On January 28, the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, I was asked to preach a message to a congregation celebrating Life Sunday. The text I chose was Luke 4:31-44. In that narrative Jesus begins His ministry in Capernaum after having previously been driven out of His hometown, Nazareth. In this text Jesus teaches at the synagogue, casts out evil spirits, and heals the sick (including Peter’s mother-in-law). It occurred to me that the contrasts described in this text were incredible! For example, there’s a stark difference in how the people of Nazareth treated Jesus verses the reception He received in Capernaum. This text also points out huge differences between good and evil, between people (and unclean spirits) with a focus on self versus those having the Lord at their center.
Today we face this same dichotomy. The classic battle between good and evil goes on. Though our Savior has won the war with His suffering, death, and resurrection, the forces of anarchy and death still battle the Church today and will continue to do so until the end of time. On one side, the forces of darkness won’t let anyone stand in their way of getting what they desire. Life is cheap for them, especially the lives of the weak and defenseless. The principle of autonomy rules today’s medicine. Each person is entitled to say what happens to their own body. An important drawback to this me-centered viewpoint is that defenseless human life is very poorly protected. The rights of a competent person are secured, but those people who cannot speak for themselves, either at the beginning or at the end of life, are sometimes deemed to have little value because they can’t interact with society or be productive individuals.
We humans are selfish by nature and want to push out of our way anyone who might cause us inconvenience or discomfort. Our society mirrors that thinking. Those of us who study life issues are concerned about the lack of respect for human life in our culture. It was about 34 years ago that the Supreme Court issued the Roe v. Wade (1973) decision making abortion on demand legal in this country. In November 2006, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported abortion statistics for 2003 (1). A total of 848,163 legal induced abortions were reported to the CDC for 2003. That works out to about 24 abortions per 100 live births and 16 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years. Based on this data, Pastor Robert Fleischmann of Christian Life Resources estimates that abortion has taken approximately 39.7 million defenseless lives since 1973 (2). Just think how many Albert Einsteins or Brett Favres were tossed into medical waste during that time!
An article appearing in the September 1, 2005, issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health did a survey of over 1,000 abortion patients on reasons why they sought abortions. The top two reasons for abortions were: “having a baby would dramatically change my life” (74 percent), and “can’t afford a baby now” (73 percent) (3). Fleischmann comments on these abortion figures: “As I researched these statistics I could not help but think of the passage, ‘Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold’ (Matthew 24:12). Abortion represents a worship of the pagan god of ‘self.’ Without thought of the Author of Life, people presume their own authority to kill. Most disturbing, however, is the apathy of those who know better” (4).
But abortion isn’t the only example of contemporary society sacrificing the defenseless for self-serving reasons. Many scientists have little problem destroying five-day old human embryos to make embryonic stem cells. Even though no treatments have ever come from embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells have already been used to treat about 70 diseases, researchers continue to press Congress and President Bush to use our tax dollars to fund embryonic stem cell research. The scientists’ argument is heart-rending. They promise they can treat many incurable diseases like diabetes, heart disease, nerve damage, and many others. However, for a Christian it is never acceptable to do evil to cause good—to sacrifice innocent lives for the dream of curing others (Romans 3:8).
In contrast to the worldview that some human life is cheap and that personal autonomy is all-important is the perspective championed by our Savior, who became flesh and blood to save us from our sin, death, and the devil. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14a). He is both “very God of very God” and “was made man” (5). His divine nature reveals much about God, but His human nature also tells us much about true humanity. His flesh and blood is the same as ours except without sin as we read in Hebrews 4:15, “Or we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.”
Jesus’ incarnation speaks volumes about bioethics issues like human embryonic stem cell research. Jesus’ humanity began when He was “conceived by the Holy Spirit” (6). From conception Jesus was fully God and fully man. We often forget that Jesus’ existence here on earth as true man began, not with His birth, but with His conception by the Holy Spirit. This has always been a consistent teaching of the Christian Church. Although Christ’s birth was a miraculous event, He entered into this world like we do, as a one-celled embryo. Jesus was still an early embryo when Mary visited Elizabeth (Luke 1:39ff). In verse 43, Elizabeth calls Mary “the mother of my Lord.” Jesus was certainly a human person of inestimable worth from His conception onward. Since Jesus was true man, it makes a lot of sense that we too are valuable human persons at the time of our conception.
Scientists argue, “Why can’t we sacrifice an insignificant little embryo to save the life of someone dying from an incurable disease?” Christians must respond that human beings are persons from conception onward and therefore should be respected as such. We cannot sacrifice innocent human lives for the unrealized hope of saving other human lives. Adult stem cell research is a highly successful alternative to the moral dilemmas presented by the destruction of embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells have recently been discovered in the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby during pregnancy (7). Researchers have indicated that those cells may be as powerful as embryonic stem cells in their ability to form different types of tissues. Charles Krauthammer, a well-known columnist, remarks: “The cells are just floating there, as if waiting for science to discover them” (8).
Events surrounding Jesus’ incarnation also help us to understand more fully bioethics issues such as abortion. As Mary greeted Elizabeth, her baby, John the Baptist, leaped for joy in her womb (Luke 1:41, 44). The simple fact that a six-month old baby was able to respond to the Lord speaks volumes about the awesomeness of the unborn state, much of which is still not well understood. The Greek word used for “baby” in this verse is brephos. Arthur Just, Jr., states that this same term occurs eight times in the New Testament, referring to John the Baptist in the womb, Jesus after birth, to young children brought to Jesus, and to newborn babies. So children are called brephos before and after birth. According to Just, “The biblical usage of this term has important ramifications for human-life issues. It supports—even mandates—a concern for the sanctity of human life from conception onward and makes disregard for such life morally reprehensible” (9).
The incarnation and events surrounding the incarnation strongly support the view that all unborn human life has intrinsic value. From the Bible’s understanding of life, babies both before and after birth are equally valued in God’s sight. Jesus was a human being, a person, from the time of His conception and so are we. As I prepared for my sermon on the beginnings of Jesus’ teaching and healing ministry in Capernaum, I was reminded again how our Lord defended the defenseless. The chronically ill and demoniacs were the dregs of the ancient world, but Jesus helped and restored them. Our Lord faced setbacks, but He continued to bring the Word of life and healing to many. Though the pro-life community may suffer reverses, like the passage of the Missouri constitutional amendment allowing embryonic stem cell research and human cloning, we cannot give up the effort to fight for the unborn so that all humans are recognized as persons, beings valuable in and of themselves.
Rev. Dr. Kevin Voss is Director of the Concordia Bioethics Institute and Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University, Mequon, Wisconsin.
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Lilo T. Strauss, et al, “Abortion Surveillance—United States, 2003,” MMWR Surveillance Summaries 55(SS11) (November 24, 2006): 1-32. Available online at www.cdc.gov/mmwr.
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Robert Fleischmann, “Voices Unheard,” Clearly Caring 27, no. 1 (2007): 4-6.
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Lawrence B. Finer, et al, “Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives,” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 37, no. 3 (September 2005): 110-118.
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Fleischmann, p. 6.
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The Nicene Creed.
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The Apostles’ Creed, Second Article.
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Paolo De Coppi, et al, “Isolation of Amniotic Stem Cell Lines with Potential for Therapy,” Nature Biotechnology 25 (2007): 100-106. Available online at www.nature.com.
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Charles Krauthammer, “Stem Cells and the Moral Line,” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 13 January 2007, 9A.
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Jonathan F. Grothe, ed., Concordia Commentary, Luke 1:1—9:50 by Arthur A. Just, Jr. (St. Louis: CPH, 1996), 73.