Wrought in Wisdom and Wonder
Wrought—why would we use that word? When you look up the word in the dictionary, it says the word is “archaic.” I take that to mean it is really old. Yet, we still see it used at times today. We have wrought-iron fences. When we talk about most any metal work, we say it is being “wrought,” not worked. And if you still have an old King James Bible, you will find it used in 98 verses!
Today, we use the word ‘worked,’ but there is something lost using worked in some instances. Our current idea of work often is focused more on the outcome than the means. Work doesn’t tell us if it was accomplished quickly or if it took time. Wrought still carries with it the idea of being careful, taking time, using a process, and caring as much about that process as the final outcome.
When we look at Scripture, we can see examples where wrought is a good word to use (instead of worked). In Exodus 26 and 27, when God describes the items of the tabernacle, the screen for the tent entrance is to be “wrought” with fine needlework. In a different context, Psalm 31:19 says:
Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and [wrought] for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of the children of mankind!
(Psalm 31:19 ESV)
God has wrought goodness for his people. It was not just a one-time work, it was not without thought and care, it was with great purpose. Similarly, when the Psalmists talk about themselves in Psalm 139:
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was [wrought] in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. (Psalm 139:15 ESV)
God’s careful crafting of us, in our mother’s womb, was done with knowledge from before the beginning of the earth of every step we would take and our very “frame.”
In both the Old and New Testaments, whenever God performs miracles, it might be best to think of them as “wrought.” In Acts alone we see:
And God [wrought] extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. (Acts 19:11 ESV)
After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had [wrought] among the Gentiles through his ministry. (Acts 21:19 ESV)
God’s miracles indeed are carefully crafted and with the goal that his people might know him and find their joy in him!
The goal here is not to say that using the word ‘worked’ is wrong, but that a word like ‘wrought’ can help bring deeper meaning and reflection to different passages if it is used instead. That is our goal this Christmas. Instead of simply saying God “made” Christmas, or “worked” to have it happen, saying that he “wrought” Christmas brings with it a glimpse of greater intention, purpose, and pleasure that God had in that special night. We want to help everyone to pause and consider anew God’s goal in Christmas. We can say he used wisdom when bringing all of time to that Christmas night. We can say it was a wondrous event. Yet if we say Christmas was Wrought in Wisdom and Wonder, it can carry with it far more weight. It can stretch back all the way to God’s promises to Adam and Eve in the garden, promising them a seed who would crush the serpent. It can reach all the way back to Abraham and a promised people as numerous as the stars in the sky. It can contain in it every prophecy spoken and every allusion to a future, good king.
That is our hope this Christmas—that you will find and know better this God who has wrought our destiny in Jesus Christ from before time and written it in the great story that we see played out on the pages of Scripture and in our life, with great wisdom and wonder. Behold that God anew this Christmas, the Christmas he wrought in wisdom and wonder.