Clay jar and the Potter

I keep it on my desk. This broken piece of a red clay. What remained after the common clay jar fell off the shelf one day. My one semester in pottery class taught me a lot about clay and kilns. And the fragility of earthen vessels. One small pebble could break apart a potter’s masterpiece as it was formed on the wheel or as it baked in the kiln.

Potter’s jar

This imagery plays in my mind as I read Jeremiah 19. 

The prophet Jeremiah holds shattered pieces of a clay jar in his hands and hears the voice of the Lord say, “I will shatter these people and this city like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be mended.” 

Sin and rebellion. Unrepentant hearts turning to idols instead of the Lord God Almighty. They were seeing the judgment for their sin against God. 

Potter’s Field

I wonder, is that what fell on “Potter’s Field”? Shattered pieces of jars that could not be mended, marking a plot of land we know because of Judas and his 30 pieces of silver.  Betrayal’s money bought this field. It became known as “Blood Field”—a burial place for foreigners.

Our Potter

I hold the broken piece of clay jar in my hand and thank the Father, our Potter. That on one dark hopeless day, our Redeemer took our sin, the sin of the world, upon Himself. 

He died bearing the shattered pieces of our sinful state. Our rebellion. 

He was buried in a tomb. 

Then came the third day. A day that dawned like any other day. Except that it revealed the empty tomb. God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day.  

And that changes everything.  

Clay jar reminders

I hold the broken piece of a clay jar in my hand and thank God for reminders of redemption. The shattered made whole. The new creation transformed by the blood of the Lamb. Alleluia.

What about you?

What is your clay jar reminder?  How has the Potter transformed and shaped you for His glory?

[Reflections on Jeremiah 18,19; Matthew 27:7-8]