Babies Speak Out!

We know of the famous contemporary babies born during the first Christmas – Jesus and John. They were special babies born after angelic announcements. But have we ever thought about the unnamed contemporary babies born in that same time and space, but who were not privileged ones like these two? Let’s spend some time pondering about the Christmas Babies!

Baby Jesus had a Righteous Dad

I admire Joseph, the foster father of Jesus who was termed righteous (Matthew 1:19) for many reasons. He accepted his virgin wife who got pregnant mysteriously. He there after executed his responsibility of a dad to baby Jesus, fulfilling  every detail. He respected Mary by not having a union with her until baby Jesus was born (v. 25). In the meantime, he went from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register with Mary, who was fully pregnant with baby Jesus (Luke 2:4). After the baby was born, he took them both and made an emergency exit to Egypt during a night (Mathew 2:13-14). After some time, he again took the two of them back to Nazareth (2:20-21). Joseph executed his responsibilities in raising baby Jesus who was in no way his child. Dads today find their model in Joseph in raising up their own children!

Mary and Joseph brought up Jesus according to the Mosaic law. When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: a pair of doves or two young pigeons (Luke 2:22-24). They got the baby blessed by children of God like, Simeon and Anna (2:25-32, 37-38).

Even as a child, Jesus was in his heavenly Father’s business in the temple (Luke 2:49). He was obedient to his parents. He grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men (v. 51-52). Later during Jesus’ ministry a woman commended mother Mary as: "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." (11:27). Jesus had poor parents, but they were a blessing to Him.

Baby John had a Priest Dad

Mary and Joseph were from the so-called laity parental context. But baby John was raised by parents who were in ministry, Zechariah and Elizabeth. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly (Luke 1:5-6). Both parents were filled with the Holy Spirit (41, 67). No wonder baby John was filled with the Holy Spirit even when he was in his mother’s womb (v.15).

I like Zechariah the way he pronounced blessing on his child (Luke 1:76-79). True to the blessing of Zechariah, John later was commended by none other than Jesus as: " I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (Luke 7: 28). We learn from Zechariah the need to bless children in an audible manner.

Babies in Bethlehem had a Killer Herod

In his pursuit to kill baby Jesus, evil king Herod butchered the boy babies under the age of two in the small town of Bethlehem. I guess, the Roman soldiers in their killing spree would not have stopped to enquire the age of the baby or even the sex of the baby. So a reasonable number of innocent babies were killed on that fateful day.

Even today, innumerable innocent babies are killed in the name of abortion, many a times, because of immoral life styles. Even educated parents are unwise in planning a pregnancy and they so easily abort their baby, without realizing the worth of the baby’s life. Worst of all, some parents abort girl babies. There are many places in India where girl babies are killed after their birth, brutally. Some parents though they may not literally kill their children, they are ruining their lives by being bad role-models. None of these parents are in anyway better than the wicked Herod.

Parents can either raise or ruin a child’s future. What sort of a parent am I?  Are our children privileged to have blessed parents like how Jesus and John had? 

I pray and wish that the Herodic schemes of killing children in brutal and subtle ways would be given up. I want to involve in all ways possible to prevent abortion of babies and brutal killing of girl babies in my own context.