This article is by Emma Butt:
My father’s text message came a little past five in the morning. “I think we should cancel our Universal Studios trip this weekend. It’s just going to be too gross in Orlando. It will be storming the whole time.” My bag was already packed in the corner, but I agreed. I was excited to go back to Orlando, but I knew another opportunity for a Florida getaway would come. A weekend at home with my husband and dogs would be good for me.
Still, I was looking forward to the sweet theme park treats and rollercoasters, and there was someone else I knew would be disappointed. With an annual pass burning a hole in his pocket, my eighth-grade cousin was prepped for an adventurous spring break trip. He craved the ambiance of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Castle and the taste of frozen Butterbeer, spilling in abundance from the carts outside it. I had to make it up to him somehow.
Then the brilliant idea hit me: I can make Butterbeer at home!
The internet’s many recipes were overwhelming, but I eventually swiped through enough to settle on the combination of a few. I felt confident mixing parts of each to get the result I wanted. The goal was to be as close to genuine as possible. I added the items to my grocery pick up order: cream soda, vanilla ice cream, whipped topping, and butter extract. (“Butter extract?” my husband asked. “I didn’t know that existed!”) I shook the cream soda until it was flat, just like the recipes said, and poured it into ice cube trays. After a few hours of freezing, all was ready. My blender whipped and whirled until the caramel-colored ice was smooth. It spun the ice cream and whipped topping into a thick foam. When all was said and done, I emptied the blender’s contents into my fanciest glasses. The entire kitchen smelled of butter extract.
My husband and cousin raved that it was delicious. They thanked me for my hard work and sat on my couches, sipping contently. I knew their compliments were sincere, but I wasn’t fooled. Mine was not as good as the real thing, spinning in the slushie machines of the drink carts at Universal. It was not even close.
That recipe is trademarked and protected. There’s a reason what you make at home can’t compare to its sugary, addictive qualities. Maybe it’s the thrill of carrying that Icey cup around the park, surrounded by the sparkling surreal, that makes it so special. Maybe it’s the exact ratio of slush to cream topping. Maybe it’s the throbbing rollercoaster-headache it soothes. Whatever it is, it’s not meant to be replicated. My homemade endeavor is a fine placeholder — a semblance of the same tastes and textures — but you can’t deny something’s missing. There is no replacement, no substitution, for the real thing.
Neither is there a substitution for the saving grace of God. It is grace that already drank the bitter cup of death and redeemed us to eternal life. It is grace that calls us out of darkness and into light and peace.
What was good and holy — the recipe of law scratched on two stones — was not perfect. Like my feeble attempt at homemade Butterbeer, the Israelites’ feeble (though sincere) attempt at genuine righteousness was but a placeholder for the real thing.
When Moses was given the Old Law directly from God, its animal sacrifices did not end either sin or death. Sin’s destruction lived. With each new disobedience, another young animal. Where was the end to this cycle? Where was the final death?
Generations later, victory arrived. As he walked among practitioners of the law of Moses, He wanted them to understand the weight of His presence. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of the Prophets,” Jesus said. “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them,” (Mt 5:17). His every move was intentioned toward a new law, a law entangled with and inseparable from His own love. His mind and heart were clarified by purpose. Even before the letter to the Hebrews was written, Christ knew “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin,” (Heb 9:22). The cycle of sin could only be ended in a final, glorious, sacrifice. So, He went willingly to the cross.
The Hebrew writer puts it like this: everything that came before was just a shadow of what was to come in Christ. With one sacrifice, Jesus both presented the offering and became the offering. Priest and lamb, He did what the blood of bulls and goats could not do: not push sin away, not roll it forward to the next generation, but completely and utterly destroy it. And now, having passed through the most holy place, He is seated at the right hand of God in victory, having “perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Heb 10).
There was no alternative to that final sacrifice. By bringing himself to the altar, Jesus became at once the last slain lamb, whose nail-pierced hands themselves sealed death’s tomb. Substitutions and placeholders were no longer necessary.
I am looking forward to tasting real Butterbeer in the near future. But more than that, I am grateful I live, here and now, savoring the grace of the savior. I don’t have to wait to taste it. What was but a promise to those faithful before me is now the reality of salvation and grace that daily cleanses us. It is the same grace Moses looked toward earnestly, who, though missing the promised land of Israel’s home country, has not missed his covenant eternity. Looking up at Jesus, seated peacefully and finally at the right hand of the Father, he tastes, as we now do, the sweetness of grace. Surely he thinks, as he sips and enjoys, How much better this is!
COMMENTS
15 responses to “The Gospel and Butterbeer”
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Wow wow wow! Emma your gift of writing is amazing! Hope to read more and will certainly share this! Miss you sweetie!
Incredible article Emma! You are talented, caring and wise! ❤️
This was a great read and I look forward to reading more from you!
Wow! So wonderfully written. So proud of you.
This is just excellent! Keep writing, Emma!
Amazing, and still the world has yet to see your best work. Keep it up Emma!
This is great Emma!! Looking forward to read more of your wonderful work!!💗
So ❤️ this Emma! God has given you a wonderful talent. Hope you use it to His glory!
Great job writing Emma!!! I love butterbeer too!
Ironic? No substitute for the substitute. Hmm.
Great article, Emma!! Well worded and written! Looks like another professional writer in the family has been found! Thanks for the Biblical truths and the awesome analogy!
I enjoyed reading your article, Emma. It is a great gift to be able to write as you do and I hope you will continue to serve by writing.
Beautiful writing, sweet Emma!!!
So proud if you!!! 💕😘💕
This was a wonderfully written article!!! Thank you!
Very well written and thoughtful. Keep writing and the good ideas will keep flowing. Love to you.