Birth Pains, Christ, and Life

*Disclaimer* Except for the discussion on early church martyrdom, this is not researched, scholarly, or authoritative.


According to the lectionary, we read Mark 13:1-8 this past Sunday. The passage reads as follows:

As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’ ²

3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?’ Then Jesus began to say to them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!”and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

I enjoyed this image of birth pains very much, since when they end, one in left with life in the form of a little baby.

I understoodd this passage as apocalyptic (in the scary "end of the world movie" sense) because of my upbringing. I had never thought about what happens after the birth pains, that one ends up with joy and life. I am glad the Gospel of Mark made me consider more what birth pains entail, especially because it brought together the wonderful and earthly world to come that I expect with the apocalyptic imagery I was taught to fear, disassembling that fear . Jesus will come, yes, after the horrors of war and death, but wonderfully, full of joy and bringing life.

While thinking on this idea of birth pains some more, I began to think of the crucifixion, which suddenly became connected to and identified with birth pains. Through death (birth pains), came life. LIFE life. None of this is to say, however, that birth pains "must be good," as understanding the birth pains (or crucifixion) as the means by which life is brought about seems like an "efficient" understanding, and one that does not have anything in common with Death as something defeated, but instead "used." Perhaps this is horrible exegesis, but I like the thought: That birth pains are part of the curse in Genesis, I think we are to remember that they are not good, useful, or to be desired. We must remember that though martyrdom was the most prized way of imitating Christ, especially in the early church, those Christians were reminded not to seek martyrdom, as death was not to be desired (if martyrdom came, however, it was to be accepted gratefully and carried out faithfully, as those Christians most likely to be martyrs engaged in rigorous training (Robin Darling Young, In Procession before the World: Martyrdom as Public Liturgy in Early Christianity, 2001)).* We accept them, however, though painfully, as Christ accepted his cross, and the martyrs after him, theirs, and when they are through, we feel a sense of victory (in a non-competitive way) as we gratefully look upon life.