, Elizabeth. When Mary greeted Elizabeth, the Bible reveals that Elizabeth was “filled with the Holy Spirit” and recognized the divinity of Jesus by referring to Mary as “the mother of my Lord.”

A close reading of Luke 1 strongly suggests that this meaningful exchange occurred during the embryonic period of Jesus’s development — before He was even old enough to be called a “fetus.” Yet Elizabeth called Him “my Lord” because that is exactly who He was even in that early stage of Mary’s pregnancy. Elizabeth also referred to Mary as a “mother” — not a “future mother” or “mother-to-be” — because motherhood begins the moment a child is conceived.

In response to Elizabeth’s profound statements, abortion supporters who are reluctant to acknowledge the humanity and value of children in the womb may be tempted to say: “But Jesus is special.” How very true! But while His divinity is unique, His humanity in the womb teaches us something about all mere mortals.

Our Savior did not begin living among us as an adult, a teenager, a toddler, or an infant. Instead, it is notable that our Lord decided to begin His human experience when science says all human lives begin. As geneticist Dr. Jérôme Lejeune put it, “Life has a very long history, but each of us has a very definite beginning — the moment of conception.”

Beyond Jesus’s decision to dwell with us as an unborn child and Elizabeth’s recognition of His Lordship during Mary’s first trimester of pregnancy, the Christmas story also highlights the precious humanity of children in the womb through its description of another unborn child.

When Mary visited Elizabeth, both women were pregnant. The child growing within Elizabeth was John the Baptist, who years later would see Jesus and say, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

While in the womb, John could not articulate such a powerful statement in the presence of his unborn Savior, but he could experience joy and respond to that emotion in a manner that is common among young children. And that’s exactly what he did. As the Bible explains, when Mary greeted Elizabeth, John “leaped in [Elizabeth’s] womb for joy.”

During this season, countless people read about these amazing pre-birth moments in the lives of Jesus and John while overlooking the lessons they