Why do people say that Jesus was a carpenter when he never built

Why do people say that Jesus was a carpenter when he never built anything famous?

Well, carpenters do a thankless job.

He might not have built anything famous but he did do a very nice sideboard. My Grandma had one. It was rosewood and acacia. On the back it said “Joseph Solomon and Sons” (in Aramaic, before the clever-clevers start) and we think they recycled a panel from the Ark of the Covenant in the middle drawer, as you couldn’t open it without a complicated incantation and if you got it wrong loads of spooks popped out and melted you.

My Grandmother thought it was a bit of a faff, and only ever used that drawer for the best fishknives, which rarely saw the light of day, but somehow made a tin of sardines turn into a banquet. When my Grandmother moved to a smaller house, she sold it to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

He wanted to pay more for it than the Pope did. She threw in the fishknives and half a dozen tea-towels for free, and then realised she’d left a cut glass decanter in it, but the AoC never sent it back, the chiseller; I suspect Lambeth Palace is still passing the port round in it to this day.

There was a matching china cabinet as well. I don’t think Jesus had anything to do with that, though, given the workmanship on the feet (carving on them was a bit wonky) and I suspect it was Wayne, the apprentice, that knocked that together. Grandmother let the Pope have that one for fifty quid. And threw in a bottle of Windolene and some shammies, too.

Bloody good carpenters, Joseph and Sons. Emperor Constantine swore by their kitchen cupboards, and there’s still a few even today knocking round in some terraced houses in Rochdale. Wouldn’t give tuppence for their dressing tables, though. The wood part is great, but they’d no idea how to make mirrors; awful reflective properties, and don’t tell me it’s down to age because the neighbours have got one that belonged to Tu-tan-kha-bloody-mun, and it’s as clear as a bell.

Meh. I blame the EU. So did Joseph. Jesus blamed the SPQR, though.

Yes, Jesus was a carpenter:

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is referred to as “the carpenter”.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is referred to as “the carpenter’s son”. In those days, it was common for a son to take up his father’s trade.
In Mark 6:3, Jesus is called a tekton, which is a term that traditionally refers to a carpenter, but can also refer to builders or makers of objects from various materials.
Some say that Jesus was a good carpenter who built things to last.

Jesus likely learned carpentry from his step-father, Joseph, who was also a carpenter. Working as a carpenter was a demanding profession that typically involved a six-year apprenticeship, which usually began between the ages of 10 and 13.

In the Gospel of Mark 6:3 we read that Jesus was a tekton. In Greek this word refers to a manual laborer, meaning he could have been a carpenter but could also have been a stone mason or similar. In the Gospel of Matthew 13:55 we read that Jesus was the carpenter’s son.

Which screws do I use to install the Motherboard?

Why do people say that Jesus was a carpenter when he never built anything famous?

Q: Why is Jesus Christ known as a well-known carpenter when he didn’t build anything famous?

He probably wasn’t a carpenter at all.

The Greek word translated ‘carpenter’ in Matt 13:55 is ‘Tekton’ which means a craftsman – and it refers to Joseph, not Jesus. Joseph might have been a carpenter, or a builder or a stonemason, and Jesus would probably have followed in the family trade [1].

Jesus was fond of using illustrations drawn from everyday life, so think about his teachings. How many illustrations does he draw from the world of woodworking ? Yep, zilch, nada. How many illustrations does he draw from building ? The parable of the house built on sand, the collapsed tower at Galilee, the headstone in the corner, building his church on the bedrock, ‘I will rebuild the temple in 3 days’. Notice how when he saw Jerusalem, it was the buildings and the towers that caught his attention. My money is on him being a builder. Not that it matters.

[1] (added 6/5/21) in fact Mark confirms that he did. I had assumed that Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55 both said the same thing, but in fact they’re different: Mark says that Jesus was a ‘Tekton’ and Matthew says he was the ‘son of a Tekton’. Presumably they were both builders.

There is no reason to suppose that Jesus never built anything.

Carpenters in his day did not put logos on their work. What’s more, we have very few wooden pieces from the first century. Jesus is referred to as such just once, in Mark 6:3, although he is referred to in Matthew 13:55 as the ‘carpenter’s son’.

The Greek word here is τέκτων, tekton. This is commonly translated as ‘carpenter’, but it can refer to any craftsman. Here is what the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology has to say on the matter:

CL In secular Gk. tektōn means a craftsman or builder in wood, stone or metal; architektōn means a head builder, masterbuilder, contractor, or director of works; technitēs means a craftsman, artisan or designer; and technē means an art, craft, trade, or professional skill.

NT In the NT, usage is as follows:

(a) tektōn appears only in the identification of Jesus by the people of Nazareth as “the carpenter” (Mk. 6:3), “the carpenter’s son” (Matt. 13:55). Though “carpenter” is the common rendering here, tektōn could equally mean “mason” or “smith” (as indeed some of the Fathers took it); or it could mean that Joseph and Jesus were builders, so that both carpentry and masonry would have been among their skills.

Our words ‘technology’, ‘architect’, ‘technician’ and ‘technical’ all relate to the Greek word tekton.

Why do people think Christ was somehow poor when he was a carpenter which was high paying back then?

Look, I’m an atheist and even I know that Jesus was poor.

At the time of the events in the New Testament, Jesus was not working as a carpenter. He was an itinerant preacher who went from place to place talking about religious matters.

With him were his “apostles”, the men closest to him, as well as a much larger number of “disciples”, people who just followed him around – perhaps a hundred or so.

Jesus and his entourage (sorry, not the best word, but it fits) largely survived on donations. Jesus did have a few wealthy supporters. You may have heard of the guy whose job it was to keep track of the income and bills – his name was Judas Iscariot. Judas, and most of the disciples, were concerned about people who were more poor than they were and any excess income they had over expenses was used for charitable purposes, although John accused him of embezzlement.

In any event, both John and Matthew mention an incident where a disciple poured expensive oil over Jesus. John said it was only Judas who complained but Matthew said several disciples decried the waste – the oil was worth what a working person could earn in a year. Jesus, for his part, told everyone to leave the disciple who used the oil on him alone because it was a nice thing for her to do.

And, in the end, the Romans manage to get Judas to take money for betraying Jesus so he can give it to the poor. After Jesus was arrested and executed, he threw the money away instead, just before killing himself.

Why did Christ choose to become a carpenter?

Jesus was not a carpenter the way we think of carpentry. Did he do woodwork? Yes. However, ancent Israel built most of their houses out of stone and then used wood for their roofs. Even though Jesus wasn’t a mason he certainly did work with stone.

Here’s what I will emphasize about Jesus’s work:

Jesus had a physically demanding job. He worked by the sweat of his brow and experienced all the joys and sorrows that entails.
Jesus worked a blue collar job. In blue collar work what you do is either good work or it’s not; the work is judged by the results not political nonsense. It’s also a line of work where things go wrong all the time. Jesus saw work place injuries, and experienced the frustrations of working with tools and simple machinery.
Jesus worked in the construction industry. I don’t think it has changed much. It has booms where the work is hard, and long but the money is great. It has busts where there isn’t much to do and the money has dried up. I am sure Jesus experienced both things.

Jesus worked a hard job and knows what it’s like to struggle at work. He experienced a full range of life experiences and He emphasizes with our sorrows and difficulties. He even understands what we go through in our daily work. Jesus wasn’t born a carpenter’s son so he wouldn’t struggle; he was born a carpenter’s son so he would.

Was Jesus really a carpenter?

In Mark’s Gospel, written around 70 CE, Jesus is called a carpenter (Mark 6:3). The job of carpenter placed one at the very bottom of society, not owning a farm and not having an education. It seems therefore that calling Jesus a carpenter was something of an embarrassment because, in copying from Mark, Matthew’s Gospel changes this, in the parallel verse, to “son of a carpenter”. Luke and John do not mention being a carpenter at all.

We have Mark as evidence that Jesus was a carpenter and, Mark being the first New Testament gospel, this should be persuasive. However, Dennis, R. MacDonald believes that the author of Mark styled Jesus after Homer’s Odysseus. Odysseus was proud of his carpentry skills so, according to MacDonald, inspired the portrayal of Jesus as a carpenter.

Since he was Jewish, Jesus, a single male was eligible to became a Rabbi at the age of 30. Before that, since his earthly father was a carpenter, he most likely followed in his father’s trade. If he wasn’t a carpenter per se, he was definitely envolved in the construction trade, possibly as some type of artisan.

His claim to fame would never envolve some material thing that he constructed….but his parables did refer to the construction of houses, temples, and other material things, things that he could relate to because of his work background and also things that the persons he was addressing could relate to.

One such item that he referred to, was definitely from a carpenter’s view point. A yoke; definitely an item which would have been made by carpenters. He makes it personal by making it his own, personal yoke. Those references should suffice as to Jesus’s upbringing and training in the construction industry.

Additionally, since Jesus is our personal savior, it should be noted that He, Himself is the chief corner stone of our salvation, as noted in Ephesians 2:19–22: You are……built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Jesus Himself being the chief corner stone.

Jesus is the chief corner stone of God’s building project for His eternal Kingdom. I would venture to say, that’s one major building project which came from Jesus and has more than 3 billion followers today. So did Jesus build anything….He certainly did. Plus, He’s even building a mansion for us now.

Conclusion

The reference to Jesus as a carpenter comes from the Gospels, particularly in Mark 6:3, where he is identified as the “son of a carpenter.” In the context of first-century Judea, the term likely refers to someone who worked with wood, but it could also encompass general construction or craftsmanship.

While the New Testament doesn’t detail specific projects or items Jesus built, the designation emphasizes his humble origins and relatable background. It highlights his connection to everyday life and labor, underscoring the theme of humility in his teachings. The idea of Jesus as a carpenter contributes to the image of him as an approachable figure who engaged with the ordinary aspects of life.

How do you know Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ didn’t build anything famous?

What exactly did He build? Doubtless followed in Joseph’s trade from watching him as a child, to giving the odd pair of hands to learning the trade?

Very few tables and chairs last 200 years. Not aware of anything lasting 2000? His artefacts might have still been around for half a millenia. That still means it was unlikely one would still see them 1500 years after?

The most important commodity He built which no -one else could, was to re-build our relationship with the God the Father. Next time I see anything ancient made of wood, will look underneath for initials ‘JC?’ Or, more accurately JBJ was His correct initials Anglicanised.

Peace and All Good