Jesus Was Once An Unborn Baby
Christian theology historically confesses that Jesus is both truly God and truly man. While there are aspects of this union that are certainly mysterious, the Scripture is clear. The apostle John wrote, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). The Word, who was God and was with God in the beginning, took on flesh to dwell among us.
John uses a term that hearkened back to the tabernacle in the wilderness where Israel met with God. Rather than temples made with human hands, Jesus is the temple (John 2:19). Rather than access to God's presence being confined to a place, access is now available through a Person. God came to us in the Person of Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul confessed the same theology in Philippians 2. In the perfect union of Divinity and Humanity, Jesus didn't lose any of His unchangeable divinity, rather He took to Himself a mutable human nature. He "emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7). Perfect access to God is available through Jesus Christ because Jesus is the God we seek access to.
Theologians have called this doctrine the "hypostatic union." Jesus is one person with two perfectly united natures, both human and divine. While this is certainly mysterious, the Bible teaches us that Jesus, the God-man, came to live, die, and rise again. But before any of that occurred, Jesus was in the womb.
Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Luke's gospel records that an angel came to Mary and announced that, though she was a virgin, she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit (see Luke 1:26-38). God became an unborn baby, a fetus in the womb. What a wonderous thought!
God taking on flesh declared His love for humanity. He shares our nature in order to make our natures holy. As the author of Hebrews writes, "For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source" (Hebrews 2:11). God descending to earth showed His infinite love for humanity. What does it say that He descended into a womb?
Jesus descended from Heaven to the womb to declare His love for the unborn, to recognize the sacred calling of motherhood, and to make it clear that the womb is a holy place. Jesus was once a fetus, an unborn baby, thus unborn babies are fully human just as He is. Motherhood is sacred. In fact, God's plan to save the world was through motherhood (1 Timothy 2:15)! The True Temple took up residence inside a womb, and everywhere Jesus ever lives is holy ground.
What could better frame our perspective on the unborn and motherhood than that Jesus was once an unborn baby in His mothers womb? Therefore, whether unplanned or socially disadvantaged, we cannot deny the reality that what dwells inside a mother's womb is infinitely valuable, alive, and worthy of love and protection. Mary and Joseph didn't have all the answers, but they knew "that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20). Jesus is our guide to protect and cherish what He called holy. May God's people continue to celebrate and advocate for the blessings of motherhood and life in the womb.