46. Jesus was a Carpenter

In Mark's Gospel we are told that Jesus 'was a carpenter' (6:3). Matthew 13:54 says he was 'the son of a carpenter'. 

Both are most probably accurate and in my mind, I am reminded of the prayer that The Rev Bob Lowe often prayed at our Sunday evening Church Service:

O Jesus, Master Carpenter of Nazareth,
who on the cross through wood and nails didst work our whole salvation:
Wield well thy tools in this thy workshop;
that we who come to thee rough-hewn
may by thy hand be fashioned to a truer beauty and a greater usefulness;
for the honour of thy holy name. Amen.

The unknown author of this prayer imagined Jesus at work in the small agricultural village of Nazareth, helping Joseph to make fine furniture and farming tools. For this reason, Joseph is remembered as the Patron Saint of Carpenters, as well as many other titles. Jesus would have acquired similar skills.

Work no doubt their work regularly took the family to the beautiful, wealthy city of Sepphoris, about an hour's walk from Nazareth. It was a major Roman city,  built on a major crossroad, and the capital and heart of Galilee. It was also a centre of trade.

While the Greek word tekton is used in the Gospels to describe Joseph's trade, it is usually translated as 'carpenter'. However, it can also mean artisan, craftsman builder in wood, stonemason or metal. That being the case, it is sobering to understand he belonged to the lowest class of marginalized labouring peasants in first-century Palestine.  Even so, they were highly skilled and versatile, well-used to building and repairing whatever work they were called to do – and this is where I feel a special connection with both Joseph and Jesus.

One of my childhood memories was raiding my father's toolbox for saws, hammer, and nails to make and build things from toy guns to tree huts. While my father learnt to keep his toolbox inside the house, to control my enthusiasm and to safeguard his tools, those tools crafted in me a love for making things. I still have my childhood box for holding small treasures. As a teenager, I couldn't afford a guitar, so I built one that worked fine. Over the years, my skills developed. Now I help repair furniture donated to our local St Vincent de Paul Society.

Those of you who share the delight creativity brings to our lives, and the joy we experience as we share those skills and knowledge with others, will appreciate the comment once made by the German mystic, Meister Eckhart: 'We are heirs of the fearful creative power of God'.

It is as we give birth to the creative capacity we have within us, we become co-creators with the Divine Presence, who is waiting to assist us in the ongoing creativity of the universe.

We are all expressions of this Divine creative longing. 

May we learn to 'wield well the tools in the workshop of our lives, so that we who come 'rough-hewn' may by the Divine hand be 'fashioned to a truer beauty and a greater usefulness'. 

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga
May you find peace and goodwill on your journey.

Phil