Leaped

 The baby in my womb leaped for joy.   Luke 1.44

That’s what Elizabeth said to Mary when they met.

Elizabeth’s baby was John the Baptist.

He evidently started his career early.

We know babies in the womb can see and hear and react to sound and light. Consider a child in his mother’s womb in the latter stages of pregnancy. Even before birth, he learns to recognise the voice of the father and mother.

It was the same way with John the Baptist.

His whole purpose in life was to point people to Jesus.

He came to prepare the way to the Lord.

He leaped for joy inside his mother’s womb, meaning he did that kind of prenatal cartwheel all pregnant mothers understand.

When God filled Elizabeth with the Spirit, her baby leaped within her for joy. Why should this surprise us? The God who can conceive Jesus within Mary’s womb can also cause John the Baptist to leap for joy inside Elizabeth’s womb. The miracle would have been a great consolation to Mary in her difficult circumstances. John was unaware of the meaning of his movement, yet his leaping was inspired by the Lord. The Holy Spirit was at work within him even before he was born.

Does Jesus seem far away to you?

Do you wonder if He really understands?

This passage (Luke 1.39.44) is part of God’s answer to you. One writer put it this way,

Two babies meet while still in the womb of their mothers and the Holy Spirit bears witness between them. God comes into the womb of a woman and so identifies with humankind in our weakest, and most vulnerable condition.   (Presbyterian Pro-Life Monthly, 2009)

This passage shines a light on Christmas because it means our Lord was part of the human race from conception. He was born on Christmas, but His human life began nine months earlier. He was truly a Saviour who became like us even before He was born.

Consider that the Lord you worship was once an embryo in Mary’s womb.

How weak, how frail the Saviour appears.

How great a distance the Son must travel to enter our world.

He is truly Immanuel, God with us.

Lord Jesus, may I never take for granted the miracle of Your entrance into our world. In Jesus' name, Amen