www.forerunner.com/abortionmatrix/abortionmatrix.html But it is what happened next that provides us with the most powerful and irrefutable argument for the personhood and sanctity of pre-born life. In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. (Luke 1: 39-44) Note several things here: First, Jesus at this moment was well within the first trimester of His development as a fetus; perhaps only just a few weeks or even a few days old. Second, when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting her baby, John, the one who would serve to prepare the way for Jesus, moved in some dramatic way while she was simultaneously filled with the Holy Spirit. Now another verse of scripture comes into play here. When an angel announced to Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband and John's dad, the miraculous conception of John, God's messenger declared something very unusual: "...he (John) will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb." (Luke 1:15) Likely the in-utero John was filled with the Holy Spirit at same moment his mother was: when they heard the voice of Mary, pregnant with the very, very small, developing Jesus. Now a few critically important things need to be understood here. First, only humans, as image-bearers of God, can be vessels of the Holy Spirit. The in-utero John, as just such a vessel, was recognized by God Himself as being fully human. Note also that the scriptures refer here to John as the "baby" -- the Greek word brephos -- that leaped in the womb. In the next chapter of Luke, it refers again to a baby, a brephos, but this time it is Jesus, born and now lying in a manger. (Show: "And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby (brephos) lying in a manger." Luke 2: 16) In-utero or extra-utero. it makes no difference. We're still talking about a baby, a fact that if we are honest with ourselves is still the way we refer to the pre-born today. The documentary film Lake of Fire provided a startling insight into this simple truth...as well as the mental gymnastics people who support abortion have to undergo to deny it. Famed attorney, liberal activist and abortion support Alan Dershowitz: [CLIP]. So according to this so-called logic -- one that plays a big part in the abortion-on-demand movement -- an in-utero person doesn't really exist until her parents recognize her personhood and want her to exist. Talk about man playing God! Back to the in-utero John being filled with the Holy Spirit: we can also see a surprising degree of sentience here on his part. John leapt because he recognized and understood at some deep, pre-rational level the presence of Mary and Jesus -- a fact that modern neonatologists now recognize from a developmental perspective. In-utero children are far more aware of the world both inside and outside the womb than we would have every imagined -- making abortion an even greater abomination. Lastly, note again what Elizabeth said to Mary: And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (Luke 1:43) Elizabeth didn't say "future mother" or "mother of the one who will one day be my Lord." Everything was emphatically present tense. Mary was a mother -- "with child" is the common expression -- and the Lord Jesus Christ was as fully present at that moment as He was when the Apostle Thomas said almost the same words as he beheld the wounds of the resurrected Christ: "My Lord and my God." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). And there are other verses in scripture that make the full humanity of the pre-born child just as clear: "For Thou didst form my inward parts. Thou didst weave me in My mother's womb. I will give thanks to Thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalms 139:13). "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born I consecrated you" (Jeremiah 1:5). "... the Lord who made you and formed you in the womb ..." (Isaiah 44:2). According to Scripture, abortion is a sin against God - a violation of the sixth commandment, "You shall not murder." It is the wanton killing of innocent human life in the womb - a place designed by God to be a refuge of life and mercy. And that is precisely why in the Didache -- a pastoral manual that represents the early Church's understanding and practice concerning everything from baptism to the Eucharist clearly stated:"...thou shalt not procure abortion, nor commit infanticide." (Didache 2:2)

Be the first to comment