Eureka

Scripture: John 1:35-42

Song: The Lily Of The Valley

Eureka! I don’t know who invented the word Eureka, but I like it. I’ve been told that it was Archimedes when he discovered that the mass of irregularly shaped objects could be measured by water displacement. I don’t know if he said it first, but he probably used it because Eureka! is the interjection of the inventor. It means, “I found it!”

It’s a Greek word. And we’ve adopted it having transliterated it into the English language. It sounds like what it celebrates. No expression better fits the mood of the moment of discovery.

In all the discoveries that have ever been made, the word Eureka was never more nobly and aptly applied than in Andrew’s excited declaration to Peter, “We have found the Messiah!” The word “found” in the Greek is Eureka. What a find indeed! A find worthy of celebration. A find worthy of publication. A find worthy of being shared. No find has ever rivalled this one in its significance.

Oh that the enthusiasm of that moment of discovery for each prospective child of God could be preserved. If we could only distill it, condense it, and place it into some capsular form for periodic consumption. Does that little explosion that took place in your mind when you discovered the Messiah still thrill you? Then tell it. Make it happen for someone else. Great discoveries are meant to be shared. That’s the reason for words like Eureka!

Jason Moore