God through Joseph preserves Jesus. Sadly, in our world, it is through lots of Josephs and Marys that the lives of babies are snuffed out.
Have you ever noticed the protocol followed when dignitaries travel? Tight security, meticulous planning so that there are minimum challenges and maximum efficiency. Now think about the Christmas story. The highest dignitary, the Royal of royals was to be born. Yet on first reading, we encounter multiple obstacles presenting itself in the birth of the Messiah. God could have given a green light and ensured Jesus a hassle-free passage into this world. But that’s not how God intended it to be. One takeaway I hold is that there are teachable moments from our Heavenly Father hidden in the story for us. This article explores one such instance - Christmas screams pro-life!
The discourse surrounding abortion heavily sides with the rights of the woman. ‘Her choice’ is given precedence over all else. The reasons to abort vary from physical and mental incapacity, hindrance to career prospects, and economic infeasibility among others. Let’s consider the virgin birth.
Mary had been betrothed to Joseph at this point. Like most young women, Mary may have had a certain imagination of her future with her husband. Yet in the middle of all of this, she is visited by the angel, a highly unusual and unexpected experience, only to be told that she has been chosen and tasked to birth and nurture the incarnate God.
We may not know the thoughts that ran through Mary’s head. Imagine Mary saying, “I don’t want this responsibility, I am not ready to deal with this”. She could have said that this would ruin her relationship with Joseph (which it almost did!). Her reputation in society could be tarnished for who was really going to believe that it was a virgin birth after all. But what we know for certain is that she accepted that which God had in store in obedience. God had already through prophets of old spoken of the purpose and plan that He was going to fulfill through this Child.
This baby was to be the Messiah of all the world who would save the people from their sins (Genesis 3:15). He would be adorned in attributes given to God alone, and He would establish His government and rule forevermore (Isaiah 9:6-7). God also had a name chosen for this baby before His birth - Jesus (Luke 1:31).
The pro-choice argument says that ‘it’s only a clump of cells’ when it is in the womb in an attempt to dehumanize the baby and render it purposeless. But from the Christmas story, we clearly see that God had a plan for the life of Jesus even before His birth. There’s a unique identity and mission assigned to the Child. This stands true for me and you as well.
Have you noticed how those who are pro-abortion use the words ‘embryo’ or ‘fetus’ more readily to refer to the child in the womb rather than the word baby? This is often done in an attempt to subtly convey that ‘whatever is in the womb is insignificant’. The root word for fetus in Latin means offspring. The irony! When Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth we are told that the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leapt with joy upon hearing Mary’s voice (Luke 1:39-45). We see that baby John in the womb had emotions and sensations. This child is already communicating with the outside world!
A gruesome picture in the birth story of Jesus is presented in Matthew 2:13-18. A threatened King Herod in an attempt to save his throne kills all the male children two years and under. The despicable act of this man, in slaughtering babies, is the personification of evil. Truly he’s got the wrath of the society. Let’s juxtapose this with abortion. Why does the sound of disapproval quieten? If killing innocent babies was a cruel act done by Herod, what changes when it is performed in the womb in the name of an abortion?
God through Joseph preserves Jesus. Sadly, in our world, it is through lots of Josephs and Marys that the lives of babies are snuffed out. Imagine the course of our world in a plotline where Mary would want to abort her child or if Joseph would insist on Mary aborting the child. This is not to suggest that we are capable of foiling God’s plan. We are not. Rather it is to make you think of the implications of our choices in God’s grand scheme of things.
This Christmas I pray that your heart gets touched so that you may clearly see the value that God places in life - life that begins at conception. A life already filled with meaning and purpose. We stand pro-life because God is pro-life. He demonstrated that in His very birth.
Comments ()