Daily Devotional for Monday, September 18

Is Not This the Carpenter?

“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him,” Mark 6:3.

Unless you read a history book, you only know that Joseph was a carpenter by this reference given in the Scripture reading. In Bible times, the firstborn son was taught the same trade as his father.

Jesus was the Son of God, but until He started His earthly ministry, He was subject to his parents (Luke 2:51). A career as a carpenter was not one of great prominence. It was physically taxing. Being a carpenter, He did not work for himself, but for others. Everything about the life of Jesus showed humility and service from His birth in a stable to His declaration that “the Son of man hath not where to lay His head” (Luke 9:58).

So why would people be offended at a carpenter? In their thinking, how could this man speak so knowledgeably about things and where does such great wisdom come from? They were both astonished and confused because even though they thought Jesus a simple carpenter, they heard great wisdom in His teachings. It was as if they were saying, “How dare He make Himself a teacher or a prophet, He, being a simple carpenter!”

Men through the centuries have counted on education to make them wise. This is not God’s way. God gives knowledge through the Holy Spirit to help those He wants to use. “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28).

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: Do not let the lack of education deter you from the study of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit will teach you.

Karry Irizarry