Chapter 1 – Since Jesus is Truly Human from Conception, Every Embryo is Too: What Does the Bible Really Teach About Abortion?

One of the strongest biblical defenses that embryos are truly human from conception, body and soul, is the incarnation of Jesus Christ in Mary’s womb. The account in Luke 1 shows that even in the earliest stages in the womb, Jesus was already recognized as “my Lord.”

The Beginning of Jesus’s True Humanity

God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary while she was in Nazareth. She had been betrothed to Joseph, meaning she was married to him but not living with him and had not consummated the marriage. Mary, like many others in Scripture who saw and spoke with angels, was afraid, but Gabriel told her not to fear for she was highly favored by God. She would conceive a Son and would call Him Jesus. He would be the Son of God and would reign on David’s eternal throne and over the descendants of Jacob forever (Luke 1:26-33).

When Mary asked how this could happen since she was a virgin, Gabriel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). He also told her that Elizabeth, her cousin, who was elderly and barren, was already six months pregnant, for nothing is impossible with God. Mary responded in faith, believing all that Gabriel told her, and he left her (Luke 1:36-38).