“The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
(Psalm 98:2-3 ESV)
The worldwide web is a computer network that allows people to search around the globe for documents and information. The web provides access to information that might not otherwise be available. Here, though, the psalmist rejoices in the fact that God made His salvation known, and this was long before the invention of a computer network. “He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.”
God remembered His covenant with Israel, His promise to send the Messiah. This covenant promise was woven through the history of ancient Israel, but it was a promise that extended beyond God’s chosen people to embrace all nations. At the right time, the promise was fulfilled as God sent His Son into the world to be its Savior. Jesus suffered and died on the cross to atone for our sins, “and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2b ESV). In Christ, God reconciled the world to Himself and He has created His own worldwide web to make His salvation known to “all the ends of the earth.”
The crucified and risen Lord instituted this worldwide web of proclamation when He commanded His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. They were to baptize in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teach new followers all that Jesus Himself had taught. Long before the computer-based worldwide web, believers carried the Good News of salvation into the world. New discoveries in technology provided new tools that were used by Christ’s ambassadors to spread the Gospel. The printing process, radio and television broadcasts, and now the worldwide web have been used to reveal God’s righteousness in Christ Jesus in the sight of all nations.
Jesus compared His kingdom to a different kind of web, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind” (Matthew 13:47 ESV). He called His first disciples to fish for people, to cast the Gospel net and, by the power of the Spirit, gather people into the kingdom of God. Through the use of computer technology or the time-honored (and old-fashioned!) method of speaking to others in person, we use the same Gospel net as we share the Good News of Jesus with others. It is a web that will reach out to the ends of the earth until our Lord returns: “This Gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14 ESV).
Prayer: Jesus, help me to be a faithful ambassador for You so that others will come to know and worship You as Lord. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on November 7, 2022
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights reserved
Reflection Questions:
1. Is the world better off now that we have the internet and instant information? Why or why not?
2. Can you imagine Jesus being born today in the internet age and how different that would be? Do you think His birth would make the headlines?
3. What are some ways the internet is used to spread the Gospel to others?