Jesus and Carpentry

[Eucharisted]

Why was Jesus a carpenter and a carpenter’s son? I can think of nine reasons:

Association with the Poor. In being a carpenter, Jesus associated Himself with the poor. He maded Himself poor so that He might show the poor Himself, making Himself the first to preach the glad tidings to the poor and needy. Jesus became poor because He loves the poor and He wishes to exalt them, and so, He took it upon Himself to give them a great privledge: of becoming one of them. He became like the poor, that He might then save the poor.

The Poor are Jesus in Disguise. In being a carpenter, Jesus wished to show us that the poor and needy are He in disguise. We are called to console the least of His brethern, for we must show them compassion, and we must remember that what we do to them, we do to Jesus, because they are in fact Jesus in disguise. The poor in spirit, the meek, the persecuted, they are all called blessed in the Beatitutde, Jesus promises them all a share in the Kingdom of God, because He is the poor, the meek, the persecuted and the poor is Jesus, the meek is Jesus, and the persecuted is Jesus.

The Building Up of the Kingdom. In being a carpenter, Jesus built and tore down houses, and so, He showed we must tear down the house of evil and build a new house - the Kingdom of God - in our hearts, firstly, in our families, secondly, in our communities, thirdly, for it is man who makes us the family and it is the family that makes up the community. Jesus is the One who builds the Kingdom, being the skilled Builder He is - indeed, the Kingdom of God is in Him! - and we must cooperate with Him like good co-heirs, helping Him build up His reign in us and in others, and this we can do by spiritual and corporal works of charity and mercy. But the best sacrifice we can make is giving Jesus our mind and asking for His Mind, and giving Him our strength and asking for His Strength, and giving Him our hearts and asking Him for His Heart, so that we might love God with all our heart and all our mind and all our strength, and our neighbors as ourselves.

His Foster-Father Was Ordinary. In being a carpenter, Jesus showed He was not the adopted Son of a great and wealthy man, but the Son of an ordinary man, for His foster-father, Joseph, was a carpenter. It is said that it is from Joseph that Jesus recieved His work, but it can also be said that Joseph received His work from Jesus, for the creature imitates the Creator, and the Creator, in being obedient to Joseph, showed His foster-father how he ought to be towaard Him: “Be holy, just as your Father in Heaven in holy”. In being the Son of Joseph, Jesus showed Joseph was no extraordinary man, but a man like any one of us, and so, if a man such as he could be the foster-father of God, than truly parents can rear up saints - if they are holy. For God uses ordinary creatures in order to do extraordinary things!

 

[Eucharisted]

As the Father dose, so dose the Son. In being a carpenter, Jesus made clear - even being saying so in words - that, as Son, He was doing His Father’s Will. Indeed, when He said this first to His parents, and then to the Pharisees and scribes, He was showing them His words are true, He speaks the true, for He is the Word and the Truth. The son, in Jesus’ time, followed his father’s profession, so Jesus became a carpenter - as ordered by God, who orders everything for our greater good - and He thus showed obedience to His Father, that He always dose the Will of His Father, and He also showed He was obedient to His parents, setting an exemplary example for children regarding the Fourth Commandment. Not only that, but in obeying His parents, He was showing them how to obey God and He is showing us that, just as He is obedient to His foster-father, so too He is obedient to the priests, who call Him down from Heaven at every Mass. Indeed, there are even times when He puts a priest’s opinion above His Will, ordering things in accordance to the priest’s good words.

Like Us In All Ways Save Sin. In being a carpenter, Jesus made Himself an Everyman, an ordinary man, like you and me. He showed in Himself that God uses ordinary men to accomplish extraordinary things. He did not make Himself rich or powerful, but an Everyday, for indeed, the job of carpentry was considered a poor job in His time and it is considered a mundane job in our time. So Jesus showed His Word is true: Like us in all ways save sin. He, the Word, in Himself, tesified to the truth of the Scripture, and, in a sense, He, in Himself, testified to their divine inspiration.

The Sanctity of Our Work. In being a carpenter, Jesus showed the sanctity of our works and jobs, that we can use mundane things to attain sanctity, for indeed, this is why God permits us to have them, and, truly, in using our work and jobs for sanctity, we do imitate God. Jesus associated Himself with every working man, and He shows us how we can glorify God in our everyday lives: if we bear everything in patience and offer it up to God, and if we use our talents and gifts - even in among jobs - to spread the gospel (of which Jesus again speaks of in the parable of the dishonest servant), than we use our work for sanctification. We do not know how Jesus Himself worked, but we can ask Him to teach us how to do everything for His greater glory and for the sanctification of souls.

The Humble Are Exalted. In being a carpenter, Jesus made the poor exalted and He made the exalted humble. He willed to be poor so that, in Him, the poor might be glorified, and so that the great and proud, in seeing Him not great and proud like they are in according to the world, might be made humble and ashamed of themselves, and change their ways, becoming lowly themselves, whereby they, like the poor and needy, might then be exalted in Jesus.

God is Not A Man-Made God. In being a carpenter, Jesus made it known and clear that God is not like what we think of Him; indeed, if we can understand Him, it is not He we understand. The Jews of Jesus’ time were expecting a lowly man - who would rise up to great glory and overthrow the Romans; but their notions of the Messiah were not according to God’s Will, for God is not like man. He is not a man-made God. Jesus revealed that God’s ways are far from ours, and who He is is far from our idea of Him. He made it clear that, unlike the gods of the pagans, who resembled their makers (just as the different ideas of the historical Jesus resemble those who make such idoltrous claims) God did not resemble His People: not only becuase they did not make Him but He made them, but also because He is not of the Universe: He made it! God is the real God because He is not a pagan God, and this is what Jesus shows us.

Now there is far from an exhaustion of all we can learn from Jesus’ carpentry, and I hope it is not a poor meditation, and I also hope, by God’s grace, it instills in men’s hearts a desire to contemplate Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Life, and the Truth.

 

[AveSantaMaria]

Could this relate to St. Francis of Assisi? Building up Christ’s Church.

I have noticed that many of the Franciscans are directly involved in building up the Church in this new age. St. Francis Nguyen Xavior, Cardinal Francis Arinze - strength and backbones of the Church despite the fact that they are ethnic minorities and the Church is stereotypically Caucasian.

St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Padre Pio, - deep emphasis on self-sacrifice and veneration of Mary as a foundation of spirituality.

St. Francis of Assisi himself - give up for me, receive 100% fold in this life as well. Gave up his house. Symbolically and in truth received the task of building up the Church, received in a very special way - a new house.



I point out the symbolism of names. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI is sure doing a great job of combatting heresy and cleansing the church of evil. Much like his patron St. Benedict, patron of exorcists, and also a work to build up the Church - possibly part of the charism of his Franciscan heritage.