God. Are you REALLY sure your Son should
HAVE beEN a carpenter?
“And on the Sabbath he began to
teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying,’ Where
did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and
Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him.” Mark 6:2-3 (ESV)
An associate
of mine, also a long-time retiree, remarked to me, “Did you ever notice that common laborers and others who had jobs that our
society considers menial never retire?”
I was puzzled by his observation and asked him what he meant. He replied, “The best way to determine what I
mean is to ask some retirees what their jobs were before they retired.” I started doing so and I was surprised to
discover that almost everyone either formerly held managerial positions or were
high-level technicians! Even one person
who I knew had only a third grade education claimed he had been a stationary
engineer (which upon further questioning turned out to consist of tending a
boiler)!
Although my
survey in no way could be considered scientific, it did reinforce the belief
that retirees do tend to upgrade their backgrounds to appear more prestigious
than they probably actually were. Why
does this self-promotion occur? I
believe it is mainly, because our society, in spite of claiming equality of
worth, does assign greater status to some walks in life than others.
Unfortunately,
this seems not to have changed since Jesus’ times!! The Scripture (Mark 6:2-3) supplied above
indicates that people in His hometown rejected His teaching because He was just
a carpenter! We are left to wonder if He
had studied at a rabbinical school, would his audience have accepted His
teachings. Maybe, at least they would
have treated Him with greater respect!
Even today
there are some scholars, who assert that Jesus wasn’t a “mere carpenter”. Some cite Matthew
Perhaps, as
some suggest, the only Jesus many people want to identify with is the mythical
one. They do not want to accept the real
Jesus. They want one they can worship
who is idealized. Consider the
portrayals of Him in our Western world, as being white, blond, blue-eyed, and
having movie star’s good looks. Quite a
contrast to the typical Jew of His era who was usually dark-skinned, short in
stature (usually about 5” 4”), having a small physical frame and dark hair! Such an image quite obviously does not fit
the image that “our” Jesus should look like!
Did God make a
mistake? Shouldn’t His Son have
graduated from the best rabbinical schools or at least studied under a famous
Rabbi? Surely, He should have authored
some scholarly books and have held a prestigious position in society! What about His choice of disciples? Wouldn’t those with some formal education
have been better able to reach a more refined and influential audience!
Unfortunately,
I guess we are stuck with a historical Jesus, whose occupation and background
do not seem to meet our present-day standards; one who really didn’t seem to
strive for worldly prestige; and whose ability to communicate seemed to be
confined to common folk. In spite of all
these “limitations” His work and teaching resulted in a spiritual revolution
that has endured for 2,000 years. Maybe
God wasn’t wrong after all!