11th Day of Chirstmas
Devotional Reading for: 1/4/2007
Associated Scripture Readings:
Mark 6:1-6 Psalm 2Still a Carpenter
“Is not this the carpenter . . . ?” And they took offense at Him. Mark 6:3
The people of Jesus’ hometown couldn’t see Him as anything more than an ordinary man. They had watched Him grow up and learn the carpentry trade. They were offended when He came home as their teacher, the One sent to carry out God’s saving plan. At times, we fail to grasp that Jesus was (and is) fully human. It offends us to think that God the Son became a toddler who learned to walk, a teenager who grew up into a man. That seems beneath the divine majesty. But Jesus’ true humanity is precisely what saves you. He knows what it’s like to live in an imperfect family, to work with His hands, and to suffer injustice. Jesus hallows your entire life, from conception to grave, by going through it all Himself for you. In one sense, Jesus was still a carpenter, for He had one more thing to build. In addition to hammer, nails, and wood, He would use His own body. Through the redeeming work of the cross, Jesus laid the foundation of the Church. Baptized into Christ the cornerstone, “you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). Founded on the rock of Christ, His temple will never crumble.
Heavenly Father, grant me faith to see Your divine work in the humanity of Jesus. In His name I ask it. Amen.