The Motherhood of the Sons and Daughters of God

     My wife gave me a perspective that I just wouldn't have thought of on my own.  You see, we had a baby girl three months ago.  She is beautiful and a wonderful addition to our lives.  The pregnancy itself is what gave her this new perspective. My wife said when she was pregnant with her, she thought about the statements Jesus makes about himself and the Father and the Holy Spirit. In John 14:20, Jesus says " On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."  And he says to Philip in John 14:10, "Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?"  In John 14:16, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit in us, saying, " And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever - the Spirit of truth."  

     What if we look upon these statements from the perspective of a pregnant woman?  Pregnancy is a rich metaphor in the New Testament with so many facets and it goes in both directions. Let me explain. The life inside of us, Jesus - a life we love more than our own, is growing inside of us because we have accepted the believe that Jesus is our savior. So, having accepted Jesus, Jesus takes it one step further. At Pentecost in John 20, Jesus breaths the breath of God on the disciples - God is as close as their breath. Like a baby in the womb, we are surrounded by God.  We are in the womb of God - a child of God with our father nurturing us and growing us.  And inside us then, is Jesus and we are pregnant with him.  And the Holy Spirit too is growing inside of us in our pregnancy.

     Nicodemus in his discussion with Jesus in John 3:4 is struck by this pregnancy concept in relation to our new birth in God.  He was a devout follower of Jewish Law but he was perplexed by Jesus' birth imagery. "Nicodemus said to him, 'How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?' Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit."  We are pregnant with Jesus and are ourselves born of the Father when we accept that Jesus is inside of us. We are born of water and spirit.  And we reenter God and are born again as children of him.

     We are inside God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are inside us, and we are born into the Kingdom of God when we accept these things. So too, Jesus is in God.  Just like us.  He is the first born of the relationship with God because he knows God.  And we come to realize that Jesus showed us the way to be sons and daughters of God. All we have to do is to come to know God as Jesus did. And so we are pregnant with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, just as God is pregnant with us and births us into a new life.

     What does this all mean for us?  It means we enter into that close relationship with the three persons of God that a mother has with her child.  The child was part of her, inside her, and comes out birthed into a new life.  We accept Jesus is inside of us, a child growing in the womb of our soul and as a result we enter into God's womb.  Becoming his sons and daughters, we are born again from him into a new life. We are a life that He, like our mother, loves more than himself.

     What if we are to follow Jesus through his journey in the New Testament as a mother follows her child? I have heard it said that parenting is like having your heart walking around outside of your body.  Maybe this is why Catholics identify so much with Mary, the mother of Jesus. We watch his growth into a young man of God.  We follow his every move as a mother watching her child deal with the challenges and successes in his life.  And we love him as a mother loves her child.  Because God loves us as a mother loves her child.  We are filled with the love of our father, and our hearts in the person of Jesus walk around in the world outside of our bodies.  If we keep the love of Jesus alive inside of us, he will still be walking around in the world outside of us - birthed anew through our actions.  We are simultaneously mother carrying Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and also a son or daughter of God.  What a wonderful perspective on our relationship with God and Jesus.