I’m certain that I am not the only one who has had the
occasion to view bumperstickers on the vehicle ahead of me. Red light signals
provide ample opportunity to “check out” messages that people feel warrant
observation and reflection. These messages range across a wide spectrum of
subject matter.
One bumpersticker message that always seemed provocative
to me advised readers: My Boss Is A Jewish Carpenter. The reference appeared to
be to “Jesus of Nazareth,” although this inference on my part may be in error.
Did this message make sense? Is it factual or an
expression of poetic license by an adherent to some branch of Christianity?
According to the Holy Scriptures, the “father” of Jesus
of Nazareth was Joseph, who was a carpenter by trade. As there was and is no
hard evidence that Jesus of Nazareth was a carpenter by trade, the message on
the bumpersticker becomes more curious.
The message on the bumper or rear-end of vehicles may be
keyed to the notion that in the workaday culture of Judaea in the days of
Joseph, Mary and Jesus of Nazareth, the son took up the trade of the father.
Hence, if Joseph was a carpenter, then Jesus must have been an apprentice.
Was this the case? There is no scriptural evidence that
Jesus of Nazareth was even an apprentice carpenter.
During the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, he manifested
amazing gifts as a teacher, healer and disciple of his Father. He advised his
disciples that his doctrines were not his but, rather, that of his Father. Who
was the “Father” that Jesus referenced? As revealed in scripture, did Jesus of
Nazareth ever refer to Joseph as his
father?
The conversations of people are typically colored by
imagery that arises from things they know best. When Jesus of Nazareth spoke to
the Israelites and others gathered nearby – usually in Galilee – about subjects
that were important or dear to him, he nevered used the terminology of
carpentry to illustrate his point. If he had been an apprentice carpenter to
his “father” Joseph, surely he would have made points by reference to preparing
for the construction of a house, window, barn, water trough, furniture or
something at least generally associated with the trade of carpentry. Further,
surely Jesus would have made points in his sermons, lectures and teachings that
utilized the commonly understood tools of the carpentry trade. Yet, this did
not occur. Why?
If one searches a King James Version Biblical application
offered online for “carpenter,” then there will be found two Gospel references:
Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3. Both reference Jesus’ “father” Joseph. If one
searches “nail,” then there is one reference: John 20:25, concerning the
doubtful Thomas upon hearing of Jesus’ resurrection. If one searches “saw,”
then there is found no reference to “saw” as a tool. If one searches “hammer,”
then there are no New Testament Gospel references, although there are quite a
lot of such references in the Old Testament. If one searches “axe,” there are
two references: Matthew 3:10 and Luke 3:9. These two references are about applying
an axe to the root of a tree that bears no fruit and casting it into the fire.
As worded, this passage cannot be well-argued as applying to the carpentry
trade. If one searches “builders,” then one finds three NT Gospel references:
Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10 and Luke 20:17. All of these references deal with the
“stone rejected by the builders,” and they cannot be reasonably assigned to the
carpentry trade.
Therefore, for me the message on the bumpersticker
alluded to above is a non sequitur at
best.
