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    Is Not This the Carpenter? A Peek at His Nazareth Woodshop
    Is Not This the Carpenter? A Peek at His Nazareth Woodshop
    Is Not This the Carpenter? A Peek at His Nazareth Woodshop
    Ebook78 pages1 hour

    Is Not This the Carpenter? A Peek at His Nazareth Woodshop

    By John Zehring

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    About this ebook

    This book considers Jesus’ woodshop and the profound messages that he drew from his years at the craft of carpentry in Nazareth. It is an unusual genre. It is not non-fiction, nor is it fiction. Perhaps a good term to describe it is “faction.” Part fact, part conjecture. And yet, even the speculation is likely to contain merit.

    Jesus the carpenter, taking over the shop from his father Joseph, would have enjoyed working with tools and with his hands. His tool chest would have included the ax, tin saws set into a frame of wood, a plane, hammer and nails, and chisels of bronze or iron.

    There is a beauty to wood... the grain, the smell, the feel, and the strength. Jesus might have appreciated how the seed grew to the tree which became a table, a plow, a door, a table or a yoke. From his personal experience as a carpenter, he would use each item to draw illustrations which would become the metaphors for teaching about the Kingdom of God.

    And so, poetic license is taken to allow for an impressionist glimpse... a peek... at Jesus’ woodshop, the products he crafted and the lessons he would later draw from them as illustrations of eternal truths.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Zehring
    Release dateJul 25, 2018
    ISBN9780463693582
    Is Not This the Carpenter? A Peek at His Nazareth Woodshop
    Author

    John Zehring

    John Zehring has served United Church of Christ congregations as Senior Pastor in Massachusetts (Andover), Rhode Island (Kingston), and Maine (Augusta) and as an Interim Pastor in Massachusetts (Arlington, Harvard). Prior to parish ministry, he served in higher education, primarily in development and institutional advancement. He worked as a dean of students, director of career planning and placement, adjunct professor of public speaking and as a vice president at a seminary and at a college. He is the author of more than sixty books and is a regular writer for The Christian Citizen, an American Baptist social justice publication. He has taught Public Speaking, Creative Writing, Educational Psychology and Church Administration. John was the founding editor of the publication Seminary Development News, a publication for seminary presidents, vice presidents and trustees (published by the Association of Theological Schools, funded by a grant from Lilly Endowment). He graduated from Eastern University and holds graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary, Rider University, and the Earlham School of Religion. He is listed in Marquis' WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA and is a recipient of their Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. John and his wife Donna live in two places, in central Massachusetts and by the sea in Maine.

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      Book preview

      Is Not This the Carpenter? A Peek at His Nazareth Woodshop - John Zehring

      Is Not This the Carpenter?

      A Peek at His Nazareth Woodshop

      "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" (Mark 6:3a)

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      Thank you for downloading this eBook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

      John Zehring

      Copyright 2018 John Zehring

      Introduction

      This book considers Jesus’ woodshop and the profound messages that he drew from his years at the craft of carpentry in Nazareth. It is an unusual genre. It is not non-fiction, nor is it fiction. Perhaps a good term to describe it is faction. Part fact, part conjecture. The basic premise comes from what we do not know. However, our speculation is likely to contain merit.

      First, we presume that Jesus’ father, Joseph, had died. The last we hear about Joseph in the gospels is when Jesus’ was twelve years old, when he got lost in the Temple. Then, there is no further mention of Joseph. He was not present at the Wedding at Cana when Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water into wine. There is no mention of Joseph during Jesus’ three years of teaching and preaching, nor during Jesus’ trials, crucifixion or resurrection. So while the gospels do not say so, their lack of any further mention of Joseph leads us to the conclusion that he had died. A key verse in the gospels occurs in Mark 6:3: Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? The son of Mary? What about being the son of Joseph? Well, it is presumed that Joseph is no longer with the family and that now, Jesus himself is the carpenter from Nazareth.

      Second, we presume that it fell to Jesus, the oldest son, to provide for, to work and to care for his family of Mary, four named brothers and some unnamed sisters. At a minimum, that is seven children and their widowed mother. It would be logical that Jesus as the oldest son learned the carpentry trade from his father and eventually took over the Nazareth workshop when it became necessary to earn a livelihood as the new head of the household. If so, that would explain why Jesus did not begin his public ministry until age thirty, when he could pass along the responsibility to other siblings so that he could go about the work for which he was sent: to preach the Kingdom of God.

      Third, in the Jewish culture of the first century, the father was required to teach the son his trade at age twelve. Being a good Jew, Joseph would have followed this practice and began teaching Jesus at twelve his carpentry trade. Jesus would have already completed his apprenticeship, perhaps, by the time necessity required him to take over the woodshop to provide for his family. Carpentry isn’t the only thing Joseph would have taught his apprentice son. He taught his boy their traditions. He taught his boy to think for himself. He raised his son to care for others no matter who they were, which was in some ways a departure from their tradition.

      Fourth, this is pure speculation but not unlikely: Jesus’ older brother James now did not have a father to whom he could apprentice when he turned twelve. And so, we hypothesize, James apprenticed to his older brother Jesus in the Nazareth carpenter shop.

      Fifth, the many references to wooden items in Jesus’ teachings would lead to an assumption that he certainly knew and possessed a fondness for wood: yokes, doors, tables, plows. His illustrations of eternal truths evolve from fingers which have wrapped around and shaped the grain of wood.

      And so, poetic license is taken to allow for an impressionist glimpse… a peek… at Jesus’ woodshop, the products he crafted and the lessons he would later draw from them as illustrations of eternal truths.

      NOTES ABOUT THIS BOOK

      Scriptures used in the work come from the New Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.

      I have attempted to use inclusive language wherever possible in the words I have written, although I have not altered the author’s reference to God as he. Because this work of faction is set within the times and culture of Jesus, the use of the male pronoun is difficult to avoid. However, I recognize that the Divine has no gender and for many it may be just as appropriate and accurate to acknowledge God as Mother or Father. Whichever pronoun is used, consider God as a loving parent.

      Some of this work is adapted from other books or eBooks I have written. My website can be found by searching online for John Zehring books.

      John Zehring

      The Carpenter from Nazareth

      "Shalowm. Welcome to my carpenter shop. My name is Jesus. Jesus bar Joseph." That might be Jesus’ welcome to a guest visiting his woodshop. Jesus bar Joseph. A man is named by his father. Jesus loved his father. In the shop and around the home, he called him Abba. More like dad than father. His Abba taught him the trade, encouraged him to be a good person and spoke with him the ways of YHWH. He died, Jesus might have told the visitor, so it fell upon me as the oldest son to take over the shop and to provide for the family. There are still eight of us who have to eat: my mother, my sisters, and my brothers James,

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