“Isn’t this the carpenter?”

His furniture garnished their homes, his wooden yokes used in their fields. All the locals confirmed his reputation  – the best carpenter in Nazareth, perhaps in all of northern Israel.  His skill was undeniable.  However, he was, after all, only a carpenter, right?  That’s what they thought, and believed … just a carpenter.   So when Jesus returned to his hometown after 6-8 weeks of public ministry elsewhere, you’d expect almost a hero’s welcome.  After all, he was one of them, a hometown kid who came out of nowhere and was making national headlines, confounding the ‘experts’ and wowing the crowds.

But no, when we get to Mark 6 we find the reaction of the Nazarenes dripping with sarcasm, unbelief and rejection.  After he taught in their synagogue (v. 1) the comments began:  “Where did this man get these things? … What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles!  Isn’t this the carpenter?   Isn’t this Mary’s son…?”  Notice the unbelief — Christ’s wisdom had to be “given him”.  In other words, it couldn’t possibly be his inherently.  No way.  And those miracles!  When, where and how did he learn to do that so quickly?  Did he slip off to a secret school?  Did he come under the spell of some strange power?   He couldn’t have that power innately; we know this guy.  He lived down the street.  We know his family.  We watched him grow up and learn his trade.  He’s a carpenter, just a carpenter!  So who does he think he is, anyway?

So bad was their response that the text says “they took offense at him” (v. 3).  The Greek word offense gives us the English word scandal, originally used to mean offenses by religious leaders, later to include other  (civic, political, business, etc.) leaders as well.  But the problem wasn’t with Jesus.  It never is.  It is always with the audience, especially so with these locals.

Why so critical?  Perhaps several reasons, but two come to mind.  First, they could represent the general Jewish mindset of the day.  Research indicates that a significant portion of the Jewish population was demonized when Christ was with them.  Radical unbelief sometimes accompanies such a condition.  Second, they claimed to know him.  They did on one level, a worldly one.  However, speaking on behalf of Jews in general, Paul said, “we once regarded Christ in this way, [but] we do so no longer” (2 Cor. 5:16).  The second level, a spiritual one, is what the Nazarenes lacked.  As in many cases, so here: familiarity bred contempt.  What they did know about Jesus helped prevent them from gaining the deeper knowledge they needed.  Jesus highlighted this when he contrasted their perception of him as a carpenter to that of a prophet  (v. 4).  Imagine their response if he had told them of his other offices — priest and king!

This latter reason should serve notice to us who do know him.  Sometimes in our knowledge of him we get lazy, apathetic or even jaded in our faith.  The vitality begins to slide, the freshness wanes, the relationship grows distant.  “Oh, yeah, I remember when I was all excited as a Christian.  I saw God answer prayers, and I was hungry to learn more and study my Bible.  But…”  And the but tells the story.  The excitement wore off, the glow disappeared.  Again, the problem isn’t the Carpenter; it’s the audience.

As a carpenter, Jesus did his best work for us on wood.  More than furniture or yokes, his best work was on a wooden cross.  God “canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 3:14) because Jesus was nailed there.  Hebrews tells us “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (10:10).  Being “united with him like this in his death” (Rom. 6:5), we died spiritually to be raised in the same way “that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (v. 6).  All this from his work on a cross of wood.  And this Carpenter is still working on our behalf.  That same, gentle, loving care and skill he displayed in making wooden masterpieces shows up in two things: (1) our home in heaven (John 14:2), and (2) our hearts.  When “Christ is formed in [us]” (Gal. 4:19) as he should be, we as his new masterpieces will enter our heavenly home, and once again everything will be “very good” (Gen. 1:31).

Are you resisting or rejoicing as the Carpenter turns you into a beautiful masterpiece?