A man named Nicodemus once asked a question of Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Turns out, though, he can! Well, not exactly, but one recent story from the news is pretty incredible!
Lynlee Hope Boemer had Sacrococcygeal Teratoma (SCT), a rare, life-threatening tumor on the tailbone area. It pulls much-needed blood from the heart while the baby is in utero. Doctors recommended termination, but the Boemers researched and found Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye and Dr. Darrell Cass, doctors who had developed the Texas Children’s Fetal Center at Texas Children’s Hospital. They had successfully cared for a baby with SCT before, and it was exactly what the Boemers needed.
Amazingly, the surgery to remove the life-threatening tumor required opening the amniotic sac to perform surgery on Lynlee. Technically, she was “born” in the sense that she was removed from the womb, uterus, and amniotic sac. After the surgery, she was put back in her mother’s uterus, and then, 13 weeks later, she was “born again!”
It took a team of 14 doctors and specialists to assist in the surgery, but thankfully, Lynlee is doing well. To say the least, it is an amazing feat – a success in an incredibly difficult procedure with an extremely rare disorder. But for most of us, being born again is an entirely different procedure altogether!
When Nicodemus responded to Jesus’ statement, he didn’t understand what Jesus meant by, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Born again? Of course a fully-grown person cannot climb back into the womb!
But Jesus wasn’t talking about physical re-birth. Rather, we must have a spiritual birth in order to enter the kingdom of God. Those who hear and believe the good news of Jesus will gladly turn toward the spiritual and away from the worldly, confessing Jesus as the Son of God, being baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and walking in the example of Christ.
Born again…with the help of the great physician!
