My daughter-in-law recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who she named Olivia. I was thrilled with the name. If you read my original post you know what I think about the symbolism of olives! These events got me thinking about the symbolism of childbirth.
Have you ever wondered why childbirth is so difficult and painful? I believe it is a symbol of Christ's suffering for us so that we can be born again as children of Christ. Jesus said, "A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world." (John 16:21) Jesus said this in connection with his upcoming atonement and crucifixion. Just as Jesus' willingness to suffer makes possible our spiritual rebirth, even so, the mother's willingness to suffer makes it possible for a child to be born into this world. Her suffering is in the similitude of Christ's suffering.
There is a further parallel in the language Jesus used in the verse, "A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come" (ital. added). Do you remember how Jesus began his ministry? It was with the miracle of turning water into wine--at a marriage! Remember, Jesus is the bridegroom and the church is his bride. On that occasion, the marriage had a problem. Jesus said, "Woman, what wilt thou have me to do for thee? that will I do; for mine hour is not yet come" (JST John 2:4 ital. added). The woman, in this case, is Mary, but she stands symbolically in the place of the church (or all of us) so that when Jesus says, "What wilt thou have me to do for thee? That I will do." He is, in effect, saying it to us in reference to any concerns we may have about our marriage to Him! On that occasion, as in every occasion of our need, Jesus expressed his willingness to do whatever He could. Mary, as a righteous example, didn't prescribe a solution but rather, in faith, left it in Jesus's hands (with an admonition to the servants, "Whatsoever he [Jesus] saith unto you, do it," which is always good advice for unlocking the power of God in our lives.)
At that point, Jesus turned water into wine, but it's instructive to consider the symbolism of that miracle. The scriptures say that, "there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews..." The water became wine in vessels made for ritual purification. The wine, of course, is symbolic of the blood of Jesus and thus symbolizes how our actual purification is accomplished by His blood, or in other words, His atoning sacrifice that would take place when His hour had come.
John wrote of that hour, "Now before the feast of the passover [another type of Christ], when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end" (John 13:1 ital. added). This verse has always filled me with a strange mixture of melancholy and gratitude as I reflect on all that was comprised in the phrase, "he loved them unto the end" when Jesus was finally able to proclaim, "Father, it is finished, thy will is done" (JST Matt. 27:54).
The scriptures make additional parallels between childbirth and being born again, "Inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory; For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified;" (Moses 6:59-60).
We find this trifecta of water, blood, and spirit again in the account of the crucifixion. After Jesus proclaimed, "It is finished," the record says, "He bowed his head, and gave up the ghost [or his spirit]... But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water" (John 19:30,34). Surely this is symbolic of the rebirth afforded us through His atonement.
Let me finish with one more thought from John 16:21, "A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world." When hard times come we can consider that we are, each of us, that "woman...in travail" whose "hour is come" for the sufferings of this life serve a purpose. They are the process by which we are reborn unto Christ. Jesus promised, "And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:22, 33). When the hard times come we can look forward with an eye of faith to that happy day when we shall see Him again and rejoice in his presence.
