In this passage about Elizabeth’s unborn child, John the Baptist, the word “baby” is used to describe Jesus while He was still in His mother’s womb. What Luke is doing is treating this child in the womb as a person. He uses the word baby which he later uses for Jesus in the manger. He uses the word joy, which is what persons feel. He uses the phrase “filled with the Spirit” which is what God does to persons. He simply assumes he is dealing with a human person in the womb. And therefore so should we.
It is the forming of a human person in God’s own image who will live forever. Let there be at Bethlehem, and beyond, a joyful, grateful reverence for the gift of human life from conception to eternity. Never cease to be amazed at the gift of life—the gift of children.
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