Last week I mentioned the eBook I’m hoping to publish. The following is Chapter 5: Heaven’s Carpenter
Jesus was More Than Met the Eye
Jesus left his glory and home in Heaven
thirty years before he left house and home in Galilee.
Leaving everything behind once more,
the carpenter of Nazareth,
a master in his trade,
a creative artist at best,
with an eye for beauty
and a knack for practicality,
laid aside his hand-tools one day
to build God’s kingdom on earth.
***
It’s hard for us to grasp the reality that the Creator of all things was really a working carpenter who dirtied his hands, worked up a sweat, took time to measure, probably made mistakes, and felt the weariness and need to make a living.
And, at the same time, it’s mindblowing to realize that the stone, metal, and wood he worked with were things his God-hands had made. There is just so much to consider, things we just don’t think about — but, really, if we did — the love of God might begin to dawn on us a little more deeply.
Who was Jesus, really, when he lived as one of us? What was he like? So often we neglect to remember that he led a normal, human life like we do for thirty out of the thirty-three years he lived.
Was he gentle with his customers? Did anyone ever complain about his work, or his prices? We don’t know what his hands fixed or made during his years in Nazareth; we can only imagine. Perhaps it was yokes, tables, doors, and such. He most certainly was handy.
And then there is the spiritual realm in which he worked … In three years of public ministry, look what came from his creativeness: Love, forgiveness, new beginnings, hope, grace, freedom, joy, truth, peace, and eternal life (which is the ability he gave us to know and enjoy God). In truth, this list is endless. Jesus was far more than a carpenter. He recreated and changed our world.
What a wonder . . .
Have you ever considered that Jesus likely, at one time or another, hung a door?
A door made of wood. As a carpenter.
Have you ever considered that Jesus hung as a Door?
On a beam of wood. As Savior.
He could have worked on a bridge.
Why not? He built things.
About that bridge . . . He built one between heaven and earth.
What about gates for sheep? Well, by now you see what I mean.
Then there are the nails to consider.
Isn’t it something that he let someone pound those crude spiked objects of his trade into his own eternally capable hands?–Hands more than familiar with what to do with a nail. And, what about his love — that’s what bound him fast to the wood more so than the nails. It’s true.
We didn’t recognize him. No one knew at the time he was Heaven’s carpenter, or that he’d come to rebuild a whole new world out of the dying one. Let’s consider the One he truly was, the One we missed seeing … let’s consider his earlier works.
The Creator enjoyed himself when he made our world. His creation shows his glorious beauty, love, humor, majesty, and intelligence—and his personality. It’s true. Just like any artist, there is a reflection of the person in his work, especially in creative works.
Here’s just a few of God’s originals.
Stars. Millions of them. Totally out of reach. The moon and sun—they are wondrous things to look at, plus depend on. He hung them and told them their jobs. He made high, snow-capped mountains—ever wonder why? Flat ground would have been simpler. The jungles. The glaciers. Overhead he placed a vast canopy called “sky,” making things beneath it ever changing. He made the wind to use, but never control.
Flowers. Oh, the many kinds. Such artistic, beautiful designs! Red poppies, little white bells on the lily-of-the-valley. Roses, lilacs, petunias, daisies, carnations, tulips . . . the colors, the shapes, the fragrances. They are lovely. And that’s what they’re for—to be lovely. Even if a valley full of them is never seen. It’s that extravagant way of his with beauty.
Oceans. For those magnificent bodies of water, he gave rules to follow. Underground rivers and lakes, with secret passageways and storage places that only he knows about. The teeming-with-life rainforests. The wind-swept deserts. And these are just settings for the creatures he came up with.
He put the roar in a lion, and fitted him with a handsome mane. On a gentler side, he put the mew in a kitty and told her to be independent and to take lots of naps. He laughed out loud when he made the ostrich, knowing she would need a small head with which to hide. When he got around to making the penguins, he was still in a humorous mood. Not meant to be funny or odd, he cleverly stretched the neck of the giraffe—it was actually the trees that influenced him on that. The camel’s hump wasn’t an accident; it was a bit of ingenuity. He spotted ladybugs, striped the zebras, made a gorgeous spread of feathers for the peacock—a flair of grandeur having taken his fancy at that moment. And the spider—her strong, yet delicate, intricate web—what surprising engineering went into that little creature! Oh, the Lord had an amazing time in his workshop in heaven.
When he made the oxen—those large beasts that would bring ease to mankind’s labors—he thought ahead to the hand-made plows and yokes with which he would fit them.
He taught the ants to build cities, instructing them to live an orderly life, and to be selfless. With a chuckle, he gave the green frog bulging eyes on the top of his head. Just for fun, he made monkeys, and told them to play all day, every day.
He put the delicate artwork in the wings of the butterfly. But, amazingly, he started out with a worm and a cocoon. It does seem strange. He showed the birds how to fly. He encouraged them to come up with their own songs. Porcupines were made not to cuddle, nor were the jellyfish meant to hold. Turtles and horses—could creatures be any more different? What a wild imagination!
Then, after all this, the grandest of all moments arrived. Pensive but joyful, he took dirt. Bent over the ground, with loving hands, he formed a person. And he breathed into his nostrils, imparting his own life into a man.
It was thousands of years later, in a workshop in Nazareth, that the Creator busied himself with wood, nails, and such. And, although he was a skilled, conscientious, hard-working carpenter, fair in business, gracious in manner, and true to his word, it wasn’t until years later that anyone realized that he was much more than met the eye. He was, in reality, Heaven’s carpenter.
Just imagine . . .
Picture the day Jesus put away his tools for the last time in Nazareth. Imagine what he might have been feeling at the time. Can you see his hands, his face? Can you see him as he considers what lies ahead of him? What do you think he thought regarding his cousin, John? Do you think Jesus was excited to “receive” what his Father had to say and do through his fiery prophet, his cousin John? Jesus knew what was going on in the desert of Judea, and why multitudes, thirsty-for-God, were going out to hear him. He was his forerunner … and Jesus’ quiet, normal life of thirty years was about to end. He would no longer live an obscure, hidden life. What might he have felt as he left?
Journal exercise . . .
What are your thoughts as you ponder how the Lord lived as a down-to-earth, hardworking carpenter? Of all the ideas in this chapter, what stirred your heart the most? Tell Jesus and let him show you how he feels at this moment too. How he must enjoy it when we begin to see him in truer reality. Why do you think he chose to be a carpenter when he lived on earth? We simply don’t let the wonder of things enter in deep enough to appreciate the mystery and reality involved. We are way too numb. When we do open our eyes to see, Jesus is there to enjoy the moment. You can be sure. Share the joy with Jesus now.