Lesson 1 – Jesus, the Tradesman
"Is not this the carpenter?" Mark 6:3a
The world knows Jesus by many titles - rabbi, teacher, prophet, and king. Yet so much of Jesus' teaching revolves around the everyday demands of making a living, dealing with poverty, or managing wealth. We find Jesus visiting more often with tax collectors, fisherman, landowners, tradesman, homemakers, and merchants than the professional religious or political crowds.
During Jesus’ day, Rome governed Galilee of Palestine, the region where he spent much of his life. The inhabitants faced major socio-economic upheaval under the Romans. To fund their own lavish building projects and expansionist designs, Rome levied heavy taxes on their conquered territories. They employed local men called appropriately “tax collectors'’ to collect and deliver the monies. Rome allowed these men to exact more than the tax amount from the populace as compensation for their work.
The small farmer, under the burden of excessive taxation, sold their small plots to pay taxes or forfeited them, as did tenant farmers, unable to repay their loans. Thus, wealthy individuals, many who were foreigners, took control of more and more land forcing tenants and former owners to work as day laborers on these wealthy estate farms.
Fishermen took advantage of the Lake of Galilee and Jordan River to build businesses around their trade, sometimes employing laborers to assist them. Shepherds and herders of goats and sheep, longstanding vocations in Israel's history, moved closer to the growing cities, sometimes supplementing their incomes helping landowners harvest their crops.
It's little wonder that in this context we find Jesus' followers, Matthew and Mark, ascribe a rather ordinary title to him. As a carpenter, Jesus followed in the footsteps of his stepfather, Joseph, and likely worked as an apprentice for six years. In his day carpenters not only made household items such as furniture, they also moved from one construction site to another to work on larger building projects. Could Jesus have had more in common with the average worker than the revered local priest? Is it possible that Jesus can relate to the challenges we face on the job - dealing with unrealistic expectations, operating with integrity, and meeting economic challenges?
Let's read Matthew and Mark’s words in Mt.13:55 and Mk. 6:1-3 to learn what they tell us about Jesus' vocation.
Discussion Questions:
Read Matthew 13:55
“Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?”
Read Mark 6:1-3
"He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 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? 3 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."
The world has given Jesus many titles, but seldom do we hear him called a carpenter. Yet both Matthew and Mark remind us Jesus, until he began his public ministry, made his living as a tradesman.
1. How did Jesus' friends and relatives know him? (v. 3)
2. Why were they surprised? Why do you think these people were offended by Jesus' teaching? (v. 3)
3. How would you feel if your childhood friend, the car mechanic's boy, started holding scholarly lectures at city hall?
4. How might Jesus' work as a laborer and small business owner for over two decades have prepared him to become a religious teacher?
5. What obstacles do you think Jesus may have faced in his career change?
6. How does knowing Jesus worked as a carpenter in his father's business help you relate to him?
Getting to know Jesus
It's amazing that Jesus so identified with men and woman that his closest associates recognized him simply as 'the carpenter.' Yet Scripture tells us he was much more.
One Samaritan woman said, "I know when Messiah comes, he will tell us all things," to which Jesus responded, "I who am speaking with you am he."
What did he mean? The Messiah, as the Old Testament prophesied, would come to reconcile people to God. The Messiah would come not just as a man, though he would be fully man, but also as the Son of God, God Himself in the flesh. What did the prophet Isaiah say the Messiah would do for his people?
Is. 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
For further study
Read the following Scriptures to learn more about Jesus’ birth and his life prior to the beginning of his ministry: Matthew 1:1 - 4:17; Mark 1:1 - 12; Luke 1:1 - 4:13; John 1:1 - 34
“Ask the experienced rather than the learned.” Arabian proverb