[The following devotional is a part of our 2015 Easter Season Devotional Book “Passion Road.” We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between February 18 – April 5, 2014.]
A New Invention by Mark Robinson
Read: John 2:1-11
In 1957, IBM created a device that changed the world. This device was large (housed in several cabinets) and expensive (costing nearly $80,000). This world changing device we know of as an electronic calculator.
Because we have grown up with it, we do not think of a calculator as world changing because we have grown accustomed to it. Prior to 1957, math was done in your head. If you are like me, and found math difficult in school, you welcomed the day you first got to use a calculator. It was as liberating as it was accurate. It also opened new vistas into deeper fields of mathematics (things like trigonometry and calculus) which would be nearly impossible without the use of a machine. The calculator did not invent math . . . it was based on the same numbers and truths as long division . . . but it did reinvent how math was computed, placing a powerful tool in the hands of people everywhere.
In John 2:1-11, Jesus performed a miracle filled with symbolism revealing to His followers that He was creating a new covenant between God and man. Before Jesus, God’s people had related to Him under an Old Covenant based on the Old Testament Law filled with the Ten Commandments, ritual cleansing, and animal sacrifices. The miracle of John 2 looks like Jesus simply providing good wine to a few thirsty people, a closer look reveals that Jesus was actually inventing something greater. By taking the water from the Old Covenant ceremonial jars and turning it into something new (and better) Jesus was actually foreshadowing the fact that He was creating a New Covenant that would change the spiritual lives of any who would embrace it. This New Covenant was both a large change and expensive (costing Jesus His life to purchase).
Now I realize that as 21st century people, we can take for granted what Jesus has done for us because we have grown up with it. Before Christ, all spiritual interaction with God was based on our strict adherence to the Law — something that was impossible for any to fully realize. Jesus death on the cross is as liberating as it is holy. It provides forgiveness and opens new vistas for our spiritual lives. The New Covenant would not invent holiness – it was based on the same righteousness prescribed in the Law – but it did reinvent how our spiritual lives would be lived out, placing the powerful life of Christ in the hearts of people. Like wine out of water, Jesus has saved the best for last.
Question:
- Is there any part of what Jesus has done for us that you tend to take for granted?
Prayer:
- Take a moment and praise God for the gift He has provided for us in Christ.