The Lamb of God – Conception to Birth
(Text naration of video)
After I retired from teaching art, the Lord gave me a vision for this painting: The Lamb of God—Conception to Birth.
God touched my heart to do a painting that spoke of the Sanctity of Human Life through the humbling entrance of Jesus Christ into this world. Now… let’s talk about the painting.
The painting opens up with a moonlike image at the top of the painting, which represents the Zygote cell—the moment of conception in Mary. Starting from conception, Jesus went through all the stages of development that all human beings have gone through in the womb.
So what happens in Conception :
In all Humans, since Adam and Eve, Conception or Fertilization (biologically speaking) happens the moment a Male Sperm cell penetrates the wall of the Female Egg—forming the Zygote cell. At this miraculous moment, a new human life begins—with its own unique soul and God given spirit.
23 chromosomes from the Male sperm unites with 23 Chromosomes in the Female Egg, at Conception—forming a person with 46 chromosomes or 23 pairs of Chromosomes, they like to pair up. Men and Women contribute an equal amount of Chromosomes in the Zygote. All your Genetic Code and DNA is in the Chromosomes, at Conception.
The male sperm determines the Gender of the person at Conception.
You can look up all these things, but basically and biologically that’s what happens. Also, God determines the gender of the baby as revealed in prophecy, at Conception.
The Bible says that Jesus was made fully Human in every way like the descendants of Abraham…. Hebrews 2.
This tells me that Jesus started his journey through the womb just like Abraham’s descendants, as the Holiest Zygote of all time.
Back to the Zygote:
Everyone develops as male or female from this point on in the womb. The cells in the Zygote divide rapidly, as it travels down the fallopian tube to Mary’s uterus.
In about 4 days it forms the 2nd spherelike form called the Morula Zygote. Now having multiple cells. For the most part, every cell in your body continues to develop according to the gender and genetic code inside your chromosomes. Regardless of what you may hear on social media, you cannot change your chromosomes ever. It’s impossible.
Around day 5, the Morula enters the uterus and forms the Blastocyst— the beginning of the Embryo. It looks like a hollow ball surrounding a group of cells. When it sheds its outer layer, the cells inside attach to the uterus—and continues to grow as the Embryo.
Next to the Blastocyst you can see an Embryo at 7-8 weeks old. At this stage, it’s about ½” long, the size of a coffee bean, and has a heartbeat, a trachea, and lungs. Also, billions of cells are developing, with the majority in the brain. The arms and legs are budding, with the fingers and toes now showing.
At 9 weeks the Fetus is already beginning. This is the last stage, until the baby is born. Next to the 8 week Embryo is a 12 week Fetus. Now his nose and lips are “formed,” and he can make facial expressions. The first trimester ends.
The next image before Jesus is born is a 22 week old Fetus. Now, Jesus can suck His thumb, be startled by noises and hear His parents’ voices and music.
After 38-40 weeks of growing in Mary’s womb, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God is born and placed in a manger. Most of you know the story.
In the background you can see a 2-story home. Typically, houses at this time had a “guest room” and often the guest room was an “upper room” on the second floor—space was limited.
Mary and Joseph most likely stayed with family or family friends—in the guest room or main room in the house. The Bible says that they were in Bethlehem for a time, before Jesus was born. So, there was time to prepare for Jesus’ arrival.
When Jesus was born, the women would typically clean and sterilize the baby with salt water or something like it and wrap Him in swaddling cloths—keeping Him close to the mother.
The Bible says that Mary placed Jesus in a manger after He was born, because there was no room for them in the “guest room.” Whatever the reason was for this, one thing you can count on, is someone cleaning and purifying and preparing a Manger for the arrival of Jesus. After all, Mary and Joseph and their family, new how special Jesus was – the coming Son of God.
Here are some quick points:
- Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem about 80-90 miles with Mary pregnant. That’s a long overnight trip for anyone. They must have prepared for a long journey – planning to stay awhile.
- They needed: Bedding, Food, Water, Clothing & Transportation—anybody say…Donkeys?
- Something I noticed in the Bible. After Jesus heals the paralytic, He says, “…arise, pick up your bed, and go home.” Mark 2:11 The Greek word for bed in this passage is “krabattos”—which stands for “camp bed.” So, I thought, “ah ha, that makes sense,” they had camping beds. A regular bed in Biblical times was a thin mattress made of fabric, stuffed with wool—and easy to roll up or carry. I imagine a camping bed would even be easier.
- So, in the final scene, I have Jesus peacefully laying in swaddling cloths on some wool-like fabric or bedding on top of hay—inside a clean, mud and stone manger with a lamb embracing Him. The long-awaited Lamb of God had humbly arrived.
- The Lamb of God is a title that Jesus Christ carries throughout eternity, and the only one who could ever qualify for this title. Not only did Jesus create the universe and heavenly realm and everything in it, but He also added to His deity by becoming 100% man and the perfect sacrifice on the cross for all our sins. Jesus Christ is truly the unblemished “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”
Thank you for listening to my thoughts on this painting, The Lamb of God-Conception to Birth.