AN EMPTY AND BROKEN JAR

The days were long and hot; the nights were cool and dark.

The young couple had traveled for days on the flatlands along the Jordan River and had now reached the hills surrounding Jerusalem. Bethlehem was finally within reach. Dirt was clinging to their feet as though supplying a layer of protection from the blisters. The woman shifted positions on the back of the donkey as often as she could. Her tired and worn body felt the movement of her child growing within, giving her the determination to complete journey.

As the sun began to set, the road seemed to disappear. They would soon approach their destination and the woman knew when they reached the town, they would be able to rest.

Sarah played in the dirt outside her front door. She loved the early evening when her chores were finished, and her mother allowed her to play safely in front of the house. She watched the other children from the town as they ran down the street, but her mother told her she was too young to join them. So, she sat quietly in the soft dirt stacking the wooden blocks her father had made for her. As she stacked her blocks, she heard rustling in the road. She quickly grabbed her blocks escaping the falling of her tower as various strangers rode by on their donkeys loaded with supplies. Her mother had told her it was time for the census. Confused, of course, at this word, her mother explained to her that every few years people from all over had to travel to their place of birth for the government to count how many people lived in the area. That seemed silly to Sarah, but she loved watching the strangers come down her street, nevertheless.

Sarah continued to play when she noticed a man and woman approaching. When she looked up, she saw a young woman on a donkey with her hand resting on the top of her large stomach. This woman looked tired so Sarah quickly ran inside her house to grab a clay jar filling it with water.

As Sarah stepped outside, the man and woman approached her house. With her tiny frame, she struggled to stretch her legs to reach the woman on the donkey. When the woman saw Sarah struggle, she reached out and grabbed the jar from her. Grateful for this water, she looked into Sarah’s eyes as she greeted her with a smile.

“Hello. My name is Mary, and this is my husband, Joseph. What is your name?”

As Sarah backed away from the donkey, she answered, “My name is Sarah. We live here in Bethlehem. This is my father’s inn.”

Mary looked at the building in front of her, “It is a beautiful inn. We can stay here tonight. I hope to see you later.”

Mary took a sip of the water from the jar and then handed it back. Sarah said to her to keep it just in case she got thirsty later in the evening.

Is anyone thirsty?

Come and drink –

Isaiah 55:1

“Lord, I am so thirsty today, but I do not know what I am thirsty for.

I am thirsty for direction in my marriage. It seems so dry.

I am thirsty for direction in my life. I search for purpose. But it is dry.

I am thirsty for connection. I try to put my thirst aside but the desire to drink is relentless.

God, I am so thirsty. My lips are dry and my mouth longs to be moistened.

Could I have just one sip of water?”

Later that evening, Sarah walked into her father’s room as he was writing in his ledger. As she stepped through the door, he looked up at Sarah with a smile on his face. It had been a long time since she had seen her father smile in this way.

“We are full Sarah! There is no more room in the inn.”

Sarah smiled back at her father, “I am so happy for you.”

Then with a look of anticipation Sarah asked, “Father, did a woman named Mary and her husband find a room?”

Father replied, “No. I am sorry sweet girl. The inn was full.”

Sarah walked away sad. As she stepped outside the door, she turned to ask her father if he knew where they went.

He replied, “I told them about the stable down the road, the one you and your brother play in.”

Sarah knew exactly where the stable was. It was old, but it could supply good shelter. Tomorrow, she would see them.

That night as Sarah crawled under her blankets, she said a prayer for the woman she met on the road that day. Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

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As morning peeked through the clouds, Sarah woke with a sense of urgency to find the woman.

What if she needed something?

What if they did not find the stable?

What if the baby had been born?

She just had to find them!

As she put on her sandals, she knew that she should tell her family where she was going, but she also knew her mother would not let her go to the stable alone. So, she slipped out the door hoping to return before her family awoke.

Her little feet carried her as quickly as they could as she ran toward the old stable. As she turned the corner in the road, she could hear what sounded like a lamb crying.

As she approached closer to the stable, she realized it was not a lamb…it was a baby.

“Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

Curious to see this baby, she sneaked around the side of the stable peeking through a broken slat on the wall. She saw the baby wrapped in old cloth and lying in the wooden feed trough. Sarah stood still watching the baby in awe.

Looking through the broken slat, Sarah’s scope of vision was limited. When she shifted in her view, she could see the woman, Mary and her husband sitting next to the feeding trough looking exhausted from a long night.

Sarah longed to bring a gift to the new family…to the new baby. She could get a blanket or one of her wooden blocks. How about water?… water from the well?

As she peeked through the wooden slat, she saw the old clay jar she had given Mary the day before. If she could only reach it without disturbing the family, she could bring the family water.

After Sarah considered her best plan of approach, she quietly slid through the opening in the stable wall grabbing the jar. Her plan was to get water from the well, bringing it back for them to drink.

She quickly approached the well filling the clay jar as full as she could and still carry it in her small arms. Balancing the heavy jar, she walked slowly back to the stable being careful not to spill a drop. As she walked along the roadside, her heart grew full of excitement as she carried her gift. This was the perfect gift!

Entering the door of the stable, Mary and Joseph became startled looking up at Sarah. Distracted by her embarrassment, Sarah lost her footing catching her sandal on a small twig. When she stumbled, the clay jar lost its balance. Sarah watched in horror as the jar slipped out of her hands and tumbled to the ground. The weight of the water caused the jar to hit the ground with a crash, breaking it into several pieces. She could hardly open her eyes in fear as to what she would find. Her heart was broken as she saw her gift of water spilled out amongst the broken pieces of the jar.

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:28 NIV

Sarah bent down picking up the pieces of her broken jar. As she gathered each piece, she placed them inside her apron. Once the pieces were collected, she left the stable in a hurried embarrassment, escaping the shame she felt from her failed attempt to bring her gift to Mary, Joseph and the baby.

Broken-hearted, Sarah ran home. As she entered, the rooms were still quiet by the early morning. She was able to retreat to her room and close her door to her world. When she unwrapped her apron that held the pieces to her broken jar, a tear rolled from her eye. What was she going to do with this broken jar? Tempted to throw it away in hopes of forgetting this horrid memory, she reluctantly decided to keep the pieces. She gently laid the broken clay jar in a wooden box sitting by her bed. As she crawled onto her bed, the tears began to flow. Her heart was as broken as her clay jar. As she laid on her bed, the tears turned into a quiet sob not withholding her heart.

Once her heart settled, she slid the wooden box under her bed in attempts to forget this heartache.

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Days passed since the child was born in the stable. Every day, she slipped from her house getting a glimpse of this child. As she would stand outside of the stable, she would ask herself this question, “What was it about this baby?”

One day as Sarah approached the stable, she realized the baby was gone…Mary and Joseph were gone! She shifted to see if they had moved to another place in the stable, but as she looked around, she could not see them anywhere. Running inside the stable, she found the rags in which they had wrapped the baby. Otherwise…the stable was empty.

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance…She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put him! John 20:1,2

With sadness in her heart, Sarah walked home overwhelmed that the journey to the stable was over.

This was the moment when her jar broke, and the water spilled out…her empty and broken jar!

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It was early evening.

The sky was dark as though sadness hovered in the air.

The women were gathering around the well.

As they took their turn filling their jars, they heard a commotion in the streets.

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Sarah was now grown. She also gathered at the well that evening. As she held her jar close, she tried to hide her broken jar from the other women.

From the moment this jar broke, her life was never the same. Her father worked meticulously to mend the jar, but it still carried the cracks and the brokenness that she felt inside. Soon after her father mended her jar, he died leaving her mother to raise the children and run the inn. The rooms in the inn never filled again, making food for the table difficult to provide. Sarah rarely played in the streets as she worked hard to help her mother. In attempts to provide, Sarah married at an early age to a man much older than she. She was barren and broken. Her husband was unfaithful and cruel.

Following the commotion in the streets, Sarah held tightly to her jar. As she approached Pilates courtyard, she heard a chant, “crucify Him, crucify Him.” Stepping into the crowd she became confused by their shouts. She began to ask what was happening and learned that the one the people were shouting to be crucified was a man who claimed to be the Son of God. His name was Jesus.

Throughout her life, she had heard rumors of this man. She had learned that he was born in the town of Bethlehem which was her own birthplace. As the rumors unfolded, Sarah had realized that the baby she grew to love in the stable was this man. The baby she longed to bring the gift of water was the man who claimed to be the “living water”.

Still holding her jar, Sarah pushed her way to the front of the crowd. Getting a glimpse of Jesus, she asked quietly…

Was it true?

Was he the Messiah…the Son of God?

Was this him…was this truly him?

When she had seen him as a baby, had she seen the Son of God?

Standing in disbelief, the crowd began to move following the soldiers. The whispering crowd said they were taking this man away to kill him.

Why would they take a man who was innocent to their accusations and kill him?

Struggling to release herself from the crowd, Sarah returned to the well still holding her broken jar.

The noise from the crowd grew louder as they continued to chant “crucify him.” Stretching her body, she caught a glimpse of Jesus. As he approached, she saw his flesh torn body. They had placed a robe around him and crown of thorns on his head mocking him saying he was King of the Jews. Turning her face away, she remembered him as a baby lying in the feeding trough. His beautiful infant body was broken and stained with his blood.

Running her hand over the cracks in the jar, she realized in that moment that it was the brokenness of her life that demanded the sacrifice of his broken body. It was in the breaking of the jar and spilling of the water that brought her to the breaking of his body and the spilling of his blood.

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He have given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. I Corinthians 11:23,24 NKJV

As the crowd grew closer, Sarah followed them to a place called Golgotha outside the city of Jerusalem. She watched as they nailed his body to a tree and place him on a hill for the world to witness his death.

Breathing His last breath, Jesus died. The crowd abandoned the side of Jesus, but Sarah lingered hoping to approach the cross in solitude. As she knelt, her fingers touched the blood of Jesus as it had run down the cross.

Taking the jar, she held it to her lips tasting the water she had longed to bring to Jesus in the stable that day. She then placed the jar at the feet of Jesus and began to weep.

Speaking through her tears, she said,

“Jesus, you do not know me, but I saw you as an infant. I watched you lay in the stable and I brought you a gift. After searching my heart to bring you an offering for your birth, I filled a jar with water hoping to place it at the stable door. But as I was entering the stable, I tripped, breaking this jar and spilling the water onto the ground. I left the stable that day with my empty and broken jar.

But as I kneel here underneath your broken body, I see that you have brought the greatest of gifts to me…your broken body and spilled blood for the salvation of my soul.

Thank you, Jesus…thank you.

From the stable to the cross, you have taken my broken gift and given me the gift of life…living water.

As Sarah stepped away from the cross,

she realized more than ever that her empty and broken jar WAS the perfect gift!

When Sarah stood looking at the cross, her story made sense…

The broken jar

The spilled water

The empty stable

This story came together in her heart…

The broken jar was her broken life.

The spilled water was the blood that Jesus spilled out for her mending her broken jar.

The empty stable was Jesus’ resurrection of life to give her salvation.

As we approach Christmas, we minimize the celebrating the birth of Jesus.

We spend stressful moments fretting about our own act of giving.

We worry about whether we are giving the right gift for that in law or “hard to buy for” child.

But what if we saw what Sarah saw?

What if we experienced what Sarah experienced?

In search for that perfect gift, she found a jar that became broken and shattered. In her feelings of inadequacy, she hid that broken jar not realizing she had hidden the greatest gift she could bring to Jesus.

Our desire is to bring Jesus our wholeness, but our lives become broken causing us to shove our brokenness into a box hiding it so no one can see.

But our brokenness is the greatest gift we can bring.

Therefore, I urge you…to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

Written by Melody Westbrook.
Melody Westbrook is the founder of The Walk Ministries, a ministry designed to bring women together through God’s story. She was a pastor’s wife for 35 years and has authored the book The Walk Back to Eden. She is a communicator who loves to tell God’s story written within each of us while using her personal experience of a broken marriage and childhood survivor of abuse to communicate God’s redemption story. She loves teaching real women real stories of real life from God’s word. You can find her at http://facebook.com/thewalk.edw/