Why was Christ a Carpenter?

God could have put Jesus into a family of bankers, bakers, candlestick makers, masons, etc. He could have arranged Joseph to have any number of professions.

I think Jesus was a carpenter for specific reasons.

First, the trades affected, and still do, everybody. Everything we touch and use is created by those in the trades. Even the things that I, as an engineer, still need the trades to actually make. In Christ’s time, the carpenter made not just the house, but the tables, chairs, plates, spoons, beds, bowls, and the rest of the tools with wood components. Shovel handles, lathes, looms, farm and animal equipment.

The things that Christ made directly touched many lives until they turned to dust. In short, the things that Jesus made affected the very lives of all around him. This mirrors His teaching that we should touch those around us in what we do.

Second, Christ taught that we must die to ourselves in order for God to be able to use us. A tree cannot become a table, a house, or anything else other than a tree until it is cut down and dies.

Third, Christ taught that God will then shape us, in the same manner a tree is shaped into various types of lumber: 2x4’s, 2x12’s, etc, of specific lengths. A 2x4 is useful only if it is a specific length for a particular purpose. God cannot most effectively use us unless we are shaped into the proper form.

Fourth, there are pieces of lumber left over. There was a lumber yard near my house when I was unemployed during the dot-com bust. The yard would get an order for so many stud-length 2x4’s, which are cut from an 8-foot 2x4. The yard would pile up the cut ends. I would go there in the winter for the wood to keep us warm.

Christ taught that God would gather up our “left-over’s” — the dross — and burn them to recover what was useful. We were able to use the cast-off pieces for something useful, just as God is able to use our sinful nature for His good.

I have been blessed to build houses in His name. My father taught me both how to, and why, to build houses for my Father.