JESUS: THE CARPENTER’S SON
DECEMBER 17, 1999
MARK 6:1-6
       After years of doing crossword puzzles, I have discovered that certain words are used frequently. For a long time, I couldn’t figure out what a three-letter-word was for "bat wood." That’s because I was thinking of a flying mammal rather than a baseball bat. I now know that the correct answer is "ash." My brother’s a carpenter and knows a lot about wood. He would probably laugh at my ignorance.

      Jesus was a carpenter, taking up the same profession as Mary’s husband, Joseph. Unfortunately, the people of Nazareth failed to see Him as any more than that. I imagine He, God the Son, was quite skilled, choosing just the right kind of wood for all His projects. He knew what it was to measure, to saw, to carve, to sand, to finish. He sweated and patiently worked through each phase of the process until he had the final product completed. Every wooden object he crafted must have been not only useful  but beautiful. Would each piece have been shiny enough to reflect His image?

      One day, those hands that were so skilled in creating beauty were rendered helpless. Soldiers nailed Jesus to a wooden cross. True, He would no longer be creating things of beauty from wood. But, as the risen Savior, he continues to use His carpentry skills in the lives of believers today. Through the application of His Word, trials, and circumstances, He sovereignly works in our lives so that we will become things of beauty, useful for His purposes. He desires that we reflect His image to the world.

      Lord, may the Carpenter’s image be reflected to the world around me during this special time of the year.
 

MAUREEN FINNEGAN

 

Mark 6:1-6 
“1 Jesus left there and went to his home town, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! 3 Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offence at him. 4 Jesus said to them, "Only in his home town, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour." 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went round teaching from village to village.”
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