In Utero Joy


 

The Christmas event is the story of a great mystery.  It’s the mind boggling drama of the Creator of the universe taking on a human nature.  The Son of God, born in Bethlehem, is now also the Son of Man.  But apart from that great mystery of the incarnation the Christmas story is surrounded by lots of smaller mysteries.

One of them is recorded for us in Luke’s gospel.  It’s the occasion when Mary, the young mother to be of our Lord goes to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who has conceived in her old age.  And then Doctor Luke records this interesting information about the meeting between the mother of John the Baptiser and the mother of our Lord: "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb...!" (Luke 1:41).

“Leaping in the womb” is quite a mystery too.  Within the limitations of the womb the scope for leaping is somewhat restricted – to say the least.  But seriously, the mothers among us must wonder sometimes what Elizabeth felt within her body when the yet-to-be born, John the Baptiser, did his little 'jig for joy' in the womb of his grandmotherly mother.

Today proud, expectant young parents still become awestruck by the first stirrings of new life.  I still recall as a young man, my wife being so excited that she just couldn't wait to tell me: "Darling, I distinctly felt the baby move for the first time.  It's beautiful."  And me?  Well, it wasn’t long before this eager young Dad puts his hand on his wife’s abdomen and felt a heel – or was it an elbow? – trace a tiny bump across the young mother's body.  Exciting stuff, this miracle... this mystery of new life!

But when these two mothers-to-be meet, things become even more of a miracle.  Elizabeth tells Mary that she felt movement too but then more like the little 'in-utero' John doing a rap dance of delight within the elastic confines of the womb.  Why?  Because of yet another mystery... another miracle.  This unborn child already recognizes something of the Christmas miracle: the coming of the Saviour of the world.

And that’s yet another element in this Christmas mystery that leaves us puzzled.  How did this pre-birth little human being know that the mother of his Lord and Saviour was at that moment visiting his own mum?

Interesting too, is that the one who tells us of John, in the womb, hearing and responding in this way, is Doctor Luke.  Yes, Luke, the gospel writer was a medical doctor.  For him it must have seemed somewhat of a gynaecological puzzle.  How can it be explained that a baby reacts in this way to an event ‘in the outside world’?  The only explanation Doctor Luke could come up with was in terms of the work of the Holy Spirit of God.

There is only one other place in the New Testament where this same word 'leap' is used.  The context there is strikingly different.  In His 'Sermon on the Plain' in Luke’s gospel, Jesus speaks to His followers about the persecution and rejection that will inevitably come from following Him.  And then Jesus adds, "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven" (Luke 6:23).

I come from a tradition where we are a little more sober-minded and cerebral and I, personally, am not given to leaping and dancing overly much.  And maybe you are like that too.  Well, relax!  In this Christmas story we are not commanded to celebrate the Christmas season the way that the pre-born John the Baptiser did.  What we read of John the Baptiser doing is descriptive and not prescriptive.

By all means imitate the pre-natal joy of John the Baptiser this Christmas – you’ll be in good company.  And the Christmas story – the coming of the Son of God in the flesh – is certainly worth celebrating with some sort of shoe-shuffle dance.  But let's especially do that when our following and obeying of the Christ-child gets us into trouble, just as it led to John the Baptiser losing his head for the sake of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  Leap for joy because the reward is better than any Christmas present.

May your time of preparing for Christmas be a blessed and joy-filled season.

John Westendorp
2MaxFM 8.12.2024

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dads

Image
  Recently two young men I know were both unexpectedly taken from this life.   Both had taken their roles as husbands and fathers seriously.   Both had young children still in primary school.   To say that their departures left a huge gap in their respective families would be a massive understatement.   It traumatised not only their immediate families.   Their wider families too were devastated by the loss of a brother, an uncle, a son.   So were the churches in which they had been seriously involved. My heart goes out to their widows.   Being a single mum is not for the faint-hearted – as some of you well know from experience.   I sympathise too with these children who will grow up without a Dad at home.   In such situations it’s always a blessing when an uncle or Granddad or some other significant male steps into the breach.   Of course what helps too is that in both instances this happened in Christian families and Christian ...
Read more

Work

Image
  Two recent experiences with tradesmen brought home two valuable lessons when it comes to our work ethic. Our kitchen sink had become blocked – again.   It was only a little over a year since that had previously happened.   I found myself wondering whether we had a structural problem with our plumbing that caused frequent blockages or whether the previous plumber had not done a very good job in clearing on the previous ocassion.   This plumber asked me, “John, do you want a cheap quick fix or do you want to try and deal with the cause of the problem – which will take a little longer and cost you a little more?”   That was a no brainer for me.   I wasn’t looking forward to annual visits from a plumber, just to keep our kitchen wastewater flowing into the sewers.   So we bit the bullet.   I found it absolutely staggering to see the gunk that our plumber pulled out of our wastewater drain.   Obviously the previous plumber had merely poked...
Read more

Lament...?!?

Image
You don’t need to read much of the Bible’s Psalms to appreciate the raw emotions portrayed by its song-writers.   There’s the whole gamut of emotions – from ecstatic joy, wonder and praise right through to profound sadness, grief and despair. For the former you only have to read the final Psalm which has a whole orchestra, complete with bells and whistles, to express the glorious praises of our God.   The final words from the Psalms are pertinent: “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.   Hallelujah.” For the latter, just begin with Psalm 3.   King David, persecuted by his own son, Absalom, laments: “Lord, how my foes increase!   There are many who attack me.”   Or what about the terrible sadness of Psalm 22?   It begins with words Jesus took on His lips as He suffered hellish agony on the cross, ”My God, my God, why have you abandoned me.” Speaking to one of my daughters recently, we agreed that these days we don’t do laments very well. ...
Read more