One of the first things we like to find out about people is what they do for a living. When we think about people, we think about them professionally or occupationally. We like to put people in boxes that we can understand. Jesus was a carpenter. Robert Morey writes, “Those who grew up with Jesus in Nazareth assumed that He was, like his ‘father’ Joseph, a carpenter. And, of course, for most of His life, Jesus was a carpenter by trade.” In Mark 6:2-3, the religious leaders were astounded by Jesus’ teachings and miracles, and they said, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” Carpenters don’t teach like that or perform miracles.
Their assumption that Jesus was like his father was correct, except that they were speaking of the wrong father. He is of the same nature as God the Father. He is God the Son. Morey continues his observations, “If, as some modern secularists assert, Jesus did not claim to be anything more than a carpenter, if He did not do any miracles, and if He did not speak those sermons attributed to Him in the Gospels, then why did people get so upset? Why all the opposition? Obviously, He was more than a mere carpenter.” Everyone seems to acknowledge this truth. Jesus was more than a carpenter. As Morey points out, “Despite his abysmal ignorance of the Bible, even Muhammad understood that Jesus was a great prophet (Sura. 19:30). But while Muhammad correctly believed that Jesus was more than a carpenter, he failed to understand that Jesus was more than a mere prophet.”[1] Jesus was way more than a carpenter!
Peter and some of the other apostles were fishermen. They knew how to fish. Yet, one evening, when they had fished all day, they had caught nothing. Jesus instructed them to let down their nets to fish. Peter protested but did as he was told. They caught so many fish that the nets wouldn’t hold them all. Luke 5:8 tells us that Peter did a very strange thing, “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’” Jesus didn’t say anything about Peter’s sin. Jesus didn’t give any call for worship. I guess when a carpenter shows a fisherman how to fish, the fisherman recognizes there’s something different happening here. Ryken says, “Peter realized the vast distance that lay between him and Jesus. It was the distance between an unholy man and the holy God.”
Peter was to understand that Jesus was not only more than a Carpenter and more than a prophet. He was the savior of the world. Peter even called Him the Messiah when asked to identify him. He might not have understood exactly what that meant at the time, but we see from his later epistles that he did understand how Jesus was the savior of the world. “In his book More Than a Carpenter, Josh McDowell uses a simple illustration to show what God was doing for us at the cross of Christ. He wrote: An incident that took place several years ago in California illuminates what Jesus did on the cross.… A young woman was picked up for speeding. She was ticketed and taken before the judge. The judge read off the citation and said, “Guilty or not guilty?” The woman replied, “Guilty.” The judge brought down the gavel and fined her $100 or ten days. Then, an amazing thing took place. The judge stood up, took off his robe, walked down around in front, took out his billfold, and paid the fine. What’s the explanation of this? The judge was her father. He loved his daughter, yet he was a just judge. His daughter had broken the law, and he couldn’t just say to her, “Because I love you so much, I forgive you. You may leave.” If he had done that, he wouldn’t have been a righteous judge.… But he loved his daughter so much he was willing to take off his judicial robe and come down in front and represent her as her father and pay the fine.”[2]
[1] Morey, Robert A. 1996. The Trinity: Evidence and Issues. Iowa Falls, IA: World Pub.
[2] Morgan, Robert J. 2000. Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes. Electronic ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.