A Year with Jesus: 'Treasure in Fragile Clay Pots'

Dear Precious Follower,

In Paul's day, the Greek language had two words for two different types of pots. One was called an amphiphora. An amphiphora was a beautifully decorated pot that was sometimes fired to have a beautiful ceramic glaze. These kinds of pots were works of art and used decoratively and as part of a very special meal. The other word for a pot was skeuos. A skeuos was an ordinary clay pot used for just about anything. It was unimportant and insignificant. This kind of pot was used for routine things, could be easily discarded, and was without much consequence even if broken.

When Paul described himself and his fellow gospel messengers, he didn't use the word amphiphora. Instead, he emphasized the fragile and inconsequential nature of a skeuos pot to describe himself. He described himself as a simple vessel made of earth and clay for ordinary and everyday use. Paul emphasized that he and each person who ministered for Me was a simple, fragile clay pot whose purpose was to carry something significant. My messenger, My clay pot, is not necessarily fancy, flashy, or consequential in his or her personal importance or appearance. The true significance of My messenger is determined by the "treasure" he or she carries as My clay pot.

Paul's ministry was not about himself, but about declaring the good news of the Almighty Father. This good news was about My coming to earth, My going to the cross to pay the debt for everyone's guilt of sin, My being buried in a tomb sharing your human mortality, and My triumph over death through My resurrection. The Father used Me to begin His new work of re-creation just as surely as We - Father, Son, and Spirit - created everything when We spoke, "'Let there be light.' And light flashed into being" (Genesis 1:3). I entrusted the message of good news about Me and God's power of re-creation to My disciples who were ordinary people made extraordinary because of the good news they shared and because of the Holy Spirit Who empowered them. They were clay pots carrying glorious treasure!

These ordinary people faced extraordinary challenges. They endured repeated abuses. They were often threatened and sometimes tortured. Some were martyred for sharing this good news about Me. However, nothing could stop them or the message that they shared about Me. The Holy Spirit within them empowered them to speak My good news. Their ordinariness as fishermen, tax collectors, those formerly possessed by demons, fathers, mothers, men and women, young and old made their courage and their impact all the more extraordinary. These ordinary people, these fragile clay pots, brought the treasure to the lost world. They brought the treasure of true life to those who feared death. They carried the treasure of light to those trapped in Satan's darkness. They delivered the treasure of hope to those lost in monotonous mortality. They brought the treasure of re-creation to those too old or too set in their ways to expect new things.

Paul insisted in the verses for today, and again and again in other places in 2 Corinthians, that the Father's strength and wisdom are made perfect through human weakness. The Father's "transcendent character" was at work within these normal people. This power at work within them was not human power, human wisdom, or human charisma. It was Holy Spirit power. It was the Father's power released through the Holy Spirit's presence within My disciples. This power was available to all people who follow Me. It was the power that could transform every human life it touched. That same power is available to you, today!