Jesus a carpenter? Not really!
Jun 28th, 2007 by Gordon
Religious tradition says that Jesus was a carpenter, and there are cute songs and sermons about how the Carpenter ironically died on a wooden cross. One song even says it was a cross He made. It all sounds very religious, but it’s just one more church tradition that is wrong.
The word for ‘carpenter’ in the KJV actually means a ‘craftsman’ and can be applied to any kind of craft. I’m not sure how the word got translated ‘carpenter’ but I suspect that this word, like many others in the KJV, was translated by the King James translators according to their own cultural bias. Apparently, the primary craftsmen in those days were wood-working craftsman, so they translated the word to ‘carpenter’ in English.
Some scholars believe the original word actually means ‘homebuilder’ and therefore, the King James translators assumed a homebuilder would be a carpenter, just as in our culture today.
But, regardless of which rendition you prefer, it is clear to me from scripture that if Jesus was a craftsman - a trade Joseph taught Him - He was more likely a stone craftsman, or stonemason. Even if He was a homebuilder (I like to think He was because His Heavenly Father is a builder of homes), the homes of His day were not made of wood, but stone.
I do not know ONE passage making reference specifically to wood in either Jesus’ discourses, or in reference to His life, other than the cross itself (which was a Roman invention). However, there are numerous references to stone in Christ’s own words and passages about Him:
He is the Stone the builders rejected (Matt 21:42; Psalm 118:22)
He is a Stumbling Stone (I Cor 1:23)
He is a Capstone (Acts 4:11)
He is a Cornerstone (Eph 2:20; I Pet 2:6)
He is a Foundation Stone (Isa 28:16; I Cor 3:11)
He is a Living Stone (I Pet 2:4)
He is a Precious Stone (I Pet 2:7)
He is a Rock (Deut 32:4; 2 Sam 22:2; Psalm 19:14; 61:2; 78:35)
He is a Rock of Offense (Rom 9:33)
He is the Rock of revelation upon which the church is built (Matt 16:13-18)
He is the Rock of Israel (Gen 49:24)
He is our Rock of Refuge (Psalm 31:2; 71:3)
He called Peter ‘the rock’ or ‘petros’ - stone. His parable about the house built on sand isn’t necessarily referring to a wood-stick house as we envision. The other house was built on the rock - a solid foundation that a stone house needed in order to stand. If Jesus learned how to build stone homes from Joseph, He would certainly know about the need for a solid foundation.
In Daniel’s vision, Christ is seen as the rock that crushed the toes of the statue. Moses was told to strike the rock to make water to come out. Etc…… Get the point? I’m convinced that Jesus was a stonemason or stone homebuilder and not a carpenter. Sorry if that shatters a lot of warm fuzzy religious songs, but most of the songs today are not very accurate anyway. Maybe it’s time to cancel some of them.
Why is this distinction important? Because the religious tradition that Jesus was a carpenter has prevented His church from seeing that Jesus was not only the building of God, but that we, the church (people, not buildings or organizations), are God’s dwelling place. Although doctrinally we claim that God’s Spirit dwells in us, most of us live, act and pray as though God is external - ‘out there’ or ‘up there’ in Heaven, instead of inside His house - me!
For more revelation on the church as God’s house and dwelling place, see Frank Viola’s new book, God’s Ultimate Passion: Unveiling the Purpose Behind Everything
(I did enjoy the scene in Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ where a flashback to Jesus at home showed Him making a table with chairs - foreign to Jewish culture where people reclined on the floor to eat. But, it was a brief bit of humor among the ‘passion’ when His mother said, ‘I don’t think it’ll ever catch on.’)
So, can we forever lay to rest another erroneous religious tradition?
To learn about many more religious traditions that need to be abandoned, read Pagan Christianity: The Origins of Our Modern Church Practices by Frank Viola.
I hope it will challenge your traditional beliefs as it did mine.
Get yours today!