I am happy to be back tonight after taking a couple of nights off. I miss it when I don't get to write. I try not to miss very often, but from time to time I am not able to get to the computer.
The other day on my way home from work, I was thinking. Now I've been told by some folks that can be dangerous for me. Anyway, have you ever thought about something - maybe something you have considered countless times before and suddenly some new idea comes to your mind? This new idea opens up a new way of seeing the same old thing and perhaps you are blown away by it all because it has hit you like a ton of bricks. Well, that is what happened to me the other day.
My thoughts were on Peter's confession that Jesus was the Christ and that Jesus said, "Upon this rock, I will build my church." [Matthew 16:18] Suddenly, I remembered that Jesus was a carpenter - and when I thought of that in relation of what He said about "building" His church -- well, that was suddenly very significant to me.
I am sure that this thinking is not new because I have heard Jesus referred to as the Master Carpenter. But then again, Jesus is the Master, the Great Physician -- the King of Kings - in other words, He is the greatest and best of everything. I just never put two and two together before about Jesus being a carpenter and building His church. Like I said, I was blown away by these thoughts.
All that being said, I decided to research the occupation of a carpenter in Bible times. I started with a book called "The New Manners & Customs of Bible Times by Ralph Gower. Mom gave me this book soon after I started my blog. I am so grateful for the book and have learned a lot from it. I am also very thankful for all the support Mom has given me.
Back to Jesus, the Master Carpenter, I also did some research online because I was very curious about this aspect of our Lord's life. The Bible doesn't give us many details of Jesus' life from the time He is about 12 until the time that He begins His ministry. But we do know that His earthly father, Joseph was a carpenter. No doubt, he trained his son in this trade. It was the custom of the day that the son work alongside his father and learn the occupation. Besides, in Mark 6:3 Jesus is referred to as "the carpenter, the son of Mary."
The word used in this text is the Greek word "tekton." It is more of a general term meaning "artificer" or "craftsman," but it is still generally believed that Joseph and his adopted son Jesus worked with wood. The Israelites were not known to have been very skillful in this work -- Solomon brought in the Phoenicians to help in the building of the temple. [I Kings 5]. However, according to Manners & Customs mentioned above, they taught the Jews many skills that included "paneling, cladding, and carving." They were apparently skilled enough to be included in the exile by Nebuchadnezzar.
For the most part however, being a carpenter was not a very glamorous job at all. It was full of hard work. When carpenters built a home, they began with felling trees themselves and shaping the beams for the roof of a house. This required a lot physical strength and endurance. Other jobs for a carpenter would include making furnishings for the home and tools for farmer- such as yokes for the oxen.
Now thinking about this - let's draw a few parallels. We already know that Christ is the chief cornerstone. Thinking about our Christ having been trained as a carpenter, about Him perhaps cutting down a tree to make the beams for the roof of a home reminds me of the fact that He carried his own cross -- perhaps the cross represent the beams of the roof of the church. In our earthly homes a roof gives shelter from the outside world. So the church is our spiritual home while we are on this earth. It provides shelter from the outside sinful world. The church is our refuge - a place we can come to be cared for, loved and nourished. Jesus built His church by carrying the beam [the cross] on His own shoulders, thereby He has provided us shelter from the sin of the world.
Most of us like a clean home. Some of us are better at keeping our homes clean than others - again, I am speaking of our earthly homes. We use various cleaning agents to clean the dirt and filth from our home. But the church, our spiritual home, is kept clean by the most wonderful cleaning agent of all, the precious blood of Christ.
Our earthly homes are our dwelling places. It is where we go to be among family - among those that we love. The church is our spiritual family. We are told to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to be so full of love for one another that people will know we all belong to the same family - that we all come from the same house. Another parallel is that those in an earthy family {who usually live in the same house} sometimes have certain physical similarities. As members of the family of God -- as followers of Christ, we are supposed to bear a strong spiritual resemblance to the Son of God.
Christians are also called the habitation of God. We - as members of the church - we are the dwelling place of God. Seeing then that Jesus built the church, we realize that He built a dwelling place for Himself and for God. We all know that dwelling place is within the heart of every member of the church. It is through us that Jesus and God are glorified.
Our homes are also gathering places - where many members of one family come together in love to celebrate special occasions. As church members we come together for a special occasion too - every Sunday we commemorate the sacrifice of Christ - the building of His church -- by partaking of the Lord's Supper. That is the most special occasion there is. As church members we should come together in love to commemorate this.
Christ built the church - His dwelling place -- the building which provides us spiritual shelter. As the Master Carpenter, He also built furnishings for His house -- with each piece of furniture created to perform a certain function within the home. These furnishings are used by different members of the household. Some furnishings {chairs and stools} support and give rest to the weary. Other furnishings like tables hold our food which provides us with nourishment. Some members give us spiritual food by way of teaching in Bible class or offering comfort and encouragement.
Bear with me please, I'll make just one more comparison and then provide a scripture that I feel brings home at least some of these points. My last comparison goes back to the yoke. Carpenters made the yoke for the oxen. They also made other tools used in farming. Do you remember when Jesus said - Take my yoke upon you? Well Jesus meant Himself. He wants us to walk with Him -- to allow ourselves to be guided by Him. But also perhaps the yoke is representative of the church -- because we are told to "bear one another's burdens." We are supposed to walk right alongside our brothers and sisters and help them when they need it. But wearing the yoke together is also a symbol of unity. The yoke is for two - you and the church. With the yoke we work and move as one.
Consider Ephesians 2:19-22 -"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the the chief cornerstone. In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
Jesus is the chief cornerstone - the very foundation of our faith and of the church. All the prophets pointed to Jesus. Our Lord Himself spent about 3 years in ministry with the apostles giving them His commandments and teaching them about the Heavenly Father. He is the foundation of the building of the church. The crossbeams are the beams of the cross carried on His shoulders - sanctified by His blood.
Carpenters were hard workers who possessed physical strength and endurance. Think of Christ and how hard He worked as He taught the people and as multitudes thronged Him constantly. Through the years, I have heard many lessons on the fact that not many could have survived the physical stress of the beatings and torture that Christ endured before He ever even went to the cross. I know He was the Son of God and that is what helped Him the most, but perhaps His years of working as a carpenter was also good physical traning for Him.
So as for the church - our spiritual home on earth - Jesus laid the foundation. We walk on foundation of faith in Him. He also gave us the roof over our heads that protects us from the outside elements. He created a Himself a dwelling place. He made individual furnishings with provide different services within the building. We are individual members convicted and converted to become individual furnishings within the household of God. In doing so we provide different services within the church. The church Christ built is place where individual members come to share with, support and love one another. We come together to weekly celebrate the special occasion of His resurrection.
Yes, in thinking about all this. I find it very fitting that our Savior was a carpenter by trade. He is indeed the Master Carpenter -- and His masterpiece is the church He died for -- bought and built with His own blood, sweat and tears.
Christ above all things,
Robin
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